# California Every law and rule change USCLI tracks for California, across the professions, on one page. Each entry links to its full write-up and official sources. Source: https://uscli.org/states/california ## Licensing Ledger California licenses private investigators through the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services (BSIS), part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Since 2023 the Legislature has added a written client agreement requirement, a separate qualified manager license, and an express Department of Justice fingerprint background check provision, and BSIS has raised its fees 10 percent. [Full California page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california) (14 entries). - Sep 30, 2026 — **[A PI license does not cover transport escort services for minors](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california#sb-1190)** — Senate Bill 1190, Chapter 1015, Statutes of 2026 — Adds Business and Professions Code 7539.2. A PI license or registration is not a permit to operate a transport escort service, as defined in Health and Safety Code 1596.653. A transport escort service does not need a PI license just because it transports… - Sep 14, 2026 — **[Master agreements need not give start and end dates for each job](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california#sb-1311)** — Senate Bill 1311, Chapter 232, Statutes of 2026 — Amends section 7524(a)(3), the written client agreement rule. A master agreement for services contracted frequently over a set period no longer has to state approximate start and completion dates for the work, if it states its own beginning and termination… - Sep 14, 2026 — **[BSIS no longer required to send licensees copies of the law](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california#sb-1445)** — Senate Bill 1445, Chapter 237, Statutes of 2026 — Repeals section 7519, which requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to give every licensed PI business a free copy of the current licensing law and regulations at least every two years. It also repeals the matching provision for private security services… - Jan 30, 2026 — **[Proposed rule would update exam application rules](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california#bsis-exam-rule)** — Proposed rule, 16 CCR 601, 601.1, 621, 625, 628, 636, and 643 — BSIS proposes to drop the 20-day filing deadline before an exam in 16 CCR 601 and repeal the exam scheduling and notice rules in 16 CCR 601.1, which it says no longer match its practice now that its vendor schedules exams. It would also broaden what counts… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Attorney-sponsored investigators eligible for state prison gate clearances](https://uscli.org/licensing-tracker/california#sb-553)** — Senate Bill 553, Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025 — Amends Penal Code 7460 to 7467. A private investigator licensed by any state who is sponsored by an attorney or appointed by a court counts as an attorney representative, eligible for annual and short-term gate clearances from the California Department of… ## Officer Ledger California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) has been able to suspend or revoke peace officer certification for serious misconduct since January 1, 2023. Since then the State has adopted the rules that run decertification, banned settlement deals that hide misconduct records, barred revocation based only on a Racial Justice Act finding, and passed a degree requirement that applies only to officers who start after 2030. [Full California page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california) (23 entries). - Oct 1, 2026 — **[Separation and eligibility reporting rules revised](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california#reg-1003)** — Commission Regulations 1003 and 1011 — Regulation 1003 sets how agencies report officer appointments and separations to POST under PC 13510.9. The May 21, 2025 amendment realigned the Affidavit of Separation (POST 2-357) with PC 13510.9(d) and set how POST is notified of convictions that… - Feb 17, 2026 — **[Disciplinary guidelines for certification actions](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california#reg-1216)** — Commission Regulation 1216 — Incorporates the POST Disciplinary Guidelines (2025), which set the factors for deciding whether serious misconduct warrants suspension or revocation and give administrative law judges a framework for hearings. - Jan 22, 2026 — **[Biased conduct defined; agencies must make bias findings](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california#ab-443)** — AB 443 (2023), ch. 439; Commission Regulation 1022 — PC 13510.6 requires POST to define biased conduct, including online and social media conduct. Agencies investigating a bias-related complaint must decide whether the conduct meets that definition, and in racial profiling complaints whether profiling… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Settlement deals that hide misconduct records banned](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california#ab-1388)** — AB 1388 (2025), ch. 729 — New PC 13510.9(e) bars agreements with officers that require destroying, removing, or concealing misconduct investigation records, halting an investigation or dictating its findings, or limiting disclosure under PC 832.7, 832.12, 1054.1, 13510.8, or… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Racial Justice Act findings alone cannot trigger revocation](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/california#sb-734)** — SB 734 (2025), ch. 784 — PC 13510.8 now bars POST from revoking certification because of a court finding under the Racial Justice Act (PC 745). POST may still act on the underlying conduct with full due process. New Gov. Code 3305.6 applies the same rule to punitive action by… ## Forensic Ledger California has no forensic science commission or analyst license, and its lab accreditation rules reach only DNA work. Since 2023 the State has widened habeas relief when forensic science changes, expanded postconviction discovery, ordered a new audit of untested sexual assault kits, and required disclosure when police reports are drafted with AI. [Full California page: every change, its sources, and what has not changed](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california) (10 entries). - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Survivors may defer testing of a sexual assault kit](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california#sb-733)** — SB 733 (Stats. 2025, ch. 783) — Penal Code 680, the Sexual Assault Victims’ DNA Bill of Rights, already let a victim ask that a kit not be tested. SB 733 restructures that right. A survivor aged 18 or older who has not decided whether to report may ask that the evidence not be tested.… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Police reports drafted with AI must say so](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california#sb-524)** — SB 524 (Stats. 2025, ch. 587) — New Penal Code 13663 requires each agency to have a policy that any official report written fully or partly with AI carries a disclosure statement and the officer’s signature. The first AI draft must be kept as long as the official report. A draft other… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Postconviction discovery reaches more cases](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california#ab-1036)** — AB 1036 (Stats. 2025, ch. 444) — Discovery under Penal Code 1054.9 in habeas and motion-to-vacate cases now covers any felony that led to state prison. Before, it covered only serious or violent felonies with sentences of 15 years or more. Discovery materials now include materials held by… - Jan 1, 2026 — **[Facial recognition barred in new traffic camera programs](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california#frt-traffic)** — AB 645 (Stats. 2023, ch. 808); SB 1297 (Stats. 2024, ch. 631); AB 289 (Stats. 2025, ch. 684); SB 720 (Stats. 2025, ch. 782) — Each act added a camera enforcement program to the Vehicle Code: sections 22425 (2024), 22435 (2025), and 22445 and 21455.9 (2026). Each section says the use of facial recognition technology with the system “shall be prohibited.” Sections 22425, 22435, and… - Jan 1, 2025 — **[Who picks the lab for post-conviction DNA testing](https://uscli.org/forensic-science-tracker/california#ab-2521)** — AB 2521 (Stats. 2024, ch. 153) — The lab for testing under Penal Code 1405 is now agreed between the movant and “the Attorney General or district attorney” in any case. Before, the district attorney agreed in noncapital cases and the Attorney General in capital cases. The rest of 1405…