Assembly BillChaptered/SignedEducation
AB 935: State agencies: complaints: demographic data.
What AB 935 does, verified December 6, 2025
The bill aims to improve the handling of complaints related to state government administration. It requires the state to collect demographic data on complaints alleging unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying. The data collected will include information about the complainant, such as ethnicity, race, and gender, as well as details about the complaint itself. The state will be required to publish a summary report of the compiled data on its website, but the report will not include personally identifying information about individuals. The data will be confidential and protected from public disclosure, except in cases where it is necessary to disclose the underlying complaint. The bill also requires the state to ensure that any data collected and published is sufficiently deidentified to prevent the identification of individuals involved in complaints. This will help…
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Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 717, Statutes of 2025. (2025-10-13)Alert me
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| Oct. 13, 2025 | Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 717, Statutes of 2025. |
| Oct. 13, 2025 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep. 22, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. |
| Sep. 10, 2025 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 62. Noes 12. Page 3202.). |
| Sep. 10, 2025 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 62. Noes 12.). |
Latest bill textChaptered version, October 13, 2025 · 1,237 words
Assembly Bill No. 935
CHAPTER 717
An act to add Section 33315.5 to the Education Code, and to add Section 8310.10 to the Government Code, relating to state government administration.
[ Approved by Governor October 13, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 13, 2025. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 935, Ransom. State agencies: complaints: demographic data.
(1) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish and implement a system of complaint processing, known as the Uniform Complaint Procedures, for specified educational programs, and requires the State Department of Education to review those regulations pertaining to uniform complaint procedures for specified types of complaints, including those that allege unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying against any protected group, as provided. Existing law requires the department to, on or before March 31, 2019, commence rulemaking proceedings to revise those regulations, as necessary, to conform to specified provisions.
Beginning July 1, 2026, this bill would require, upon receipt by the department of a complaint subject to the Uniform Complaint Procedures that alleges unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, the Superintendent to collect specified information, including, among other things, a description of the complaint received. The bill would require the Superintendent to create and post on the department’s internet website a summary report of the data described above.
(2) Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, among other things, establishes the Civil Rights Department and authorizes it to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging various civil rights violations, including violations of provisions regarding individuals with disabilities.
Existing law, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Disparities Reduction Act, requires the Civil Rights Department, among other specified state entities, in the course of collecting demographic data directly or by contract as to the ancestry or ethnic origin of Californians, to collect voluntary self-identification information pertaining to sexual orientation, gender identity, and variations in sex characteristics/intersex status, as specified.
Existing law, the California Public Records Act, generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Existing law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement.
This bill would require the Civil Rights Department to collect, for a complaint received, certain demographic information, including the ethnicity, race, and gender of the individual submitting the complaint, and certain information related to the complaint. The bill would require the department, commencing July 1, 2027, to publish a summary report no later than October 1 of each year of the compiled information for the preceding calendar year on its internet website.
This bill would require, for any information or data acquired pursuant to the bill’s provisions, that information or data to be confidential and protected from public disclosure, including disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act, except that the information may be disclosable pursuant to that act to the same extent as the underlying complaint. The bill would also prohibit the above-described summary reports, dashboards, and transmitted data from containing any personally identifying information about any individual. The bill would require information in the summary reports, dashboards, and transmitted data to be sufficiently deidentified to prevent the identification of the individuals involved in a complaint.
(3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 33315.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:33315.5.
(a) (1) Beginning July 1, 2026, upon receipt of a complaint that alleges unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying received by the department pursuant to subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 33315, the Superintendent shall collect all of the following information:(A) The self-identified protected group of the complainant, if voluntarily provided.
(B) A description of the complaint received.
(C) Any action taken by the department in response to the complaint and the timeline for that action.
(D) The disposition of the complaint.
(2) The data collected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be confidential and protected from public disclosure, including disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code), except that the information may be disclosable pursuant to that act to the same extent as the underlying complaint.
(b) (1) Beginning July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department shall create and post on the department’s internet website a summary report of the information collected pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The summary report shall not contain any personally identifying information about any individual, and the information in the report shall be sufficiently deidentified to prevent the identification of the individuals involved in the complaint.
(c) The collection, publication, and transmission of data required by this section shall comply with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.
SEC. 2.
Section 8310.10 is added to the Government Code, to read:8310.10.
(a) For purposes of this section, “department” means the Civil Rights Department.(b) (1) For a complaint received by the department, the department shall collect the following information:
(A) Demographic data relative to ethnicity, race, gender, and other critical demographic information from the individual submitting the complaint collected in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, to the extent it is reported by the complainant.
(B) Any final action taken by the department in response to the complaint received and the timeline between the date the complaint was filed with the department and the final action taken by the department.
(2) The information collected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be confidential and protected from public disclosure, including disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1), except that the information may be disclosable pursuant to that act to the same extent as the underlying complaint.
(c) (1) Commencing July 1, 2027, no later than October 1 of each year, the department shall create and post on the department’s internet website a summary report of the information collected for the preceding calendar year pursuant to subdivision (b).
(2) The summary report shall not contain any personally identifying information about any individual, and the department may take any action to ensure that the information in the report is sufficiently deidentified to prevent the identification of the individuals involved in the complaint and that the report complies with all state and federal laws.
(d) The collection, publication, and transmission of data required by this section shall comply with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.
SEC. 3.
The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 1 and 2 of this act, which add Section 33315.5 to the Education Code, and add Section 8310.10 to the Government Code, impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:In order to protect the privacy of California residents, while also gathering and publicizing useful demographic data, it is necessary that personal identifying information remain confidential.
Text of AB 935 as chaptered, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions