AB2342 - Parole.

Amended IN Assembly April 14, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2342 Introduced by Assembly Member Hoover (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alanis, Davies, Dixon, Flora, Gallagher, Hadwick, Johnson, Lackey, Macedo, Patterson, and Ta) (Coauthors: Senators Alvarado-Gil, Choi, Dahle, Jones, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, and Valladares) February 19, 2026 An act to amend Section 3041.2 of 11126 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 3041, 3041.2, and 3041.5 of, and to add Section 3041.9 to, the Penal Code, relating to parole. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2342, as amended, Hoover. Parole. The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to affirm, modify, or reverse the decision of the Board of Parole Hearings with respect to the granting, denial, revocation, or suspension of parole of a person sentenced to an indeterminate term upon conviction of murder. Existing law classifies certain felonies as violent felonies for purposes of various provisions of the Penal Code. This bill would additionally authorize the Governor to reverse or modify the decision of the board to grant parole to an inmate sentenced for conviction of a violent felony to an indeterminate prison term, as specified, or to a determinate prison term, as specified, if the board’s decision is to grant the inmate parole pursuant to the Elderly Parole Program or youth offender parole program. Existing law requires the Board of Parole Hearings to meet with each indeterminately sentenced inmate during the 6th year before the inmate’s minimum eligible parole date for the purpose of reviewing and documenting the inmate’s activities and conduct pertinent to parole eligibility. One year before the inmate’s eligible parole date, existing law requires a panel of the board to meet with the inmate and to grant parole unless the panel or board sitting en banc determines that the gravity of the current convicted offense, or the timing and gravity of current or past convicted offenses, is such that consideration of the public safety requires a more lengthy period of incarceration for the inmate. Existing law, the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. Existing law authorizes certain state bodies to hold closed session meetings for certain purposes, including allowing a state body to hold a closed session when considering and acting upon the determination of a term, parole, or release of any individual or other disposition of an individual case. This bill would require the board to provide an annual report to the Legislature, and publish that report on its internet website, detailing, among other things, the voting record of commissioners, as specified, and whether the prosecuting agency appeared at the parole hearing. The bill would also require recording of parole, en banc, and rescission hearings to be recorded and transcribed, and the recording retained indefinitely by the board. The bill would prohibit an en banc review conducted by the board from being held in a closed session. Existing law, as amended by Proposition 9, the Victim’s Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law, at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires the board, following a decision denying parole, to schedule the next hearing 3, 5, 7, 10, or 15 years from the date of the last hearing, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the board, in its discretion and after considering the views and interests of the victim, to advance a hearing to an earlier date, when a change in circumstances or new information establishes a reasonable likelihood that consideration of the public and victim’s safety does not require additional incarceration. Existing law authorizes an inmate, every 3 years, to request that the board exercise its discretion to advance a hearing and provides the procedure for an inmate to make that request. This bill would require the Board of Parole Hearings, in determining suitability for parole, to consider specified information and give substantial weight to the nature and circumstances of the commitment offense that includes, among other things, the degree of violence involved and the vulnerability of the victim. The bill would change the length of time between requests to advance to 5 years and would also change the inmate’s burden to require the inmate to show that there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances or new information. The bill would require the board to provide notice of a request to advance to the prosecuting agency and registered victim, and would authorize the board to summarily deny a request to advance in certain circumstances, including when the request is duplicative or repetitive or fails to include sufficient documentation or explanation. The bill would require the board to set a hearing, following a decision denying parole, at 5 years if the inmate is serving a term of conviction for, among other things, murder involving a victim 14 years of age or younger, or various sexual offenses involving a victim 14 years of age or younger. The bill would require that the board deny a request to advance for an individual serving a term for those offenses, unless the request demonstrates clear and convincing evidence of a material and substantial change in circumstances. These provisions would become operative only if Assembly Constitutional Amendment ____ of the 2025–26 Regular Session Session, amending Section 8 of Article V of the Constitution, is approved by the voters at the November 3, 2026, statewide election. The bill would make related findings and declarations and would declare that its provisions are severable. 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) The people of the State of California, through the adoption of Marsy’s Law, declared that public safety and the rights of victims of crime, including in parole determinations, are paramount in the criminal justice system. (b) Marsy’s Law guarantees victims the right to be heard at parole hearings, the right to reasonable notice of those hearings, and the right to finality in criminal proceedings. (c) Parole statutes shall be interpreted and applied in a manner that fully effectuates these constitutional rights. (d) The nature and circumstances of the commitment offense are critical indicators of current dangerousness and shall be given substantial weight. (e) Repeated parole hearings and petitions to advance hearings, absent meaningful change, undermine victim rights and impose significant emotional burdens. (f) It is the intent of the Legislature to clarify and strengthen parole law consistent with victim rights and public safety. (g) This act implements and furthers Marsy’s Law and does not diminish victim rights. SEC. 2. Section 11126 of the Government Code is amended to read: 11126. (a) (1) Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent a state body from holding closed sessions during a regular or special meeting to consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, or dismissal of a public employee or to hear complaints or charges brought against that employee by another person or employee unless the employee requests a public hearing. (2) As a condition to holding a closed session on the complaints or charges to consider disciplinary action or to consider dismissal, the employee shall be given written notice of their right to have a public hearing, rather than a closed session, and that notice shall be delivered to the employee personally or by mail at least 24 hours before the time for holding a regular or special meeting. If notice is not given, any disciplinary or other action taken against any employee at the closed session shall be null and void. (3) The state body also may exclude from any public or closed session, during the examination of a witness, any or all other witnesses in the matter being investigated by the state body. (4) Following the public hearing or closed session, the body may deliberate on the decision to be reached in a closed session. (b) For the purposes of this section, “employee” does not include any person who is elected to, or appointed to a public office by, any state body. However, officers of the California State University who receive compensation for their services, other than per diem and ordinary and necessary expenses, shall, when engaged in that capacity, be considered employees. Furthermore, for purposes of this section, the term employee includes a person exempt from civil service pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 4 of Article VII of the California Constitution. (c) Nothing in this article shall be construed to do any of the following: (1) Prevent state bodies that administer the licensing of persons engaging in businesses or professions from holding closed sessions to prepare, approve, grade, or administer examinations. (2) Prevent an advisory body of a state body that administers the licensing of persons engaged in businesses or professions from conducting a closed session to discuss matters that the advisory body has found would constitute an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of an individual licensee or applicant if discussed in an open meeting, provided the advisory body does not include a quorum of the members of the state body it advises. Those matters may include review of an applicant’s qualifications for licensure and an inquiry specifically related to the state body’s enforcement program concerning an individual licensee or applicant where the inquiry occurs prior to the filing of a civil, criminal, or administrative disciplinary action against the licensee or applicant by the state body. (3) Prohibit a state body from holding a closed session to deliberate on a decision to be reached in a proceeding required to be conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) or similar provisions of law. (4) Grant (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), grant a right to enter any correctional institution or the grounds of a correctional institution where that right is not otherwise granted by law, nor shall anything in this article be construed to prevent a state body from holding a closed session when considering and acting upon the determination of a term, parole, or release of any individual or other disposition of an individual case, or if public disclosure of the subjects under discussion or consideration is expressly prohibited by statute. (B) An en banc review conducted by the Board of Parole Hearings pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 3041 of the Penal Code shall not be held in a closed session. (5) Prevent any closed session to consider the conferring of honorary degrees, or gifts, donations, and bequests that the donor or proposed donor has requested in writing to be kept confidential. (6) Prevent the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board or the Cannabis Control Appeals Panel from holding a closed session for the purpose of holding a deliberative conference as provided in Section 11125. (7) (A) Prevent a state body from holding closed sessions with its negotiator prior to the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of real property by or for the state body to give instructions to its negotiator regarding the price and terms of payment for the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease. (B) However, prior to the closed session, the state body shall hold an open and public session in which it identifies the real property or real properties that the negotiations may concern and the person or persons with whom its negotiator may negotiate. (C) For purposes of this paragraph, the negotiator may be a member of the state body. (D) For purposes of this paragraph, “lease” includes renewal or renegotiation of a lease. (E) Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude a state body from holding a closed session for discussions regarding eminent domain proceedings pursuant to subdivision (e). (8) Prevent the California Postsecondary Education Commission from holding closed sessions to consider matters pertaining to the appointment or termination of the Director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. (9) Prevent the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education from holding closed sessions to consider matters pertaining to the appointment or termination of the Executive Director of the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. (10) Prevent the Franchise Tax Board from holding closed sessions for the purpose of discussion of confidential tax returns or information the public disclosure of which is prohibited by law, or from considering matters pertaining to the appointment or removal of the Executive Officer of the Franchise Tax Board. (11) Require the Franchise Tax Board to notice or disclose any confidential tax information considered in closed sessions, or documents executed in connection therewith, the public disclosure of which is prohibited pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 19542) of Chapter 7 of Part 10.2 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. (12) Prevent the Board of State and Community Corrections from holding closed sessions when considering reports of crime conditions under Section 6027 of the Penal Code. (13) Prevent the State Air Resources Board from holding closed sessions when considering the proprietary specifications and performance data of manufacturers. (14) Prevent the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction, or any committee advising the board or the Superintendent, from holding closed sessions on those portions of its review of assessment instruments pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code during which actual test content is reviewed and discussed. The purpose of this provision is to maintain the confidentiality of the assessments under review. (15) Prevent the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery or its auxiliary committees from holding closed sessions for the purpose of discussing confidential tax returns, discussing trade secrets or confidential or proprietary information in its possession, or discussing other data, the public disclosure of which is prohibited by law. (16) Prevent a state body that invests retirement, pension, or endowment funds from holding closed sessions when considering investment decisions. For purposes of consideration of shareholder voting on corporate stocks held by the state body, closed sessions for the purposes of voting may be held only with respect to election of corporate directors, election of independent auditors, and other financial issues that could have a material effect on the net income of the corporation. For the purpose of [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]