republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/ab-321.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Misdemeanors."
description: "Existing law provides that a crime punishable with death, by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail for more than one year is a felony and all other offenses, except those that are classified as infractions, are misdemeanors. Existing law further provides that a crime that is punishable, in the discretion of the court, as a felony or as a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor under certain circumstances, including when, at or before the preliminary examination or prior to a certain order being filed, the magistrate determines that the offense is a misdemeanor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "AB 321"
citation: "California AB 321 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Misdemeanors"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Schultz"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-01-24"
last_action: "2025-10-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bba88d00-4710-403c-a709-4c092a4630f5"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321"
source_hash: "0dce0dd4fa5d059be02d11e131fe114be53d031d436bb320251bb570b656caae"
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 321 (20252026) — Misdemeanors.

Existing law provides that a crime punishable with death, by imprisonment in the state prison, or by imprisonment in a county jail for more than one year is a felony and all other offenses, except those that are classified as infractions, are misdemeanors. Existing law further provides that a crime that is punishable, in the discretion of the court, as a felony or as a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor under certain circumstances, including when, at or before the preliminary examination or prior to a certain order being filed, the magistrate determines that the offense is a misdemeanor.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/24/25 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321&version=20250AB32199INT)
2. **05/29/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321&version=20250AB32198AMD)
3. **08/19/25 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321&version=20250AB32197AMD)
4. **10/11/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321&version=20250AB32195CHP)
5. **AB321** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321)
6. **09/10/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB321&version=20250AB32196ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB321 Schultz et al. By Wiener — **23–13** (pass) · upper
- AB 321 Schultz Assembly Third Reading — **52–6** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 321 Schultz Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **55–12** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Schultz — primary (person)
- Wiener — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-24** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2025-01-25** From printer. May be heard in committee February 24.
- **2025-01-27** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2025-02-10** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-04** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (March 4). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-05** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-03-10** From Consent Calendar.
- **2025-03-10** Ordered to third reading.
- **2025-03-13** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 52. Noes 6. Page 617.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-03-13** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2025-05-07** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2025-05-29** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2025-06-10** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (June 10). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-08-19** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-08-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-09-04** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 23. Noes 13. Page 2508.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-09-04** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2025-09-08** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 55. Noes 12. Page 3023.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-15** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2025-10-11** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-11** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 611, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bba88d00-4710-403c-a709-4c092a4630f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).