---
type: "Bill"
title: "Veterans: criminal defendants."
description: "Existing law requires a court, in the case of any person convicted of a criminal offense who could otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed the offense as a result of sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems stemming from service in the United States military, to, prior to sentencing, make a determination as to whether the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and whether the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service. If that defendant is in substantial compliance with conditions of probation and has successfully participated in court-ordered treatment and services, among other requirements, existing law authorizes the court to grant the defendant specified forms of relief, including a dismissal of the action, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20132014"
identifier: "SB 769"
citation: "California SB 769 (20132014)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Veterans: criminal defendants."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Block"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2013-02-22"
last_action: "2013-06-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9c7b9c38-e62c-4561-8857-8fbc9996a950"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769"
source_hash: "c1908a0b7fd4cb7e1cbf74a04d506bfd251893206d686375ae8cccb2841cf67c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 769 (20132014) — Veterans: criminal defendants.

Existing law requires a court, in the case of any person convicted of a criminal offense who could otherwise be sentenced to county jail or state prison and who alleges that he or she committed the offense as a result of sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems stemming from service in the United States military, to, prior to sentencing, make a determination as to whether the defendant was, or currently is, a member of the United States military and whether the defendant may be suffering from sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or mental health problems as a result of that service. If that defendant is in substantial compliance with conditions of probation and has successfully participated in court-ordered treatment and services, among other requirements, existing law authorizes the court to grant the defendant specified forms of relief, including a dismissal of the action, as specified.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/22/13 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769&version=20130SB76999INT)
2. **04/01/13 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769&version=20130SB76998AMD)
3. **06/28/13 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769&version=20130SB76996CHP)
4. **SB769** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769)
5. **06/17/13 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB769&version=20130SB76997ENR)

## Votes

- SB 769 Block Senate Third Reading By QUIRK — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Block — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2013-02-22** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2013-02-24** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 26.
- **2013-02-25** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2013-03-11** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2013-04-01** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `committee-passage, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2013-04-03** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2013-04-09** Set for hearing April 30.
- **2013-05-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 758.) (April 30). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2013-05-02** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2013-05-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 35. Noes 0. Page 863.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2013-05-09** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2013-05-20** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2013-06-12** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2013-06-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2013-06-14** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1995.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2013-06-15** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2013-06-19** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:45 p.m.
- **2013-06-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2013-06-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 46, Statutes of 2013.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9c7b9c38-e62c-4561-8857-8fbc9996a950`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).