---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal procedure: pardons."
description: "The general authority to grant reprieves, pardons, and commutations of sentence is conferred upon the Governor by Section 8 of Article V of the Constitution of the State of California. Existing law establishes the procedure for application for a pardon. Existing law authorizes the Board of Parole Hearings to recommend to the Governor persons imprisoned in the state prison system who, in their judgment, ought to be pardoned."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 2845"
citation: "California AB 2845 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal procedure: pardons."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bonta"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 27
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2018-02-16"
last_action: "2018-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/89fd41c4-0c8a-4bac-8250-300ec5b30618"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845"
source_hash: "1f31239fbeaed1ff1e139e1b751d55d98e7b82671ab3dd29df0223f1bfd4dd16"
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 2845 (20172018) — Criminal procedure: pardons.

The general authority to grant reprieves, pardons, and commutations of sentence is conferred upon the Governor by Section 8 of Article V of the Constitution of the State of California. Existing law establishes the procedure for application for a pardon. Existing law authorizes the Board of Parole Hearings to recommend to the Governor persons imprisoned in the state prison system who, in their judgment, ought to be pardoned.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/16/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284599INT)
2. **04/03/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284598AMD)
3. **04/12/18 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284597AMD)
4. **08/17/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284596AMD)
5. **08/24/18 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284595AMD)
6. **09/27/18 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284593CHP)
7. **AB2845** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845)
8. **09/04/18 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB2845&version=20170AB284594ENR)

## Votes

- AB 2845 BONTA Assembly Third Reading — **46–29** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–2** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB2845 Bonta By Pan — **25–12** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **12–4** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–2** (pass) · lower
- AB 2845 BONTA Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **45–30** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bonta — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-02-16** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2018-02-17** From printer. May be heard in committee March 19.
- **2018-04-02** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-03** 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`
- **2018-04-04** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-12** 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`
- **2018-04-16** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-17** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (April 17). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-05-02** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2018-05-25** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (May 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-05-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-05-30** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 46. Noes 29. Page 5563.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-05-31** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2018-06-07** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-26** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 2.) (June 26). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2018-08-06** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2018-08-17** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 16). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2018-08-17** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2018-08-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-24** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2018-08-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2018-08-29** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 25. Noes 12. Page 5950.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2018-08-29** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2018-08-30** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 45. Noes 30. Page 7022.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2018-09-11** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2018-09-27** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-09-27** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 824, Statutes of 2018.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/89fd41c4-0c8a-4bac-8250-300ec5b30618`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).