--- type: "Bill" title: "Murder: peace officers." description: "Under existing law, a murder perpetrated by specified means or under certain circumstances, including a killing that is willful, deliberate, and premeditated, is defined as murder of the first degree. All other kinds of murder are of the 2nd degree. Under existing law, a person convicted of first degree murder is subject to a punishment of death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, or confinement in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life. Under existing law, the 2nd degree murder of a peace officer, as specified, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life, and the 2nd degree murder of a peace officer, if specified facts are charged and found true, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of life without the possibility of parole." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20172018" identifier: "AB 1459" citation: "California AB 1459 (20172018)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Murder: peace officers."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Quirk-Silva"] version_count: 6 action_count: 24 vote_count: 2 first_action: "2017-02-17" last_action: "2017-09-01" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/75b58891-df6d-4446-b4d4-7633c185fd71" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459" source_hash: "2ea0ab15db10c2bed6d04c6341814dc119f4fc8096ba5504acf02d8a2e05c42c" 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 AB 1459 (20172018) — Murder: peace officers. Under existing law, a murder perpetrated by specified means or under certain circumstances, including a killing that is willful, deliberate, and premeditated, is defined as murder of the first degree. All other kinds of murder are of the 2nd degree. Under existing law, a person convicted of first degree murder is subject to a punishment of death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, or confinement in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life. Under existing law, the 2nd degree murder of a peace officer, as specified, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 25 years to life, and the 2nd degree murder of a peace officer, if specified facts are charged and found true, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of life without the possibility of parole. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **02/17/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459&version=20170AB145999INT) 2. **04/17/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459&version=20170AB145998AMD) 3. **06/21/17 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459&version=20170AB145997AMD) 4. **09/01/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459&version=20170AB145995CHP) 5. **AB1459** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459) 6. **08/22/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1459&version=20170AB145996ENR) ## Votes - 3rd Reading AB1459 Quirk-Silva et al. By Newman — **40–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper ## Sponsors - Quirk-Silva — primary (person) - Anderson — coauthor (person) - Stone — coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2017-02-17** Read first time. To print. `reading-1` - **2017-02-19** From printer. May be heard in committee March 21. - **2017-03-13** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2017-04-17** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-04-18** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2017-04-19** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 18). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2017-04-20** Withdrawn from committee. - **2017-04-20** Ordered to second reading. - **2017-04-24** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-05-01** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 73. Noes 0. Page 1301.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2017-05-01** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1` - **2017-05-10** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2017-06-13** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 13). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2017-06-14** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-06-20** Ordered to special consent calendar. - **2017-06-21** Ordered to third reading. - **2017-06-21** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1` - **2017-06-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1` - **2017-07-17** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2076.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1` - **2017-07-17** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after July 19 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. - **2017-08-21** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2681.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage` - **2017-08-25** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. - **2017-09-01** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2017-09-01** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 214, Statutes of 2017. ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/75b58891-df6d-4446-b4d4-7633c185fd71`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).