AB-461 • 2026

Truancy.

Children Crime Education Parental Rights

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Ahrens
Last action: 2025-10-01
Official status: Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 154, Statutes of 2025.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide information on what will replace the criminal penalties for parents whose children are chronically absent.

Truancy Law Changes

AB-461 removes the criminal penalties for parents whose children are chronically absent from school without a valid reason.

What This Bill Does

Repeals the law that made it a misdemeanor offense for parents or guardians to fail to reasonably supervise and encourage their child's attendance in grades K through 8 if the child is often missing school.
Eliminates fines and jail time as punishments for these parents, which could have been up to $2,000 or one year in jail.

Who It Names or Affects

Parents of students in kindergarten through eighth grade who miss a lot of school without valid reasons.
School districts and local law enforcement agencies involved with truancy cases.

Terms To Know

Chronic truant: A student who is often absent from school without a good reason.
Compulsory education: The requirement that children must attend school until they reach a certain age or meet other conditions.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify what will happen to parents if their child is chronically absent from school after this law changes.
It does not change the overall rule that kids aged 6 to 18 must go to school unless they are exempted.

Bill History

2025-10-01 California Legislative Information
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 154, Statutes of 2025.
2025-10-01 California Legislative Information
Approved by the Governor.
2025-09-22 California Legislative Information
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
2025-09-10 California Legislative Information
Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 14. Page 3234.).
2025-09-09 California Legislative Information
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
2025-09-09 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 9. Page 2705.).
2025-09-08 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-09-05 California Legislative Information
Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
2025-09-02 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-08-29 California Legislative Information
Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
2025-08-29 California Legislative Information
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (August 29).
2025-08-18 California Legislative Information
In committee: Referred to suspense file.
2025-07-15 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (July 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-07-01 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
2025-06-11 California Legislative Information
Referred to Coms. on HUMAN S. and PUB. S.
2025-06-03 California Legislative Information
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
2025-06-02 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 60. Noes 9. Page 1831.)
2025-05-27 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2025-05-23 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 11. Noes 2.) (May 23).
2025-05-21 California Legislative Information
Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1627.)
2025-05-21 California Legislative Information
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
2025-05-14 California Legislative Information
In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
2025-04-30 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-09 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on PUB. S. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.
2025-04-09 California Legislative Information
Coauthors revised.
2025-03-25 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on HUM. S.
2025-03-24 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended.
2025-03-24 California Legislative Information
Referred to Coms. on HUM. S. and PUB. S.
2025-02-07 California Legislative Information
From printer. May be heard in committee March 9.
2025-02-06 California Legislative Information
Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 461, Ahrens.
Truancy.
Existing law, the Compulsory Education Law, generally makes persons
between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age subject to compulsory full-time education, unless exempted.
Existing
law makes a parent or guardian of a pupil of 6 years of age or more who is in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and subject to compulsory full-time or continuing education, whose child is a chronic truant, as defined, who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil’s school attendance, and who has been offered support services to address the pupil’s truancy, guilty of a misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000, or imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, or both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill would repeal that criminal offense.

Current Bill Text

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