AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2026
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
98
Introduced by Assembly Member Tangipa
February 11, 2026
An act to amend Section 23536 of the Vehicle Code, 25659 of the Business and Professions Code, and to add Sections 13353.9 and 23572.5 to the Vehicle Code, relating to driving under the influence.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: yes Local program: yes
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, and the suspension of alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law makes the sale of an alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age a misdemeanor and authorizes a licensee to refuse to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to a person who is unable to produce adequate proof of age.
Existing law makes it a crime to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and sets forth the penalties for a violation of these provisions. Under existing law, if a person is convicted of a driving under the influence violation and the offense occurs within 10 years of 2 or more separate driving under the influence violations that resulted in convictions, the offense is subject to escalating fines, suspensions, and other sanctions.
This bill would require a court, when sentencing an individual to a term of imprisonment to be served in state prison for a 3rd driving under the influence offense within a 10-year period to prohibit the individual from purchasing alcoholic beverages for life. The bill would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue an identification card or driver’s license with an appropriate designation on the face upon the receipt of an abstract of the record of a court. The bill would authorize a licensee to refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to an individual who provides the licensee with an identification card or driver’s license with such a designation.
To the extent it would require a higher level of service from court staff who are county employees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to a related provision.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 25659 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
25659.
(a) For the purpose of preventing the violation of Section 25658, any licensee, or his or her their agent or employee, may refuse to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to any person who is unable to produce adequate written evidence that he or she the person
is over the age of 21 years. A licensee, or his or her their agent or employee, may seize any identification presented by a person that shows the person to be under the age of 21 years or that is false, so long as a receipt is given to the person from whom the identification is seized and the seized identification is given within 24 hours of seizure to the local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the licensed premises. A licensee, his or her their agent or employees decision to not seize a license shall not create any civil or criminal liability.
(b) A licensee, or their agent or employee, may refuse to sell alcoholic beverages to any person who provides the seller with an identification card or driver’s license issued pursuant to Section 13353.9 of the Vehicle Code.
SEC. 2.
Section 13353.9 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
13353.9.
(a) The department shall issue an identification card or a driver’s license with the words “REPEAT SERIOUS DUI OFFENDER” or another appropriate designation on the face of the identification card or driver’s license for an individual who has submitted an application and for whom the court department has received an abstract of the record of a court showing that the person has been convicted of a violation of Section 23152, 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, 23153, or 191.5 of the Penal Code, punishable pursuant to Section 23572.5.
(b) This section applies to an identification card or driver’s license issued pursuant to Section 3007.05 of the Penal Code or Section 14902.
SEC. 3.
Section 23572.5 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
23572.5.
A person convicted of a violation of Section 23152, 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, 23153, or 191.5 of the Penal Code, and the offense occurred within 10 years of two separate violations of Section 23152, 23103, as specified in Section 23103.5, 23153, or 191.5 of the Penal Code, or any combination thereof, that resulted in convictions, who is sentenced to state prison shall be prohibited from purchasing alcoholic beverages for life.
SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
Section 23536 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
23536.
(a) If a person is convicted of a first violation of Section 23152, that person shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 96 hours, at least 48 hours of which shall be continuous, nor more than six months, and by a fine of not less than three hundred ninety dollars ($390), nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(b) The court shall order that a person punished under subdivision (a), who is to be punished by imprisonment in the county jail, be imprisoned on days other than days of regular employment of the person, as determined by the court. If the court determines that 48 hours of continuous imprisonment would interfere with the person’s work schedule, the court shall allow the person to serve the imprisonment whenever the person is normally scheduled for time off from work. The court may make this determination based upon a representation from the defendant’s attorney or upon an affidavit or testimony from the defendant.
(c) The person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be suspended by the department under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or Section 13352.1. The court shall require the person to surrender the driver’s license to the court in accordance with Section 13550.
(d) Whenever, considering the circumstances taken as a whole, the court determines that the person punished under this section would present a traffic safety or public safety risk if authorized to operate a motor vehicle during the period of suspension imposed under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 13352 or Section 13352.1, the court may disallow the issuance of a restricted driver’s license required under Section 13352.4.