--- type: "Bill" title: "Crime: witnesses and informants." description: "Existing state law requires, upon request by specified persons, that a certifying official from a certifying entity, as defined, certify \"victim helpfulness\" or \"victim cooperation\" on specified federal supplemental forms relating to immigration when the person was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity or human trafficking, and has, is, or is likely to be helpful or cooperative regarding the investigation or prosecution of that qualifying criminal activity, as specified." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20232024" identifier: "AB 1261" citation: "California AB 1261 (20232024)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Crime", "witnesses and informants"] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Santiago"] version_count: 7 action_count: 28 vote_count: 8 first_action: "2023-02-16" last_action: "2023-10-10" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e627481d-0a9a-4382-ad99-0e149b651a45" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261" source_hash: "3c6f0e4934f9975fac01e922d73dc70f7eb292903c2926f18c5c50dad74572b7" 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 1261 (20232024) — Crime: witnesses and informants. Existing state law requires, upon request by specified persons, that a certifying official from a certifying entity, as defined, certify "victim helpfulness" or "victim cooperation" on specified federal supplemental forms relating to immigration when the person was a victim of a qualifying criminal activity or human trafficking, and has, is, or is likely to be helpful or cooperative regarding the investigation or prosecution of that qualifying criminal activity, as specified. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **02/16/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126199INT) 2. **03/09/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126198AMD) 3. **04/03/23 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126197AMD) 4. **06/15/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126196AMD) 5. **10/10/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126194CHP) 6. **AB1261** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261) 7. **09/18/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1261&version=20230AB126195ENR) ## Votes - Special Consent AB1261 Santiago et al. By Rubio — **39–0** (pass) · upper - Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper - AB 1261 Santiago Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **79–0** (pass) · lower - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **8–0** (pass) · lower - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower - AB 1261 Santiago Consent Calendar Second Day — **66–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Santiago — primary (person) - Bryan — coauthor (person) - Juan Carrillo — coauthor (person) - McKinnor — coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2023-02-16** Read first time. To print. `reading-1` - **2023-02-17** From printer. May be heard in committee March 19. - **2023-03-09** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2023-03-09** 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` - **2023-03-13** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2023-04-03** 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-1, reading-2` - **2023-04-04** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee` - **2023-04-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 11). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2023-04-26** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. - **2023-05-03** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 3). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2023-05-04** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2023-05-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 66. Noes 0. Page 1524.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2023-05-11** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1` - **2023-05-24** Referred to Com. on PUB S. `referral-committee` - **2023-06-05** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. - **2023-06-08** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. - **2023-06-15** 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` - **2023-06-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee` - **2023-08-14** In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. `referral-committee` - **2023-09-01** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (September 1). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2023-09-08** Ordered to special consent calendar. - **2023-09-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2688.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3` - **2023-09-12** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. - **2023-09-13** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3446.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable` - **2023-09-21** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m. - **2023-10-10** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2023-10-10** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 679, Statutes of 2023. `became-law` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e627481d-0a9a-4382-ad99-0e149b651a45`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).