AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson

February 19, 2026

An act to add and repeal Section 3069.6 of the Penal Code, relating to parole.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, as amended by Proposition 9, the Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law, at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires the Board of Parole Hearings, following a decision denying parole, to schedule the next hearing 3, 5, 7, 10, or 15 years from the date of the last hearing, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the board, in its discretion and after considering the views and interests of the victim, to advance a hearing to an earlier date, when a change in circumstances or new information establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of the public and victim’s safety does not require additional incarceration. Existing law authorizes an inmate to request that the board exercise its discretion to advance a hearing and provides the procedure for an inmate to make that request.

This bill would require the board, in coordination with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to collect and publish annual data regarding requests to advance parole consideration hearing dates and administrative review processes the board’s review of those requests, as specified. The bill would require the board to submit the report to the Legislature by March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter. Following submission of the report to the Legislature, the bill would also require the board to make the report publicly available on its internet website on that date and annually thereafter.

This bill, for each request to advance a parole consideration hearing date, would require the board to maintain a written summary of the decision, including the basis for approval or denial and the primary factors considered. The bill would require the summaries to be made available to certain entities, including the incarcerated person or their counsel.

This bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2032.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 3069.6 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

3069.6.

(a) (1) The Board of Parole Hearings, in coordination with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, shall collect and publish annual data regarding requests to advance parole consideration hearing dates pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 3041.5 and administrative review processes the board’s review of those requests.

(2) The board shall submit the report to the Legislature by March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter. Following the submission of the report to the Legislature, the board shall also make the report publicly available on its internet website on March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter.

(b) The report pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Volume and outcomes, including:

(A) Total number of requests to advance parole consideration hearing dates filed.

(B) Total number of requests to advance parole consideration hearing dates granted, denied, and pending.

(C) Percentage of requests to advance parole consideration hearing dates granted.

(D) Number of hearings advanced through administrative review by the board pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 3041.5 versus the number of hearings advanced through requests pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 3041.5.

(2) Timing and impact, including:

(A) Average duration of an incarcerated person’s denial period for advancement of a parole consideration hearing date.

(B) Average time during an incarcerated person’s denial period that a request to advance a parole consideration hearing date is granted, expressed in months or years into an incarcerated person’s denial period.

(C) Frequency of repeat advancement requests.

(3) General criteria and factors relied upon in granting or denying advancement, including all of the following:

(A) Evidence of rehabilitation.

(B) Institutional behavior.

(C) Nature of psychological evaluations.

(D) Nature and severity of the offense.

(4) Rehabilitation metrics, including:

(A) Types of rehabilitative programming considered, including cognitive behavioral interventions.

(B) Completion rates of programming recommended by the board.

(C) Correlation, if any, between program completion and advancement decisions.

(D) The amount of time the incarcerated person waited to be admitted into these programs.

(5) Victim considerations, including:

(A) Whether victim notification was provided.

(B) Whether victim input was received and considered.

(C) General categories of victim concerns raised.

(D) Measures taken to ensure compliance with victim rights pursuant to Section 28 of Article I of the California Constitution (Marsy’s Law).

(6) Outcomes of hearings that are advanced, including:

(A) Grant rates for advanced hearings versus regularly scheduled hearings.

(B) Time to release following advancement of the hearing.

(C) Any available recidivism or return-to-custody data.

(c) (1) For each request to advance a parole consideration hearing date pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 3041.5, the board shall maintain a written summary of the decision, including the basis for approval or denial and the primary factors considered.

(2) The summaries shall be made available to all of the following:

(A) The incarcerated person or their counsel.

(B) The victim or next of kin, upon request.

(C) The district attorney’s office.

(d) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 2032, and is repealed as of that date.