republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20172018/sb-238.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal procedure: arrests and evidence."
description: "(1) Existing law requires that a person arrested without a warrant be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay. Existing law also provides certain circumstances under which a person arrested without a warrant may be released from custody before being taken before a magistrate, including, among others, when the arresting officer believes that insufficient grounds exist to make a criminal complaint against the person arrested or when the person is arrested for intoxication only and no further proceedings are desirable."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20172018"
identifier: "SB 238"
citation: "California SB 238 (20172018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Criminal procedure: arrests and evidence."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hertzberg"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 25
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2017-02-06"
last_action: "2017-10-07"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1f50bdda-ec89-4f99-85db-ba5c5506d6f2"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238"
source_hash: "b217f9ef2e375768b6202b1cd4b2ad600746c46ad44d3ebcda7a9a2fafdee763"
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 238 (20172018) — Criminal procedure: arrests and evidence.

(1) Existing law requires that a person arrested without a warrant be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay. Existing law also provides certain circumstances under which a person arrested without a warrant may be released from custody before being taken before a magistrate, including, among others, when the arresting officer believes that insufficient grounds exist to make a criminal complaint against the person arrested or when the person is arrested for intoxication only and no further proceedings are desirable.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/06/17 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238&version=20170SB23899INT)
2. **09/08/17 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238&version=20170SB23898AMD)
3. **10/07/17 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238&version=20170SB23896CHP)
4. **SB238** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238)
5. **09/18/17 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB238&version=20170SB23897ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- Special Consent Calendar (Urgency Clause) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 238 Hertzberg Third Reading Urgency By BLOOM — **79–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hertzberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-06** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-07** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 9.
- **2017-02-16** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-01** Set for hearing March 21.
- **2017-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 430.) (March 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2017-04-05** Set for hearing April 17.
- **2017-04-17** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2017-04-18** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-04-20** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 768.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-04-20** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2017-05-18** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-13** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2017-06-28** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (June 28). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-06-29** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2017-07-03** From consent calendar on motion of Assembly Member Bonta.
- **2017-07-03** Ordered to third reading.
- **2017-09-08** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2017-09-08** Ordered to third reading.
- **2017-09-11** Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3149.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2017-09-11** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2017-09-12** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2017-09-14** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2905.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2017-09-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2017-10-07** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2017-10-07** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 566, Statutes of 2017.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1f50bdda-ec89-4f99-85db-ba5c5506d6f2`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).