Official Summary Text
AB 2235, as amended, Pacheco.
The Judicial Home Security Act.
Existing
law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies. Existing
law authorizes a person who faces
threats of violence or violence and harassment
violence, harassment, or threats of violence
from the public because of their work for a public entity to apply to the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant’s residence address contained in any public record
and otherwise provide for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Under existing law, any person who makes a false statement in an application is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would establish the Judicial Home Security Act, which would require the Attorney General to establish a program for a
current or former
judicial
officer
officer, including a current or former superior court judge or district court judge,
who is domiciled in California
to apply to have a designated alternate mailing address substituted for any
reference to the person’s home address in records that are made public.
to prevent disclosure of their home address by a state or local agency. In this regard, if the Attorney General approves a judicial officer to participate in the program, the bill would authorize the judicial officer to require, upon their request, that a state or local agency substitute a designated alternate address for their home address referenced in any records that are made public.
The bill would establish the Judicial Home Security Program Fund in the General Fund and
would
authorize moneys in the fund to be made available for the administration of the program upon appropriation by the Legislature.
The bill would require the Attorney General to approve an application if
it is filed in the manner and on the form prescribed by the Attorney General and contains
all
prescribed information,
including, among other things,
including
documentation showing the individual is
to commence employment or is currently or formerly employed as
or will be
a judicial
officer, a sworn statement that
officer and a sworn statement that
the applicant fears for their safety or the safety of their family due to their employment as a judicial
officer, and an alternate mailing address requested for substitution for any reference to the person’s home address in public records.
officer.
The bill would require the application to be dated and signed under penalty of
perjury. Under the bill, it would be a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly provide
perjury, and would make knowingly providing
false or incorrect information in the
application, and the bill would require a notice to be printed in the application informing the applicant.
application a misdemeanor. The bill would require the Attorney General to commence accepting applications under the program on April 1, 2027.
The bill would require the Attorney General to create, maintain, and update monthly a publicly available list that includes
information for each current program participant, including their
the
name, county of residence, and designated alternate mailing
address.
address of each current program participant.
The bill would also require the Attorney General to create, maintain, and update monthly a list that includes former participants who are no longer in the program, and make the list available to state and local agencies and third-party data brokers and
aggregators.
aggregators, as specified.
The bill would require, when disclosing or releasing records or information that would otherwise contain the home address of a program participant in
any format or medium, a state or local agency to substitute the participant’s alternate mailing address for any reference to the participant’s home address. The bill would require, when disclosing or releasing records or information that would otherwise contain the situs of the home address of a program participant in any format or medium,
County Assessor and Recorder offices
a county assessor office and a county recorder office
to substitute the program participant’s alternate mailing address for the situs address on real property deeds, real estate records, and any other records containing the home address of a program participant.
The bill would prohibit the disclosure of a participant’s home address by the Attorney General and state and local
agencies
agencies,
except in specified circumstances. The bill would prohibit a person or organization from publicly posting or displaying the home address of a program
participant,
participant who has made a written demand of that person or organization,
including on the internet, and would prohibit a third-party data broker or aggregator from selling, licensing, trading, purchasing, transferring, releasing, or otherwise sharing in any format or medium, the home address of a program participant, including on the internet.
The bill would authorize the Attorney General to adopt guidance to facilitate the administration of the act by state and local agencies. The bill would require the Attorney
General to submit to the Legislature,
General, beginning January 10, 2028, and
no later than January 10 of each
year,
year thereafter, to submit to the Legislature
a report that includes the total number of applications received for the program.
By imposing new duties on local
agencies and
agencies,
expanding the scope of the crime of perjury,
and creating a crime,
this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting
that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public
officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.