republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/sb-394.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal procedure: diversion for primary caregivers of minor children."
description: "Existing law allows individuals charged with a specified crime to qualify for a pretrial diversion program based upon various circumstances and qualifications, including mental health disorders, military service, or drug addiction. Existing law generally requires, if the defendant performs satisfactorily in one of these diversion programs, that the court dismiss the defendant's criminal charges and seal the record of arrest, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 394"
citation: "California SB 394 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal procedure: diversion for primary caregivers of minor children."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Skinner"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-02-20"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cbac5a70-08da-41f1-9ad3-e24174a654e5"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394"
source_hash: "39a06e84649f4a80d75d7abb30ef9d8ab9c73af5a6f033169ac5dc03b97fd3e3"
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 394 (20192020) — Criminal procedure: diversion for primary caregivers of minor children.

Existing law allows individuals charged with a specified crime to qualify for a pretrial diversion program based upon various circumstances and qualifications, including mental health disorders, military service, or drug addiction. Existing law generally requires, if the defendant performs satisfactorily in one of these diversion programs, that the court dismiss the defendant's criminal charges and seal the record of arrest, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/20/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39499INT)
2. **04/03/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39498AMD)
3. **06/06/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39497AMD)
4. **08/22/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39496AMD)
5. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39494CHP)
6. **SB394** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394)
7. **09/16/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB394&version=20190SB39495ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **30–2** (pass) · upper
- SB 394 Skinner Senate Third Reading By Wicks — **46–14** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB394 Skinner et al. Concurrence — **29–8** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Skinner — primary (person)
- Wicks — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-20** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2019-02-21** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
- **2019-02-28** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-21** Set for hearing April 9.
- **2019-04-03** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-09** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 624.) (April 9). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-04-10** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-02** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 30. Noes 2. Page 916.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-16** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-06** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-06-11** June 11 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author.
- **2019-06-26** Coauthors revised.
- **2019-06-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 25). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-06-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-08-22** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-08-22** Ordered to third reading.
- **2019-09-11** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 46. Noes 14. Page 3433.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-11** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2019-09-12** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 29. Noes 8. Page 2890.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-19** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 593, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cbac5a70-08da-41f1-9ad3-e24174a654e5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).