Amended  IN  Assembly  March 09, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1955

Introduced by Assembly Member Alanis

February 13, 2026

An act to amend Section 71 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes. An act to amend Section 12022.53 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1955, as amended, Alanis. Public officials: threats. Crimes: firearm enhancements.
Under existing law, anyone who personally uses a firearm in the commission of a specified felony offense shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 10 years, or by 20 years if they discharge the firearm, or by imprisonment for 25 years to life if they discharge the firearm and proximately causes great bodily harm. Existing law prohibits the application of these firearm enhancements to the lawful use or discharge of a firearm by a peace officer, under specified circumstances, or by any person in lawful self-defense, lawful defense of another, or lawful defense of property.
This bill would, notwithstanding the exemption above, prohibit the application of these firearm enhancements to a peace officer, as defined, unless the use or discharge of the firearm did not arise out of and was not in the course of employment. The bill would place the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence on the prosecution that the firearm enhancements apply to a peace officer. The bill would define “arise out of and in the course of employment” for these purposes. By placing the burden of proof on, and thus imposing a new duty on, local prosecutors, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change.
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.

Existing law makes it an offense for any person, with the intent to cause, attempts to cause or causes a public officer or employee, as specified, to do or refrain from doing any act in the performance of their duties, by means of a threat to inflict an unlawful injury that is directly communicated to the person, as specified.

This bill would clarify that a threat can be directly communicated by means of an electronic communication device for the purposes of this section.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 12022.53 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

12022.53.
 (a) This section applies to the following felonies:
(1) Section 187 (murder).
(2) Section 203 or 205 (mayhem).
(3) Section 207, 209, or 209.5 (kidnapping).
(4) Section 211 (robbery).
(5) Section 215 (carjacking).
(6) Section 220 (assault with intent to commit a specified felony).
(7) Subdivision (d) of Section 245 (assault with a firearm on a peace officer or firefighter).
(8) Section 261 or former Section 262 (rape).
(9) Section 264.1 (rape or sexual penetration in concert).
(10) Section 286 (sodomy).
(11) Section 287 or former Section 288a (oral copulation).
(12) Section 288 or 288.5 (lewd act on a child).
(13) Section 289 (sexual penetration).
(14) Section 4500 (assault by a life prisoner).
(15) Section 4501 (assault by a prisoner).
(16) Section 4503 (holding a hostage by a prisoner).
(17) Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life.
(18) Any attempt to commit a crime listed in this subdivision other than an assault.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), personally uses a firearm, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 10 years. The firearm need not be operable or loaded for this enhancement to apply.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), personally and intentionally discharges a firearm, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 20 years.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who, in the commission of a felony specified in subdivision (a), Section 246, or subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 26100, personally and intentionally discharges a firearm and proximately causes great bodily injury, as defined in Section 12022.7, or death, to a person other than an accomplice, shall be punished by an additional and consecutive term of imprisonment in the state prison for 25 years to life.
(e) (1) The enhancements provided in this section shall apply to any person who is a principal in the commission of an offense if both of the following are pled and proved:
(A) The person violated subdivision (b) of Section 186.22.
(B) Any principal in the offense committed any act specified in subdivision (b), (c), or (d).
(2) An enhancement for participation in a criminal street gang pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 186.20) of Title 7 of Part 1 shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to this subdivision, unless the person personally used or personally discharged a firearm in the commission of the offense.
(f) Only one additional term of imprisonment under this section shall be imposed per person for each crime. If more than one enhancement per person is found true under this section, the court shall impose upon that person the enhancement that provides the longest term of imprisonment. An enhancement involving a firearm specified in Section 12021.5, 12022, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5, or 12022.55 shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to this section. An enhancement for great bodily injury as defined in Section 12022.7, 12022.8, or 12022.9 shall not be imposed on a person in addition to an enhancement imposed pursuant to subdivision (d).
(g) Notwithstanding any other law, probation shall not be granted to, nor shall the execution or imposition of sentence be suspended for, a person found to come within the provisions of this section.
(h) The court may, in the interest of justice pursuant to Section 1385 and at the time of sentencing, strike or dismiss an enhancement otherwise required to be imposed by this section. The authority provided by this subdivision applies to any resentencing that may occur pursuant to any other law.
(i) The total amount of credits awarded pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 2930) of Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 or pursuant to Section 4019 or any other law shall not exceed 15 percent of the total term of imprisonment imposed on a defendant upon whom a sentence is imposed pursuant to this section.
(j) For the penalties in this section to apply, the existence of any fact required under subdivision (b), (c), or (d) shall be alleged in the accusatory pleading and either admitted by the defendant in open court or found to be true by the trier of fact. When an enhancement specified in this section has been admitted or found to be true, the court shall impose punishment for that enhancement pursuant to this section rather than imposing punishment authorized under any other law, unless another enhancement provides for a greater penalty or a longer term of imprisonment.
(k) When a person is found to have used or discharged a firearm in the commission of an offense that includes an allegation pursuant to this section and the firearm is owned by that person, a coparticipant, or a coconspirator, the court shall order that the firearm be deemed a nuisance and disposed of in the manner provided in Sections 18000 and 18005.
(l) The enhancements specified in this section shall not apply to the lawful use or discharge of a firearm by a public officer, peace officer, as provided in Section 196, or by any person in lawful self-defense, lawful defense of another, or lawful defense of property, as provided in Sections 197, 198, and 198.5.
(m) (1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the enhancements provided in this section shall not apply to a peace officer, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, unless the use or discharge of the firearm did not arise out of and was not in the course of the employment.
(2) The prosecution shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the exemption in this subdivision does not apply. If the prosecution fails to meet this burden, the court shall not impose the enhancement, and any reference to the enhancement shall be stricken from the charging document or verdict.
(3) This subdivision does not affect the underlying charge or any other applicable enhancements or penalties unrelated to firearm use.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, “arise out of and in the course of employment” shall be determined based on the facts and circumstances at the time of the incident, including whether the officer was performing services arising out of or incidental to their employment or was acting within the course of their employment.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.
SECTION 1.Section 71 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
71.

(a)A person who, with intent to cause, attempts to cause, or causes, any officer or employee of any public or private educational institution or any public officer or employee to do, or to refrain from doing, any act in the performance of their duties, by means of a threat, directly communicated to such person, to inflict an unlawful injury upon any person or property, and it reasonably appears to the recipient of the threat that the threat could be carried out, is guilty of a public offense punishable as follows:

(1)Upon a first conviction, such person is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(2)If the person has been previously convicted of a violation of this section, the previous conviction shall be charged in the accusatory pleading, and if that previous conviction is found to be true by the jury, upon a jury trial, or by the court, upon a court trial, or is admitted by the defendant, the violation is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

(b)As used in this section, “directly communicated” includes, but is not limited to, a communication to the recipient of the threat by telegraph, letter, or electronic communication device.

(c)As used in this section, “electronic communication device” has the same meaning as defined in Section 422.