republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/ab-1261.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Controlled substances: narcotics registry."
description: "Existing law requires a person who is convicted in this state, or in another state under certain circumstances, of specified offenses involving controlled substances to register with the chief of police of the city in which the person resides, or the sheriff of the county if that person resides in an unincorporated area, as specified. Existing law makes registration consist of a statement in writing signed by the person, giving information required by the Department of Justice, and the fingerprints and photograph of the person. Existing law requires, within 3 days after registering, the law enforcement agency to forward the statement, fingerprints, and photograph to the Department of Justice. A person who knowingly violates the registration requirement and related requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "AB 1261"
citation: "California AB 1261 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Controlled substances: narcotics registry."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jones-Sawyer"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-02-21"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/790ed5c8-47db-4405-b1b6-0392fcacec84"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1261"
source_hash: "d7eeeb18ff03473672978e3e9d9c1e2e1a5dfd09ba64958b4b9a32262069bcd3"
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 (20192020) — Controlled substances: narcotics registry.

Existing law requires a person who is convicted in this state, or in another state under certain circumstances, of specified offenses involving controlled substances to register with the chief of police of the city in which the person resides, or the sheriff of the county if that person resides in an unincorporated area, as specified. Existing law makes registration consist of a statement in writing signed by the person, giving information required by the Department of Justice, and the fingerprints and photograph of the person. Existing law requires, within 3 days after registering, the law enforcement agency to forward the statement, fingerprints, and photograph to the Department of Justice. A person who knowingly violates the registration requirement and related requirements is guilty of a misdemeanor.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/21/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1261&version=20190AB126199INT)
2. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1261&version=20190AB126197CHP)
3. **AB1261** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1261)
4. **08/27/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1261&version=20190AB126198ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB1261 Jones-Sawyer By Beall — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 1261 Jones-Sawyer Assembly Third Reading — **71–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jones-Sawyer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-21** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2019-02-22** From printer. May be heard in committee March 24.
- **2019-03-11** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-02** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-24** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (April 24). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-04-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-09** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 71. Noes 0. Page 1566.) `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-09** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-22** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-18** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 18). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-07-08** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-07-09** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-08-26** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2271.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-27** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2019-09-03** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 580, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/790ed5c8-47db-4405-b1b6-0392fcacec84`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).