---
type: "Bill"
title: "Crimes: race-blind charging."
description: "Existing law provides a district attorney the discretion to file criminal charges against an individual. Existing law allows a district attorney to complete necessary investigations into alleged criminal conduct and make the decision of whether to proceed with filing criminal charges. Existing law allows a district attorney to participate in any project or program to improve the administration of justice."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 2778"
citation: "California AB 2778 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Crimes: race-blind charging."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["McCarty"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 26
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2022-02-18"
last_action: "2022-09-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/30329e89-d2b9-4dcd-91aa-357a718d977c"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778"
source_hash: "116683ddc5afcfa5069668b6047c7b171b6a6d911b39da5dcb7cfc34fed91293"
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 2778 (20212022) — Crimes: race-blind charging.

Existing law provides a district attorney the discretion to file criminal charges against an individual. Existing law allows a district attorney to complete necessary investigations into alleged criminal conduct and make the decision of whether to proceed with filing criminal charges. Existing law allows a district attorney to participate in any project or program to improve the administration of justice.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/18/22 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277899INT)
2. **03/31/22 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277898AMD)
3. **04/21/22 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277897AMD)
4. **06/06/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277896AMD)
5. **06/21/22 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277895AMD)
6. **09/29/22 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277893CHP)
7. **AB2778** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778)
8. **09/01/22 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2778&version=20210AB277894ENR)

## Votes

- AB 2778 McCarty Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2778 McCarty Assembly Third Reading — **72–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB2778 McCarty By Kamlager — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- McCarty — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-02-18** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2022-02-19** From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.
- **2022-03-17** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-31** 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-1, reading-2`
- **2022-04-04** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2022-04-20** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 19). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2022-04-21** Read second time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-04-25** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2022-05-11** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2022-05-19** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 19). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-05-19** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-05-23** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 4869.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-05-24** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2022-06-01** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2022-06-06** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2022-06-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2022-06-21** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2022-08-02** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2022-08-11** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 11). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-08-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2022-08-29** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5231.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2022-08-30** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2022-08-30** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2022-09-29** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-09-29** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 806, Statutes of 2022. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/30329e89-d2b9-4dcd-91aa-357a718d977c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).