---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil actions: service of documents."
description: "(1) Existing law provides that a party to an action in which it is alleged that 2 or more parties are joint tortfeasors or co-obligors on a contract debt is entitled to a hearing on the issue of the good faith of a settlement entered into by the plaintiff or other claimant and one or more alleged tortfeasors or co-obligors, upon giving a specified notice. In the alternative, a settling party may give notice of settlement to all parties and to the court, together with an application for a determination of good faith settlement and a proposed order. Existing law requires that the notice, application, and proposed order be given by certified mail, return receipt requested."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "SB 543"
citation: "California SB 543 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil actions: service of documents."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Morrell"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 16
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-02-16"
last_action: "2017-07-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a7fa181e-08bb-40e4-a06d-a82db2c2a614"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB543"
source_hash: "915b74920d7a81bd687d7a741e0e53088e5ba9d67146e5f26fb51df58ea12286"
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 543 (20172018) — Civil actions: service of documents.

(1) Existing law provides that a party to an action in which it is alleged that 2 or more parties are joint tortfeasors or co-obligors on a contract debt is entitled to a hearing on the issue of the good faith of a settlement entered into by the plaintiff or other claimant and one or more alleged tortfeasors or co-obligors, upon giving a specified notice. In the alternative, a settling party may give notice of settlement to all parties and to the court, together with an application for a determination of good faith settlement and a proposed order. Existing law requires that the notice, application, and proposed order be given by certified mail, return receipt requested.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/16/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB543&version=20170SB54399INT)
2. **07/10/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB543&version=20170SB54397CHP)
3. **SB543** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB543)
4. **06/21/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB543&version=20170SB54398ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **11–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Morrell — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-16** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-17** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 19.
- **2017-03-02** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-13** Set for hearing May 9.
- **2017-05-10** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 1021.) (May 9). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-05-11** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-05-22** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 1148.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-05-23** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2017-06-01** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-13** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 13). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-06-14** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-06-19** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 74. Noes 0. Page 2259.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-06-19** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2017-06-26** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m.
- **2017-07-10** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-07-10** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 64, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a7fa181e-08bb-40e4-a06d-a82db2c2a614`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).