republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20252026/sb-281.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pleas: immigration advisement."
description: "Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20252026"
identifier: "SB 281"
citation: "California SB 281 (20252026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Pleas", "immigrationadvisement"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Pérez"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2025-02-05"
last_action: "2025-10-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7c37e5dd-a976-46d6-bbc3-e4e808e4cc32"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281"
source_hash: "07a36619afbb8da491ac35cb1bdc2919f746e44bcbb66cf56a2ae3872f922fc7"
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 281 (20252026) — Pleas: immigration advisement.

Existing law requires the court, prior to the acceptance of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to advise the defendant that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the crime charged may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. After January 1, 1978, if the court fails to advise the defendant, as required, and the defendant shows that conviction of the offense to which the defendant pleaded guilty or nolo contendere may have the consequences for the defendant of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States, the court, on the defendant's motion, is required to vacate the judgment and permit the defendant to withdraw the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and enter a plea of not guilty.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/05/25 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281&version=20250SB28199INT)
2. **07/15/25 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281&version=20250SB28198AMD)
3. **10/12/25 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281&version=20250SB28196CHP)
4. **SB281** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281)
5. **09/05/25 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281&version=20250SB28197ENR)

## Votes

- SB 281 Pérez Senate Third Reading By Gabriel — **53–18** (pass) · lower
- Unfinished Business SB281 Pérez et al. Concurrence — **30–10** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading — **28–10** (pass) · upper
- Do pass — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **7–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Pérez — primary (person)
- Caballero — coauthor (person)
- Gabriel — coauthor (person)
- Garcia — coauthor (person)
- Solache — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-05** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2025-02-06** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 8.
- **2025-02-14** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-07** Set for hearing March 25.
- **2025-03-25** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 533.) (March 25). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-26** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-05-28** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 28. Noes 10. Page 1291.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-05-28** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2025-06-05** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-17** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (June 17). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-18** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2025-07-15** Read third time and amended. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-07-15** Ordered to third reading.
- **2025-08-28** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 53. Noes 18. Page 2764.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2025-08-28** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2025-09-03** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 10. Page 2424.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-09-09** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m.
- **2025-10-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-10-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 666, Statutes of 2025. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7c37e5dd-a976-46d6-bbc3-e4e808e4cc32`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).