---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil procedure: pleadings."
description: "Existing law, until January 1, 2021, authorizes a party to amend its pleading once without leave of the court at any time before the answer or demurrer is filed, or after a demurrer is filed but before it is heard if the amended complaint, cross-complaint, or answer is filed and served no later than the date for filing an opposition to the demurrer. Existing law authorizes a party to amend the complaint, cross-complaint, or answer after the date for filing an opposition to the demurrer, upon stipulation by the parties."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "AB 644"
citation: "California AB 644 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil procedure: pleadings."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Berman"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 20
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2017-02-14"
last_action: "2017-09-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3de8f107-328a-405f-babd-63ec480a5e2f"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644"
source_hash: "dcdf74c53f7e5aa058c7e31d96bb933bd33e3c97fb9c788737558ece19459b35"
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 644 (20172018) — Civil procedure: pleadings.

Existing law, until January 1, 2021, authorizes a party to amend its pleading once without leave of the court at any time before the answer or demurrer is filed, or after a demurrer is filed but before it is heard if the amended complaint, cross-complaint, or answer is filed and served no later than the date for filing an opposition to the demurrer. Existing law authorizes a party to amend the complaint, cross-complaint, or answer after the date for filing an opposition to the demurrer, upon stipulation by the parties.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/14/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644&version=20170AB64499INT)
2. **04/06/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644&version=20170AB64498AMD)
3. **04/24/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644&version=20170AB64497AMD)
4. **09/25/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644&version=20170AB64495CHP)
5. **AB644** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644)
6. **09/05/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB644&version=20170AB64496ENR)

## Sponsors

- Berman — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-14** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2017-02-15** From printer. May be heard in committee March 17.
- **2017-03-02** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-06** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-04-17** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-20** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (April 18). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, amendment-introduction`
- **2017-04-24** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-04-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-05-01** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 70. Noes 1. 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 JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-31** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2017-07-12** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-07-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-08-23** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2017-08-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2350.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-08-31** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2017-09-07** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2017-09-25** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-09-25** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 273, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3de8f107-328a-405f-babd-63ec480a5e2f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).