republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-1276.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child witnesses: human trafficking."
description: "Existing law authorizes a court in a criminal proceeding, upon written notice by the prosecutor made at least 3 days prior to the date of the preliminary hearing or trial date on which the testimony of the minor is scheduled or during the course of the proceeding on the court's own motion, to order that the testimony of a minor 13 years of age or younger at the time of the motion be taken by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination in another place and out of the presence of the judge, jury, defendant or defendants, and attorneys, and communicated to the courtroom by means of closed-circuit television, if the court makes specified findings. One of the findings required by existing law requires is that the minor's testimony will involve a recitation of the facts of specified crimes, including an alleged violent felony of which the minor is a victim."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 1276"
citation: "California AB 1276 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Child witnesses: human trafficking."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Santiago"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 25
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2015-02-27"
last_action: "2016-09-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/eb2618d0-7266-4520-80e3-cf0dd150e008"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276"
source_hash: "d8465d250c9af9c0c4aae08b572296d2c67fb8a241e928f562f7ad5b7ade3b64"
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 1276 (20152016) — Child witnesses: human trafficking.

Existing law authorizes a court in a criminal proceeding, upon written notice by the prosecutor made at least 3 days prior to the date of the preliminary hearing or trial date on which the testimony of the minor is scheduled or during the course of the proceeding on the court's own motion, to order that the testimony of a minor 13 years of age or younger at the time of the motion be taken by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination in another place and out of the presence of the judge, jury, defendant or defendants, and attorneys, and communicated to the courtroom by means of closed-circuit television, if the court makes specified findings. One of the findings required by existing law requires is that the minor's testimony will involve a recitation of the facts of specified crimes, including an alleged violent felony of which the minor is a victim.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/27/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127699INT)
2. **01/04/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127697AMD)
3. **03/26/15 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127698AMD)
4. **08/02/16 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127696AMD)
5. **09/26/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127694CHP)
6. **AB1276** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276)
7. **08/19/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1276&version=20150AB127695ENR)

## Votes

- AB 1276 SANTIAGO Assembly Third Reading — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 1276 SANTIAGO Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Special Consent AB1276 Santiago By Block — **37–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Santiago — primary (person)
- Anderson — coauthor (person)
- Block — coauthor (person)
- Cannella — coauthor (person)
- Glazer — coauthor (person)
- Hall — coauthor (person)
- Hertzberg — coauthor (person)
- Huff — coauthor (person)
- Mitchell — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2015-02-27** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2015-03-01** From printer. May be heard in committee March 31.
- **2015-03-02** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2015-03-26** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2015-03-26** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-06** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-28** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2015-05-05** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2016-01-04** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-04** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-01-12** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (January 12). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-01-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-01-19** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 3438.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-01-19** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-01-28** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-14** In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2016-08-01** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 28). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-02** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-03** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2016-08-11** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 4877.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-11** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 14 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2016-08-18** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 5869.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-08-24** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:45 a.m.
- **2016-09-26** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-26** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 635, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/eb2618d0-7266-4520-80e3-cf0dd150e008`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).