republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/sb-61.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Wiretapping: authorization."
description: "Existing law establishes a procedure for the application for, and issuance of, an order authorizing the interception of a wire, electronic pager, or electronic cellular telephone communication, as those terms are defined, and, among other things, establishes additional provisions regarding those interceptions for purposes of criminal proceedings. Existing law requires the Attorney General to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature, the Judicial Council, and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Court regarding these interceptions, as specified. The report is required to include, among other things, a general description of the interceptions made under the order or extension, including the approximate nature and frequency of incriminating communications intercepted, the approximate nature and frequency of other communications intercepted, the approximate number of persons whose communications were intercepted, and the approximate nature, amount, and cost of the manpower and other resources used in the interceptions. Existing law provides that a violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor with specified penalties, or as a felony. Existing law further provides that all of these provisions shall remain in effect until January 1, 2012."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 61"
citation: "California SB 61 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Wiretapping: authorization."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pavley"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 26
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2010-12-22"
last_action: "2011-10-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/18717f9c-56a3-4007-ba2c-082da9f832c8"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61"
source_hash: "ee85abb1b9d6b41ff5e725841eccc948eb0bc7b5a3c1fc35d0ebda1b0556e72c"
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 61 (20112012) — Wiretapping: authorization.

Existing law establishes a procedure for the application for, and issuance of, an order authorizing the interception of a wire, electronic pager, or electronic cellular telephone communication, as those terms are defined, and, among other things, establishes additional provisions regarding those interceptions for purposes of criminal proceedings. Existing law requires the Attorney General to prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislature, the Judicial Council, and the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Court regarding these interceptions, as specified. The report is required to include, among other things, a general description of the interceptions made under the order or extension, including the approximate nature and frequency of incriminating communications intercepted, the approximate nature and frequency of other communications intercepted, the approximate number of persons whose communications were intercepted, and the approximate nature, amount, and cost of the manpower and other resources used in the interceptions. Existing law provides that a violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor with specified penalties, or as a felony. Existing law further provides that all of these provisions shall remain in effect until January 1, 2012.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/22/10 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61&version=20110SB6199INT)
2. **08/26/11 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61&version=20110SB6198AMD)
3. **10/09/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61&version=20110SB6196CHP)
4. **SB61** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61)
5. **09/12/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB61&version=20110SB6197ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB61 Pavley Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and re-refer to Committee on Appropriations with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 61 Pavley Senate Third Reading By HILL — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Special Consent #4 — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on Appropriations Suspense file. — **8–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Pavley — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2010-12-22** Introduced. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction`
- **2011-01-03** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 22.
- **2011-01-03** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2011-01-20** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-09** Set for hearing March 22.
- **2011-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 417.) (March 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-04-01** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2011-04-11** Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2011-05-20** Set for hearing May 26.
- **2011-05-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 1112.) (May 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-05-31** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2011-06-02** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 1281.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-06-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-06-13** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-07-07** Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2011-08-26** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (August 25). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-26** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2011-08-29** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-09-07** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 3000.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-09-07** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2011-09-08** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2406.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2011-09-14** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:30 a.m.
- **2011-10-09** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-10-09** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 663, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/18717f9c-56a3-4007-ba2c-082da9f832c8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).