CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

99

Introduced by Assembly Member Dixon

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chen, Davies, and Ta)

February 20, 2026

An act to add Section 11765 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to public health.

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Under existing law, the State Department of Health Care Services is responsible for administering prevention, treatment, and recovery services for alcohol and drug abuse and problem gambling. Existing law defines “alcohol and other drug services” as a service that is designed to encourage recovery from the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, and “alcohol and other drug abuse program” as a collection of alcohol and other drug services that are coordinated to achieve specified objectives. Existing law also provides for the licensure and regulation of adult alcoholism or drug abuse recovery and treatment facilities by the department and authorizes the department to enforce those provisions.

This bill, the Body Brokering and Patient Referral Integrity Act, would prohibit any person from offering, paying, soliciting, or receiving a commission, benefit, bonus, or other form of remuneration or from engaging in a split-fee arrangement to induce a referral to a residential treatment facility or in return for acceptance of an individual into a residential treatment facility. The bill would make a violation of that provision a misdemeanor. The bill would define a “residential treatment facility” to include any sober living home, group home, recovery residence, residential care facility, or similar facility providing housing or residential services, in connection with alcohol or substance use disorder treatment or behavioral health recovery. By creating a new crime, this 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

SECTION 1.

Section 11765 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

11765.

(a) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Body Brokering and Patient Referral Integrity Act.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “residential treatment facility” includes any sober living home, group home, recovery residence, residential care facility, or similar facility providing housing or residential services, whether licensed or unlicensed, in connection with alcohol or substance use disorder treatment or behavioral health recovery.

(c) It is unlawful for any person, to offer, pay, solicit, or receive a commission, benefit, bonus, rebate, bribe, or any other form of remuneration or to engage in any split-fee arrangement to induce a referral to a residential treatment facility or in return for acceptance of an individual into a residential treatment facility.

(d) It is unlawful for a person to aid, abet, advise, or participate in the conduct prohibited in this section.

(e) A violation of this section is misdemeanor.

SEC. 2.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.