republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/sb-645.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	Juries: peremptory challenges.	Existing law provides for the exclusion of a prospective juror from a trial jury by peremptory challenge. Existing law prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of, among other things, the prospective juror's race, ethnicity, or gender. Existing law allows a party, or the trial court on its own motion, to object to the use of a peremptory challenge based on these criteria. Upon objection, existing law requires the party exercising the challenge to state the reasons the peremptory challenge has been exercised. Existing law requires the court to evaluate the reasons given, as specified, and, if the court grants the objection, authorizes the court to take certain actions, including, but not limited to, starting a new jury selection, declaring a mistrial at the request of the objecting party, seating the challenged juror, or providing another remedy as the court deems appropriate. Under existing law, one of the circumstances the court may consider includes whether the counsel or counsel's office exercising the challenge has used peremptory challenges disproportionately against a given race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation, or perceived membership in any of these groups, in the present case or in past cases, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, prohibits the application of these provisions to civil cases.	us/states/ca	California Legislature	20252026	SB 645	California SB 645 (20252026)	bill	Juries peremptorychallenges	enacted	Umberg	7	31	6	2025-02-20	2025-10-11	openstates	ocd-bill/e178c9a6-a6aa-40f6-8f57-5d219ce378bb	http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB645	81e7fcb0cd85c59789ee483f39839ee6d9e5a7ebe6a782a7e8310e864b4ee63e	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-ca

California SB 645 (20252026) — Juries: peremptory challenges.

Existing law provides for the exclusion of a prospective juror from a trial jury by peremptory challenge. Existing law prohibits a party from using a peremptory challenge to remove a prospective juror on the basis of, among other things, the prospective juror's race, ethnicity, or gender. Existing law allows a party, or the trial court on its own motion, to object to the use of a peremptory challenge based on these criteria. Upon objection, existing law requires the party exercising the challenge to state the reasons the peremptory challenge has been exercised. Existing law requires the court to evaluate the reasons given, as specified, and, if the court grants the objection, authorizes the court to take certain actions, including, but not limited to, starting a new jury selection, declaring a mistrial at the request of the objecting party, seating the challenged juror, or providing another remedy as the court deems appropriate. Under existing law, one of the circumstances the court may consider includes whether the counsel or counsel's office exercising the challenge has used peremptory challenges disproportionately against a given race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or religious affiliation, or perceived membership in any of these groups, in the present case or in past cases, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2026, prohibits the application of these provisions to civil cases.

Version chain

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

1. 02/20/25 - Introduced (filed) — source
2. 05/29/25 - Amended Senate (committee substitute) — source
3. 07/03/25 - Amended Assembly (committee substitute) — source
4. 09/04/25 - Amended Assembly (committee substitute) — source
5. 10/11/25 - Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
6. SB645 (committee substitute) — source
7. 09/18/25 - Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

• 3rd Reading — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 12–0 (pass) · lower
• Unfinished Business SB645 Umberg Concurrence — 37–0 (pass) · upper
• Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — 11–0 (pass) · upper
• SB 645 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Papan — 80–0 (pass) · lower
• Do pass. — 15–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Umberg — primary (person)

Timeline

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

• 2025-02-20 Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. introduction, reading-1
• 2025-02-21 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 23.
• 2025-03-05 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
• 2025-03-17 Set for hearing April 8.
• 2025-04-09 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 706.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
• 2025-04-10 Set for hearing April 21.
• 2025-04-16 April 21 hearing postponed by committee.
• 2025-05-02 Set for hearing May 12.
• 2025-05-08 May 12 hearing postponed by committee.
• 2025-05-09 Set for hearing May 19.
• 2025-05-19 From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. committee-passage, reading-2
• 2025-05-20 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-05-29 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-05-29 Ordered to second reading.
• 2025-06-02 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-06-04 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1494.) Ordered to the Assembly. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-06-05 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. reading-1
• 2025-06-16 Referred to Com. on JUD. referral-committee
• 2025-07-03 From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee
• 2025-07-09 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (July 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee
• 2025-08-20 August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
• 2025-08-29 From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 29). committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-09-02 Read second time. Ordered to third reading. reading-1, reading-2
• 2025-09-04 Read third time and amended. amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-09-04 Ordered to third reading.
• 2025-09-11 Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3275.) Ordered to the Senate. passage, reading-1, reading-3
• 2025-09-12 In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
• 2025-09-12 Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 2987.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2025-09-23 Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
• 2025-10-11 Approved by the Governor. executive-signature
• 2025-10-11 Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 656, Statutes of 2025. became-law

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/e178c9a6-a6aa-40f6-8f57-5d219ce378bb. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).