CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

99

Introduced by Senator Niello

February 20, 2026

An act to amend Section 11425.10 of the Government Code, relating to state government.

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, governs the conduct of administrative adjudication and rulemaking proceedings of state agencies. Existing law sets forth the requirements for the governing procedure by which an agency conducts an adjudicative proceeding. Among those requirements, existing law requires an agency to designate and index a decision as precedent, as specified, in order for the decision to be relied on as precedent.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that requirement.

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

SECTION 1.

Section 11425.10 of the Government Code is amended to read:

11425.10.

(a) The governing procedure by which an agency conducts an adjudicative proceeding is subject to all of the following requirements:

(1) The agency shall give the person to which the agency action is directed notice and an opportunity to be heard, including the opportunity to present and rebut evidence.

(2) The agency shall make available to the person to which the agency action is directed a copy of the governing procedure, including a statement whether Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) is applicable to the proceeding.

(3) The hearing shall be open to public observation as provided in Section 11425.20.

(4) The adjudicative function shall be separated from the investigative, prosecutorial, and advocacy functions within the agency as provided in Section 11425.30.

(5) The presiding officer is subject to disqualification for bias, prejudice, or interest as provided in Section 11425.40.

(6) The decision shall be in writing, be based on the record, and include a statement of the factual and legal basis of the decision as provided in Section 11425.50.

(7) A decision may shall not be relied on as precedent unless the agency designates and indexes the decision as precedent as provided in Section 11425.60.

(8) Ex parte communications shall be restricted as provided in Article 7 (commencing with Section 11430.10).

(9) Language assistance shall be made available as provided in Article 8 (commencing with Section 11435.05) by an agency described in Section 11018 or 11435.15.

(b) The requirements of this section apply to the governing procedure by which an agency conducts an adjudicative proceeding without further action by the agency, and prevail over a conflicting or inconsistent provision of the governing procedure, subject to Section 11415.20. The governing procedure by which an agency conducts an adjudicative proceeding may include provisions equivalent to, or more protective of the rights of the person to which the agency action is directed than, the requirements of this section.