Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a youth offender parole hearing for offenders sentenced to state prison who committed specified crimes when they were under 23 years of age. Existing law, as added by initiative statute, imposes a term of confinement in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole or, at the discretion of the court, 25 years to life, on a defendant who was 16 years of age or older and under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime for which he or she was found guilty of murder in the first degree, if specified special circumstances have been found true. Existing case law prohibits a juvenile convicted of a homicide offense from being sentenced to life in prison without parole absent consideration of the juvenile's special circumstances in light of the principles and purposes of juvenile sentencing.
California SB 394 (20172018) — Parole: youth offender parole hearings.
Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a youth offender parole hearing for offenders sentenced to state prison who committed specified crimes when they were under 23 years of age. Existing law, as added by initiative statute, imposes a term of confinement in the state prison for life without the possibility of parole or, at the discretion of the court, 25 years to life, on a defendant who was 16 years of age or older and under 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime for which he or she was found guilty of murder in the first degree, if specified special circumstances have been found true. Existing case law prohibits a juvenile convicted of a homicide offense from being sentenced to life in prison without parole absent consideration of the juvenile's special circumstances in light of the principles and purposes of juvenile sentencing.
Version chain
The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
SB 394 Lara Senate Third Reading By GONZALEZ FLETCHER — 44–30 (pass) · lower
Unfinished Business SB394 Lara et al. Concurrence — 28–9 (pass) · upper
Do pass. — 11–4 (pass) · lower
Sponsors
Lara — primary (person)
Bradford — coauthor (person)
Mitchell — author (person)
Skinner — coauthor (person)
Wiener — coauthor (person)
Timeline
The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
2017-02-15 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
2017-02-16 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 18.
2017-02-23 Referred to Com. on PUB. S. referral-committee
2017-03-03 Set for hearing March 21.
2017-03-22 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 430.) (March 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee
2017-04-05 Set for hearing April 17.
2017-04-17 April 17 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
2017-04-24 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. reading-2, referral-committee, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1
2017-05-19 Set for hearing May 25.
2017-05-25 From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 1184.) (May 25). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage
2017-05-26 Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, amendment-passage, reading-2
2017-05-26 Published May 26 at 10 a.m.
2017-05-31 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 12. Page 1352.) Ordered to the Assembly. reading-3, passage, reading-1
2017-06-01 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
2017-06-12 Referred to Com. on PUB. S. referral-committee
2017-06-27 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee
2017-07-19 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 4.) (July 19). committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
2017-07-20 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-2, reading-1
2017-08-24 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1
2017-08-24 Ordered to third reading.
2017-08-31 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1
2017-08-31 Ordered to third reading.
2017-09-15 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 44. Noes 30. Page 3484.) Ordered to the Senate. reading-3, passage, reading-1
2017-09-15 In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2017-09-15 Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 28. Noes 9. Page 3000.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage
2017-09-22 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2017-10-11 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
2017-10-11 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 684, Statutes of 2017.
Source
OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/b03cd0d0-388f-4daa-aca2-ed89aae6ef56. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).