AB2122 - Infractions: warrants and penalties.

Amended IN Assembly April 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2122 Introduced by Assembly Members Kalra and Lowenthal (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bryan) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Harabedian) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Harabedian, Schultz, and Sharp-Collins) (Coauthor: Senator Pérez) February 18, 2026 An act to amend Sections 19.7, 853.6, 853.7, 853.8, 978.5, and 1043 of the Penal Code, and to amend Sections 1803, 40508, 40510.5, 40512, 40512.5, 40514, and 40515 of the Vehicle Code, relating to crimes. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2122, as amended, Kalra. Infractions: warrants and penalties. (1) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to willfully fail to appear in court, as specified. Existing law, when a person has failed to appear and has not posted bail, requires the magistrate to issue a warrant for the person’s arrest within 20 days of the failure to appear. This bill would make those sections only apply when the underlying charge is not an infraction. (2) Existing law authorizes the issuance of a bench warrant of arrest when a person fails to appear in court as promised in specified criminal proceedings. This bill would prohibit the issuance of a bench warrant of arrest when the underlying crime is an infraction. infraction issued pursuant to the Vehicle Code. The bill would require bench warrants for other infractions to be limited to only authorizing arrest and booking at the scene followed by immediate release, as specified. (3) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to willfully fail to appear in court for a violation of the Vehicle Code, and requires the court to report a conviction of this offense to the Department of Motor Vehicles. This bill would make that misdemeanor only apply when the underlying charge is not an infraction. The bill would also remove the requirement for the court to report a conviction of this offense to the department. (4) Existing law authorizes the imposition of a civil assessment or the issuance of an arrest warrant when a person fails to make an installment payment on bail imposed by the court for an infraction violation of the Vehicle Code. Existing law also makes it a misdemeanor to fail to pay bail in installments or to fail to pay a fine imposed for the violation of a state or local traffic law. This bill would repeal remove the misdemeanor for failure to pay a bail installment or fine. fine if the original charge was an infraction. The bill would remove the authorization to issue an arrest warrant for failure to pay a bail installment. (5) Existing law, if a defendant does not appear at the time the case is called for a violation of the Vehicle Code, authorizes the court to declare the bail forfeited and order that no further proceedings be had in the case, or to issue a warrant for the arrest of the defendant. However, if a defendant is charged with specified crimes, including disposing of a flaming or glowing substance on or near a road and littering a highway, has previously been convicted of the same crime, and fails to appear at the time the case is called to trial, existing law authorizes the court to declare the bail forfeited and requires the court to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the person charged, unless the magistrate finds that undue hardship will be imposed by requiring the defendant to appear. This bill would remove the requirement that the magistrate issue a bench warrant when the person has committed one of the crimes specified above. 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) Each year California processes over 3 million infractions. (b) Infractions are low-level violations, enforced by tickets, and punishable only by a fine. Court appearances are not required for infractions so long as a person pays their ticket. When people fail to pay the ticket or alternatively appear in court, however, state law currently authorizes courts to issue bench warrants for their arrest. This sets up a two-tiered system of justice. Those who can afford to pay avoid further punishment, while those who cannot may face incarceration. (c) An infraction bench warrant converts an otherwise nonjailable offense into the basis for a person’s incarceration. The punishment for failing to pay or appear is thus much more severe than the initial ticket or fine. A person’s arrest and incarceration on an infraction bench warrant, resulting from nonpayment of a fine, is effectively a form of debtor’s prison. (d) Many people who are issued infraction tickets have good reasons for failing to pay or appear in court. Many do not receive notice, cannot afford to pay the ticket, were not able to get off work or get childcare, are experiencing mental or physical health issues, or understandably are fearful of appearing in court. (e) Many people issued infraction tickets cannot afford to pay. A 2022 Debt Free Justice California survey of people exiting traffic courts found that over 70 percent of people could not afford to pay a $300 assessment. The Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking found that over 40 percent of families do not have enough money saved to cover a $400 emergency expense. (f) Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are disproportionately stopped, cited, and arrested by law enforcement for infractions. According to the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, Black people are nearly 10 times as likely to receive a citation for an infraction as White individuals. Data from the county of San Francisco show that, though Black people only make up 5.8 percent of the local population, due to systemic racism and targeted, unjust policing, 48.7 percent of those arrested for “failure to appear or pay” traffic court warrants are Black. Data obtained from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department through a Public Records Act request show that nearly 90 percent of the thousands of people arrested by the Sheriff’s Department on traffic infraction bench warrants were Black or Latinx. (g) A substantial body of social science research, including the research documented in the Ella Baker Center report “Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families,” shows that an arrest can have adverse and long-term consequences, such as negative impacts on one’s ability to secure housing, employment, and higher education opportunities, and that even short periods of detention may make people more likely to become involved with the legal system again. (h) Existing law provides courts with other tools to respond to nonpayment of infraction tickets, which do not involve arrest and incarceration, such as civil collections. Research from ideas42 and the University of Chicago CrimeLab shows that alternatives to warrants such as improved notices and reminders and common sense collections practices are more effective at generating timely court appearances and payments. SEC. 2. It is the intent of the Legislature to eliminate arrest warrants for infractions as a step towards ending debtor’s prisons in California. SEC. 3. Section 19.7 of the Penal Code is amended to read: 19.7. Except as otherwise provided by law, all laws relating to misdemeanors, except for the authority to issue bench warrants, shall apply to infractions, including, but not limited to, powers of peace officers, jurisdiction of courts, periods for commencing action and for bringing a case to trial, and burden of proof. SEC. 4. Section 853.6 of the Penal Code, as amended by Section 5 of Chapter 168 of the Statutes of 2024, is amended to read: 853.6. (a) (1) When a person is arrested for an offense declared to be a misdemeanor, including a violation of a city or county ordinance, and does not demand to be taken before a magistrate, that person shall, instead of being taken before a magistrate, be released according to the procedures set forth by this chapter, although nothing prevents an officer from first booking an arrestee pursuant to subdivision (g). If the person is released, the officer or the officer’s superior shall prepare in duplicate a written notice to appear in court, containing the name and address of the person, the offense charged, and the time when, and place where, the person shall appear in court. If, pursuant to subdivision (i), the person is not released prior to being booked and the officer in charge of the booking or the officer’s superior determines that the person should be released, the officer or the officer’s superior shall prepare a written notice to appear in a court. (2) When a person is arrested for a misdemeanor violation of a protective court order involving domestic violence, as defined in Section 13700, or arrested pursuant to a policy, as described in Section 13701, the person shall be taken before a magistrate instead of being released according to the procedures set forth in this chapter, unless the arresting officer determines that there is not a reasonable likelihood that the offense will continue or resume or that the safety of persons or property would be imminently endangered by release of the person arrested. Prior to adopting these provisions, each city, county, or city and county shall develop a protocol to assist officers to determine when arrest and release is appropriate, rather than taking the arrested person before a magistrate. The county shall establish a committee to develop the protocol, consisting of, at a minimum, the police chief or county sheriff within the jurisdiction, the district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, representatives from domestic violence shelters, domestic violence councils, and other relevant community agencies. (3) This subdivision does not apply to the crimes specified in Section 1270.1, including crimes defined in each of the following: (A) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 243. (B) Section 273.5. (C) Section 273.6, if the detained person made threats to kill or harm, has engaged in violence against, or has gone to the residence or workplace of, the protected party. (D) Section 646.9. (4) This subdivision shall not affect a defendant’s ability to be released on bail or on their own recognizance, except as specified in Section 1270.1. (b) Unless waived by the person, the time specified in the notice to appear shall be at least 10 days after arrest if the duplicate notice is to be filed by the officer with the magistrate. (c) The place specified in the notice shall be the court of the magistrate before whom the person would be taken if the requirement of taking an arrested person before a magistrate were complied with, or shall be an officer authorized by that court to receive a deposit of bail. (d) The officer shall deliver one copy of the notice to appear to the arrested person, and the arrested person, in order to secure release, shall give their written promise to appear in court as specified in the notice by signing the duplicate notice, which shall be retained by the officer, and the officer may require the arrested person, if the arrested person has no satisfactory identification, to place a right thumbprint, or a left thumbprint or fingerprint if the person has a missing or disfigured right thumb, on the notice to appear. Except for law enforcement purposes relating to the identity of the arrestee, a person or entity shall not sell, give away, allow the distribution of, include in a database, or create a database with, this print. Upon the signing of the duplicate notice, the arresting officer shall immediately release the person arrested from custody. (e) The officer shall, as soon as practicable, file the duplicate notice, as follows: (1) It shall be filed with the magistrate if the offense charged is an infraction. (2) It shall be filed with the magistrate if the prosecuting attorney has previously directed the officer to do so. (3) (A) The duplicate notice and underlying police reports in support of the charge or charges shall be filed with the prosecuting attorney in cases other than those specified in paragraphs (1) and (2). (B) If the duplicate notice is filed with the prosecuting attorney, the prosecuting attorney, within their discretion, may initiate prosecution by filing the notice or a formal complaint with the magistrate specified in the duplicate notice within 25 days from the time of arrest. If the prosecution is not to be initiated, the prosecutor shall send notice to the person arrested at the address on the notice to appear. The failure by the prosecutor to file the notice or formal complaint within 25 days of the time of the arrest shall not bar further prosecution of the misdemeanor charged in the notice to appear. However, any further prosecution shall be preceded by a new and separate citation or an arrest warrant. (C) Upon the filing of the notice with the magistrate by the officer, or the filing of the notice or formal complaint by the prosecutor, the magistrate may fix the amount of bail that in the magistrate’s judgment, in accordance with Section 1275, is reasonable and sufficient for the appearance of the defendant and shall endorse upon the notice a statement signed by the magistrate in the form set forth in Section 815a. The defendant may, prior to the date upon which the defendant promised to appear in court, deposit with the magistrate the amount of bail set by the magistrate. At the time the case is called for arraignment before the magistrate, if the defendant does not appear, either in person or by counsel, the magistrate may declare the bail forfeited, and may, in the magistrate’s discretion, order that further proceedings shall not be had in the case, unless the defendant has been charged with a violation of Section 374.3 or 374.7 of this code or of Section 11357, 11360, or 13002 of the Health and Safety Code, or a violation punishable under Section 5008.7 of the Public Resources Code, and the defendant has previously been convicted of a violation of that section or a violation that is punishable under that section, except when the magistrate finds that undue hardship will be imposed upon the defendant by requiring the defendant to appear, the magistrate may declare the bail forfeited and order that further proceedings not be had in the case. (D) Upon the making of the order that further proceedings not be had, all sums deposited as bail shall immediately be paid into the county treasury for distribution pursuant to Section 1463. (f) A warrant shall not be issued for the arrest of a person who has given a written promise to appear in court, unless and until the person has violated that promise or has failed to deposit bail, to appear for arraignment, trial, or judgment, or to comply with the terms and provisions of the judgment, as required by law. (g) The officer may book the arrested person at the scene or at the arresting agenc [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]