republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-625.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "State Public Defender: indigent defense: study."
description: "Existing law authorizes the State Public Defender to represent any person financially unable to employ counsel in specified matters. The State Public Defender is authorized to employ deputies and other employees, and establish and operate offices, as they may need for the proper performance of their duties, and to contract with county public defenders, private attorneys, and nonprofit corporations for participation in the representation of eligible persons."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 625"
citation: "California AB 625 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["State Public Defender: indigent defense: study."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Arambula"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 23
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-12"
last_action: "2021-10-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4f37a77b-5fcc-43cf-847c-acc9a6877978"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625"
source_hash: "b0badd7d26b24490f390530e3bcb607ebe514fb6e83dec683bb591ba606ab045"
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 625 (20212022) — State Public Defender: indigent defense: study.

Existing law authorizes the State Public Defender to represent any person financially unable to employ counsel in specified matters. The State Public Defender is authorized to employ deputies and other employees, and establish and operate offices, as they may need for the proper performance of their duties, and to contract with county public defenders, private attorneys, and nonprofit corporations for participation in the representation of eligible persons.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/12/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625&version=20210AB62599INT)
2. **03/25/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625&version=20210AB62598AMD)
3. **05/24/21 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625&version=20210AB62597AMD)
4. **10/06/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625&version=20210AB62595CHP)
5. **AB625** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625)
6. **09/08/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB625&version=20210AB62596ENR)

## Votes

- Special Consent AB625 — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 625 Arambula Assembly Third Reading — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Arambula — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-12** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-13** From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.
- **2021-03-25** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** 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`
- **2021-03-26** Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-21** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-05** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 20). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2021-05-24** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-05-25** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-06-02** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1844.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-06-03** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-06-16** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2021-07-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-08-16** In committee: Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2021-08-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-08-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-31** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2021-09-03** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2391.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-03** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2021-09-10** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2021-10-06** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-10-06** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 583, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4f37a77b-5fcc-43cf-847c-acc9a6877978`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).