republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/sb-281.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Pleas: immigration advisement.	Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty.	us/states/ca	California Legislature	20252026	SB 281	California SB 281 (20252026)	bill	Pleas immigrationadvisement	enacted	Pérez	5	19	5	2025-02-05	2025-10-12	openstates	ocd-bill/7c37e5dd-a976-46d6-bbc3-e4e808e4cc32	http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281	07a36619afbb8da491ac35cb1bdc2919f746e44bcbb66cf56a2ae3872f922fc7	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ca

California SB 281 (20252026) — Pleas: immigration advisement.

Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty.

Version chain

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

1. 02/05/25 - Introduced (filed) — source
2. 07/15/25 - Amended Assembly (committee substitute) — source
3. 10/12/25 - Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
4. SB281 (committee substitute) — source
5. 09/05/25 - Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• SB 281 Pérez Senate Third Reading By Gabriel — 53–18 (pass) · lower
• Unfinished Business SB281 Pérez et al. Concurrence — 30–10 (pass) · upper
• 3rd Reading — 28–10 (pass) · upper
• Do pass — 5–1 (pass) · upper
• Do pass. — 7–2 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Pérez — primary (person)
• Caballero — coauthor (person)
• Gabriel — coauthor (person)
• Garcia — coauthor (person)
• Solache — coauthor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-02-05 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
• 2025-02-06 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 8.
• 2025-02-14 Referred to Com. on PUB. S. referral-committee
• 2025-03-07 Set for hearing March 25.
• 2025-03-25 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 533.) (March 25). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-03-26 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-05-28 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 1291.) Ordered to the Assembly. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-05-28 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
• 2025-06-05 Referred to Com. on PUB. S. referral-committee
• 2025-06-17 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (June 17). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-06-18 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-07-15 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-07-15 Ordered to third reading.
• 2025-08-28 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 53. Noes 18. Page 2764.) Ordered to the Senate. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-08-28 In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
• 2025-09-03 Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 10. Page 2424.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-09-09 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
• 2025-10-12 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
• 2025-10-12 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 666, Statutes of 2025. became-law

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/7c37e5dd-a976-46d6-bbc3-e4e808e4cc32. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).