republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/ab-304.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Wiretapping: authorization."
description: "Existing law establishes a procedure for a prosecutor to apply for, and the court to issue, an order authorizing law enforcement to intercept a wire or electronic communication. 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 Courts regarding these interceptions, as specified. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony. Existing law makes these provisions effective until January 1, 2020."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "AB 304"
citation: "California AB 304 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Wiretapping: authorization."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jones-Sawyer"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-29"
last_action: "2019-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fe7b41c8-5405-439c-bb83-4378e500b910"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB304"
source_hash: "1c6865ae21f9292de11b9eea66815082da7f0094737da2a2c8fe3fa4cac771ee"
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 304 (20192020) — Wiretapping: authorization.

Existing law establishes a procedure for a prosecutor to apply for, and the court to issue, an order authorizing law enforcement to intercept a wire or electronic communication. 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 Courts regarding these interceptions, as specified. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor or as a felony. Existing law makes these provisions effective until January 1, 2020.

## Version chain

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

1. **01/29/19 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB304&version=20190AB30499INT)
2. **10/08/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB304&version=20190AB30497CHP)
3. **AB304** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB304)
4. **09/12/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB304&version=20190AB30498ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Special Consent AB304 — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 304 Jones-Sawyer Assembly Third Reading — **75–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jones-Sawyer — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-29** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2019-01-30** From printer. May be heard in committee March 1.
- **2019-02-07** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-12** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (March 12). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-20** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-16** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (May 16). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-05-20** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-28** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 2021.) `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-29** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2019-06-06** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-25** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 25). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-07-08** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2019-08-30** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 30). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2019-08-30** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-09-04** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2019-09-09** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2711.). `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-09** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2019-09-17** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2019-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 607, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fe7b41c8-5405-439c-bb83-4378e500b910`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).