AB31 - Peace officers: tribal police.

Enrolled August 27, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 24, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 25, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 09, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 31 Introduced by Assembly Member Ramos December 02, 2024 An act to amend Sections 830.83, 832.55, and 11073 of, to amend the heading of Article 2.45 (commencing with Section 11073) of Chapter 1 of Title 1 of Part 4 of, to amend and renumber Section 11073.6 of, and to repeal Section 11073.5 of, the Penal Code, relating to peace officers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 31, Ramos. Peace officers: tribal police. Existing law provides that any person who comes within the provisions of specified statutes and who otherwise meets all standards imposed by law on a peace officer is a peace officer, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Existing law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators, park rangers, and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions. Existing federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Existing federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California. Existing law, from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2029, establishes the Tribal Police Pilot Program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training that grants peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. Existing law authorizes the department to select 3 federally recognized tribes to participate in this pilot program, sets certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and places certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution that authorizes the exercise of that authority and provides for public access to certain records. This bill would rename the pilot program to the Tribal Police Program and would extend the program indefinitely. Existing law creates the Tribal Police Pilot Fund in the State Treasury to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, assist program participants with the cost of information technology necessary to comply with reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies. This bill would rename that fund to the Tribal Police Fund. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) California is home to more Native American and Alaska Native people than any other state in the country. There are approximately 109 federally recognized tribes in California. Federally recognized tribes have a unique government-to-government relationship with local, state, and federal entities, and are recognized as sovereign nations. Tribes can create their own laws, governmental structure, and enrollment or membership rules for the land and citizens of their nation. (b) California has the fifth largest caseload of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. Nationwide, more than four in five Native American and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, and more than one in three have in the last year. One in 130 Native American children are likely to go missing each year. Indigenous women go missing and are murdered at rates higher than any other ethnic group in the United States. Nearly one-half of all indigenous women have been raped, beaten, or stalked by an intimate partner. LGBTQ+ Native Americans and people who identify as “two-spirit” people within tribal communities are also often the targets of violence. (c) California Indian tribes retain the inherent authority to self-govern, including the authority to enact laws that govern their lands. (d) Approximately 27 tribal governments in the state have exercised their inherent authority by establishing law enforcement agencies to maintain public safety on Indian lands. Additionally, tribes have exercised their inherent authority by establishing 22 tribal courts statewide, serving approximately 40 tribes. (e) Federal law contemplates that certain states, including the State of California, will enforce state criminal laws on Indian lands in those states. (f) Thirteen states and the federal government provide tribal law enforcement authority to enforce state or federal law if tribal officers meet qualifications delineated in the state and federal authorizing legislation and regulations. Twenty-one of the 27 tribal governments in California that have law enforcement departments have deputation agreements with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, which allows qualified tribal officers to become special commissioned federal officers authorized to enforce federal law on Indian lands in their jurisdiction. (g) A large number of persons are designated as peace officers under state law, including, without limitation, the members of the University of California and California State University Police Departments and certain employees of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Others have limited designation as peace officers under state law, including, without limitation, museum safety and security employees of the California Science Center, police appointed by the California Exposition and State Fair, certain employees of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and persons designated by a local agency as a park ranger. Tribal law enforcement officers are not designated peace officers under state law. (h) While there are avenues for tribal officers to enforce state law on Indian lands, these options are limited, discretionary, and inconsistently applied across counties. While state law authorizes a county sheriff to deputize a tribal officer as a reserve or auxiliary deputy, those agreements are often limited by the sheriff’s term in office and subject to termination at any time. (i) Where state and county law enforcement departments have developed close working and cooperative relationships with the tribal law enforcement agencies, these relationships have resulted in greater public safety for both the Indian and non-Indian communities. (j) Tribal governments employing police designated as California peace officers should be subject to the same requirements and responsibilities as other local and state agencies, including transparency and the right of the public to seek redress for grievances, while also recognizing that tribal governments are sovereign nations that govern themselves in accordance with their own laws and are not subject to liability in the same manner as state and local governmental entities. (k) Federal law, Public Law 280 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1162), governs the criminal jurisdiction of the State of California in Indian country within the state. It is the intent of the Legislature that this act complies with and furthers the purpose of that federal law. (l) As a constitutional officer of the State of California and the chief law enforcement officer for the state, the Attorney General has inherent authority over the peace officers and law enforcement agencies of the state. The authority over tribal police officers and their employing tribes granted to the Attorney General by this act is not intended to supersede or infringe upon the authority of sovereign tribal governments. SEC. 2. Section 830.83 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 830.83. (a) Commencing on July 1, 2026, a chief of police appointed by a qualified entity enrolled in the program established by Section 11073 and meeting the requirements of a qualified member, or a police officer, public safety officer, or investigator employed in that capacity by a qualified entity enrolled in the program established by Section 11073 and meeting the requirements of a qualified member, is a peace officer. As used in this section, “qualified entity” and “qualified member” have the meanings set forth in Section 11073. (b) The authority of a peace officer designated pursuant to this section extends to any place within the territorial boundaries of the Indian country of the employing tribe, in accordance with and subject to any limitations of Public Law 280 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 1162). The authority of a peace officer designated pursuant to this section may also extend to any place in the state, under any of the following circumstances: (1) At the request of a state or local law enforcement agency. (2) Under exigent circumstances involving an immediate danger to persons or property, or the escape of a perpetrator. (3) For the purpose of making an arrest consistent with Section 836, if a public offense has occurred or there is probable cause to believe a public offense has occurred within the Indian country of the tribe that employs the peace officer, and with the prior consent of the chief of police or chief, director, or chief executive officer of a consolidated municipal public safety agency, or person authorized by that chief, director, or officer to give consent, if the place is within a city, or of the sheriff, or person authorized by the sheriff to give consent, if the place is within an unincorporated area of a county. (4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), if the peace officer is in hot pursuit or close pursuit of an individual that the officer has reasonable suspicion has violated or attempted to violate state law and the violation occurred within the Indian country of the tribe that employs the peace officer. (5) If delivering an apprehended person to the custody of a law enforcement authority or magistrate in the city or county in which the offense occurred. (c) This section shall become operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for the purposes of this section. SEC. 3. Section 832.55 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 832.55. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 13510.1, a peace officer described in Section 830.83 shall be subject to the applicable requirements of, and the certification program for, peace officers described in Section 13510.1. (b) (1) Every peace officer described in Section 830.83 shall obtain the basic certificate issued by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training upon completion of a 12-month probationary period, but in no case later than 24 months after their employment, in order to continue to exercise the powers of a peace officer after the expiration of the 24-month period. (2) If the probationary period established by the employing agency is 24 months, a peace officer described in this subdivision may continue to exercise the powers of a peace officer for an additional 3-month period to allow for the processing of the certification application. (c) Each police chief, or any other person in charge of a qualified entity, as defined in Section 11073, as a condition of continued authority as a peace officer, shall obtain the basic certificate issued by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training within two years of appointment. (d) Subdivisions (b) and (c) do not apply to a police officer, public safety officer, or investigator described in Section 830.83 who currently possesses a valid and active basic certificate. (e) This section shall become operative only upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for the purposes of this section. SEC. 4. The heading of Article 2.45 (commencing with Section 11073) of Chapter 1 of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code is amended to read: Article 2.45. Tribal Police Program SEC. 5. Section 11073 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 11073. (a) The Tribal Police Program is hereby established to operate, commencing July 1, 2026, under the direction of the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. (b) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, a qualified entity may notify the department that it wishes to enroll in the program and, upon verification by the department, in coordination with the commission, that the entity has complied with the requirements prescribed in subdivision (d), any qualified member of that entity shall be deemed a peace officer as provided in Section 830.83. (c) (1) A person shall not be a qualified member unless the person completes and maintains all applicable requirements for the appointment, training, education, hiring, eligibility, and certification required for peace officers under state law, including, without limitation, the requirements described in Sections 832 and 832.55 and any regulations adopted thereunder. (2) A qualified member is subject to the requirements of Sections 13500 to 13519.15, inclusive, of this code, Sections 1029, 1030, 1031, and 1031.4 of the Government Code, and any regulations adopted thereto. (3) A qualified entity designating a person as a peace officer pursuant to this program shall document that person’s compliance with this subdivision and Section 832.55 and shall submit that documentation to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. (d) A qualified entity enrolled in this program shall do all of the following: (1) Enact and maintain in continuous force a tribal law or resolution expressing its intent that tribal officers participating in this program be California peace officers and that the qualified entity be similarly situated to a California local law enforcement agency employing California peace officers, and adopt any requirements prescribed by this section and Sections 830.83 and 832.55. (2) Adopt and maintain in continuous force, for a period of no less than three years after the conclusion of participation in the program, tribal law that provides public access to records and related procedures and remedies substantively identical to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code) as to any record related to this program. Those records shall include, without limitation, a record related to conduct specified in Section 832.7 by a person designated as a peace officer pursuant to this program, including any administrative record of the tribe specifically related to that conduct. (3) Adopt and maintain in continuous force tribal law that provides procedures and remedies substantively identical to the Government Claims Ac [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]