republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20192020/sb-17.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Civil discovery: sanctions."
description: "The Civil Discovery Act authorizes a party to a civil action to obtain discovery, as specified, by inspecting documents, tangible things, land or other property, and electronically stored information in the possession of any other party to the action. Existing law authorizes a court, after notice to any affected party, person, or attorney, and after opportunity for hearing, to impose sanctions against anyone engaging in conduct that is a misuse of the discovery process, as specified."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20192020"
identifier: "SB 17"
citation: "California SB 17 (20192020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil discovery: sanctions."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Umberg"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 30
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2018-12-03"
last_action: "2019-10-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/94345af0-9066-45d5-8470-6f86d4b91112"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17"
source_hash: "8ce6b6c21c35273f4781b6088ddab4ac4c93aa9b1ab75663dab620a8194f4fcb"
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 17 (20192020) — Civil discovery: sanctions.

The Civil Discovery Act authorizes a party to a civil action to obtain discovery, as specified, by inspecting documents, tangible things, land or other property, and electronically stored information in the possession of any other party to the action. Existing law authorizes a court, after notice to any affected party, person, or attorney, and after opportunity for hearing, to impose sanctions against anyone engaging in conduct that is a misuse of the discovery process, as specified.

## Version chain

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

1. **12/03/18 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1799INT)
2. **03/20/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1798AMD)
3. **04/11/19 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1797AMD)
4. **05/30/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1796AMD)
5. **06/12/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1795AMD)
6. **06/19/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1794AMD)
7. **09/03/19 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1793AMD)
8. **10/12/19 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1791CHP)
9. **SB17** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17)
10. **09/12/19 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB17&version=20190SB1792ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass as amended. — **18–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB17 Umberg Concurrence — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **12–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 17 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Gabriel — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Consent Calendar SB17 — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Umberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-12-03** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2018-12-04** From printer. May be acted upon on or after January 3.
- **2019-01-16** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-20** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-27** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-02** Set for hearing April 23.
- **2019-04-11** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-24** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 797.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-04-26** Set for hearing May 6.
- **2019-05-06** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2019-05-07** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-05-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1003.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-05-09** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2019-05-16** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2019-05-29** June 4 hearing postponed by committee.
- **2019-05-30** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-06-12** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-06-18** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 18). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2019-06-19** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2019-06-26** June 26 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2019-08-30** From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (August 30). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2019-09-03** Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-09-04** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2019-09-09** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 3176.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1`
- **2019-09-09** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2019-09-10** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2019-09-10** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 27. Noes 84. Page 2784.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-09-17** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2019-10-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-10-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 836, Statutes of 2019.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/94345af0-9066-45d5-8470-6f86d4b91112`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).