--- type: "Bill" title: "Sexually violent predators: open court proceedings." description: "Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, within 6 months prior to the inmate's scheduled release date, to refer an inmate who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is either serving a determinate sentence or whose parole has been revoked, for screening by the department and the Board of Parole Hearings based on whether the person has committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on a review of the person's social, criminal, and institutional history. Under existing law, if this screening determines that the person is likely to be a sexually violent predator, the department is required to refer the person to the State Department of State Hospitals for a full evaluation." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20212022" identifier: "SB 248" citation: "California SB 248 (20212022)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Sexually violent predators: open court proceedings."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Bates"] version_count: 5 action_count: 28 vote_count: 7 first_action: "2021-01-22" last_action: "2021-09-28" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3eb1ccc9-41c7-4618-a988-d48acb820546" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248" source_hash: "f1ee95a1eafeb27ce15c90e9e93224e25d052b0da0ffe212cfc37bf2e313c1df" 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 248 (20212022) — Sexually violent predators: open court proceedings. Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, within 6 months prior to the inmate's scheduled release date, to refer an inmate who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is either serving a determinate sentence or whose parole has been revoked, for screening by the department and the Board of Parole Hearings based on whether the person has committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on a review of the person's social, criminal, and institutional history. Under existing law, if this screening determines that the person is likely to be a sexually violent predator, the department is required to refer the person to the State Department of State Hospitals for a full evaluation. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **01/22/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248&version=20210SB24899INT) 2. **03/23/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248&version=20210SB24898AMD) 3. **09/28/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248&version=20210SB24896CHP) 4. **SB248** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248) 5. **09/08/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB248&version=20210SB24897ENR) ## Votes - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **8–0** (pass) · lower - Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper - Special Consent SB248 — **39–0** (pass) · upper - SB 248 Bates Senate Third Reading By Lackey — **72–0** (pass) · lower - Do pass. — **16–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Bates — primary (person) - Melendez — coauthor (person) - Voepel — coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2021-01-22** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction` - **2021-01-25** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 24. - **2021-01-25** Read first time. `reading-1` - **2021-02-03** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2021-02-22** Art. IV. Sec. 8(a) of the Constitution dispensed with. - **2021-02-22** (Ayes 32. Noes 4.) - **2021-02-22** Joint Rule 55 suspended. (Ayes 32. Noes 4. Page 272.) - **2021-02-24** Set for hearing March 16. - **2021-03-22** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 521.) (March 16). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2021-03-23** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee` - **2021-03-25** Set for hearing April 5. - **2021-04-05** April 5 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file. - **2021-05-14** Set for hearing May 20. - **2021-05-20** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 1185.) (May 20). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2021-05-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-05-24** Ordered to special consent calendar. - **2021-06-01** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1343.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2021-06-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1` - **2021-06-10** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2021-07-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (July 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2021-08-19** August 19 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file. - **2021-08-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (August 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2021-08-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2021-09-07** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 2819.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2021-09-07** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. - **2021-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m. - **2021-09-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2021-09-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 383, Statutes of 2021. `became-law` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3eb1ccc9-41c7-4618-a988-d48acb820546`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).