CA State Senate rewrite of “sex offender” bill still allows predators to run for office
Vote in Senate as early as Thursday
New language by Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee chaired by Senator Scott Wiener also exempts crimes against disabled victims and, in some cases, children under 14.
WARNING: Graphic content
By California Family Council
SACRAMENTO, CA — AB 2691, the Public Trust Protection Act, could be voted on the Senate floor as soon as tomorrow morning, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. On August 4, the bill’s authors quietly rewrote its central definition. They did not fix the problem California Family Council (CFC) raised in June. They made it bigger, and harder to see.
Background
AB 2691, authored by Assemblywoman Dawn Addis (D-Dawn Addis), passed the Assembly floor 67 to 0. It would bar people convicted of felony sexual assault or human trafficking from holding public office, a policy CFC supports. On June 24, the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, chaired by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), added language exempting felony sodomy, oral copulation and sexual penetration when the victim is a minor age 14 to 17.
CFC Vice President Greg Burt testified against that exemption on June 30 and asked the committee to restore the bill to the form the Assembly passed unanimously. The committee advanced the bill anyway, 4 to 1, with only Senator Steven Choi (R-Irvine) voting no.
What Changed on August 4, and How California’s Sex Offender Registry Actually Works
The named exemption for ages 14 to 17 is gone from the bill text. In its place, Addis rewrote the bill to define “sexual assault” using California’s sex offender registration system, and only the most severe part of it.
California sorts every registerable sex offense into one of three tiers, based on how serious the offense is:
- Tier 1 requires registration for 10 years. It covers misdemeanor sex offenses and the least serious felony sex offenses.
- Tier 2 requires registration for 20 years. It covers felony sex offenses that state law separately classifies as “serious” or “violent”, along with a short list of specifically named crimes.
- Tier 3 requires registration for life. It is reserved for the most serious sex crimes: forcible rape, forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and similar offenses.
Under the bill the Assembly passed, a felony conviction under any of six penal code sections covering rape, sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration disqualified a candidate, full stop. Under the August 4 rewrite, a conviction only disqualifies a candidate if it happens to fall into Tier 3 of the sex registry list. A conviction that falls into Tier 1 or Tier 2, no matter how serious the underlying crime actually was, no longer counts.
That single change does not narrow the original exemption. It widens it.
- Crimes against minors age 14 to 17 remain exempted. The specific carve-out is gone by name, but the conduct it covered, non-forcible sodomy, oral copulation, and sexual penetration of a 14-to-17-year-old, is a Tier 1 offense. It still falls outside the bill’s new definition.
- Sex crimes against disabled victims are now exempted. Non-forcible sodomy and sexual penetration of a victim who cannot legally consent because of a mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability are Tier 2 offenses and fall below the bill’s new threshold.
- Under certain circumstances, so do sex crimes against children under 10. A first-time, non-forcible conviction for molesting a child under 14, which includes children under 10, is a Tier 2 offense and no longer disqualifies a candidate under the bill’s new language, unless the act specifically involved intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, or penetration, which remain covered under a separate, Tier 3 statute.
“We asked this Assemblywoman Addis in June to send this bill back to the form the Assembly passed unanimously. Instead, she took the exemption we objected to, deleted the sentence that named it, and buried the same result inside a much bigger loophole,” said CFC Vice President Burt. “Sex crimes against 14 to 17-year-olds are still exempted. Now sex crimes against people with disabilities are exempted too. And under the right circumstances, so is molesting a child under 14. This bill was supposed to keep sex offenders out of public office. As written, it tells some of them they’re still welcome to run.”
Call to Action
The Senate could vote on AB 2691 as early as tomorrow morning. California Family Council urges senators to vote no on the bill as currently written and urges Californians to contact their state senator today.
About California Family Council
California Family Council works to advance God’s design for life, family, and liberty through California’s Church, Capitol, and Culture. By advocating for policies that reinforce the sanctity of life, the strength of traditional marriages, and the essential freedoms of religion, CFC is dedicated to preserving California’s moral and social foundation.
APPENDIX: Affected Crimes, With Penal Code Citations
This list is limited to items independently confirmed against the text of Penal Code section 290, subdivisions (d)(1) through (d)(3), and Penal Code section 667.5(c). Additional items appear in supplemental research from a California State Senate office; those are not included here pending independent confirmation.
No Longer Disqualifying: Tier 1 Offenses (10-Year Registration)
Penal Code 286(b) — sodomy, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 287(b), or former 288a(b) — oral copulation, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 289(h) and (i) — sexual penetration by foreign object, non-forcible, victim under 18
Penal Code 289.5 — fleeing to California to avoid prosecution or custody for a registerable sex offense committed in another state (misdemeanor)
No Longer Disqualifying: Tier 2 Offenses (20-Year Registration)
Penal Code 285 — incest
Penal Code 286(g) — sodomy of a victim who cannot legally consent due to a mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability
Penal Code 286(c)(1) — sodomy of a victim under 14, where the offender is more than 10 years older, without force
Penal Code 288(a) — a lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14, first offense, without force. This is California’s basic child molestation statute.
Penal Code 288.3 — contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony, specifically when the underlying intent was to violate 286(b), 287(b), or 289(h)/(i)
Penal Code 289(b) — sexual penetration of a victim who cannot legally consent due to a mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability
Penal Code 647.6 — annoying or molesting a child, second or subsequent offense
Still Disqualifying: Tier 3 Offenses (Lifetime Registration)
Penal Code 236.1(c) — human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act
Penal Code 266h(b) — aggravated pimping of a minor
Penal Code 266i(b) — aggravated pandering of a minor
Penal Code 266j — procuring a child under 16 for a lewd act
Penal Code 269 — aggravated sexual assault of a child
Penal Code 286(c)(2) and (d) — forcible sodomy of a child under 14, including in concert
Penal Code 287(c) and (d), or former 288a — forcible oral copulation of a child under 14, including in concert
Penal Code 288(b) — a lewd act on a child under 14 committed by force
Penal Code 288(c) — a lewd act on a 14- or 15-year-old, where the offender is at least 10 years older
Penal Code 288.2 — sending harmful matter to a minor with intent to seduce, felony
Penal Code 288.3 — contacting a minor with intent to commit a felony, except when the intent was to violate 286(b), 287(b), or 289(h)/(i)
Penal Code 288.5 — continuous sexual abuse of a child
Penal Code 288.7 — sexual intercourse, sodomy, oral copulation, or sexual penetration with a child age 10 or younger
Penal Code 289(a) — forcible sexual penetration
Penal Code 653f(c) — soliciting another person to commit rape, sodomy, oral copulation, or a lewd act on a child
A felony sentenced to a mandatory life term under Penal Code 667.61 (“One Strike” law)
Designation as a habitual sex offender under Penal Code 667.71
A second, separately tried conviction under Penal Code 288(a)
Sources: California Penal Code section 290, subdivisions (d)(1) through (d)(3), and Penal Code section 667.5(c), both available at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
the attachments to this post:
CFC CA Leg Update
