Senate BillChaptered/SignedPenal
SB 553: Prisons: clearances.
What SB 553 does, verified December 8, 2025
This bill expands rehabilitative programming in state prisons by allowing legal professionals and attorney support personnel to apply for clearances. Clearance levels will be revised to annual gate clearances and short-term gate clearances. The department of corrections and rehabilitation must provide clearances and identification cards to program providers, including legal professionals and attorney support personnel. The department will also give short-term gate clearances to specified individuals, such as the governor, cabinet members, and current judges, without the need for a long-term clearance. The goal is to minimize program wait times and offer a variety of program opportunities to inmates regardless of security level or sentence length.
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Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025. (2025-09-12)Alert me
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| Oct. 01, 2025 | Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 226, Statutes of 2025. |
| Oct. 01, 2025 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep. 23, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. |
| Sep. 13, 2025 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 3024.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Sep. 12, 2025 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 3393.) Ordered to the Senate. |
Latest bill textChaptered version, October 1, 2025 · 2,090 words
Senate Bill No. 553
CHAPTER 226
An act to amend Sections 7460, 7461, 7462, 7463, 7464, 7465, 7466, and 7467 of, to amend the heading of Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 7460) of Title 7 of Part 3 of, and to add Section 7468 to, the Penal Code, relating to prisons.
[ Approved by Governor October 01, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 01, 2025. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 553, Cortese. Prisons: clearances.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct rehabilitative programming in a manner that meets specified requirements, including minimizing program wait times and offering a variety of program opportunities to inmates regardless of security level or sentence length. Existing law establishes various clearance levels for program providers in state prisons, including short-term clearance, annual program provider clearance, and statewide program provider clearance, as defined. Existing law establishes a procedure for a program provider to receive one of these clearances and an identification card to gain entry into the state prison and requires the department to provide state prisons with forms for program providers to obtain the clearances.
This bill would expand these provisions to allow legal professionals and attorney support personnel, as defined, to apply for these clearances. The bill would revise the names of these clearances to annual gate clearances and short-term gate clearances. The bill would also require the department to, upon request, give a short-term gate clearance for any institution without the requirement to apply for a long-term gate clearance to specified individuals, including, among others, the Governor and all cabinet members, members of the Legislature and their staff, and current judges of the state.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The heading of Chapter 18 (commencing with Section 7460) of Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code is amended to read:CHAPTER 18. Clearances
SEC. 2.
Section 7460 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7460.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “Annual gate clearance” refers to a clearance status allowing a program provider or legal professional to enter one institution for a full calendar year.
(b) “Institution” refers to a California state prison or facility, including community reentry programs and fire camps under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(c) “Program provider” refers to an individual affiliated with a nonprofit organization or a volunteer that originates outside the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and provides rehabilitative programming to incarcerated people.
(d) “Program provider identification card” refers to an identification card that allows a program provider with an annual or statewide gate clearance to enter specified institutions without a sponsor.
(e) “Short-term gate clearance” refers to a clearance status that allows a program provider, legal professional, or attorney support personnel to enter an institution for the specific dates and times, as approved by the hiring authority or designee, and shall not exceed 30 days.
(f) “Sponsor” refers to staff at an institution assigned to escort program providers, legal professionals, or attorney support personnel, within the institution.
(g) “Statewide gate clearance” refers to a clearance status provided to a program provider or legal professional entering more than three institutions on a routine basis.
(h) (1) “Legal professional” refers to an attorney or attorney representative.
(2) An attorney representative is any of the following:
(A) A private investigator licensed by any state and sponsored by the attorney or appointed by the court.
(B) An investigator who is employed by a government agency, public agency, or public institution.
(3) An attorney support personnel is any of the following:
(A) A law student sponsored by the attorney.
(B) A legal paraprofessional sponsored by the attorney or appointed by the court.
(C) An employee of an attorney, legitimate legal service organization, or licensed private investigator who is sponsored by the attorney or licensed private investigator.
SEC. 3.
Section 7461 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7461.
(a) The department shall provide forms to the institution for short-term gate clearances. The institution shall only use the forms provided by the department to process the short-term gate clearance. The forms should reflect the limited nature of this clearance and shall not be overly burdensome. An institution shall not require additional institution-specific “local” forms.(b) The department shall not require a fingerprint-based background check from an applicant applying for a short-term gate clearance.
(c) The department shall not limit the number of short-term gate clearances an applicant can receive.
(d) The department shall notify all short-term gate clearance applicants of the decision to approve or disapprove the application consistent with the timeframes identified in the department’s criminal history security screening form.
SEC. 4.
Section 7462 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7462.
(a) The department shall provide a standardized clearance packet to the institution for annual gate clearances. The institution shall only use the clearance packet provided by the department, composed only of approved forms, which allows an applicant to use the same packet for different institutions. An institution shall not require additional institution-specific “local” forms.(b) (1) An applicant applying for an annual gate clearance shall complete a standardized clearance packet.
(2) A program provider applying for this clearance shall be subject to a fingerprint-based background check. The clearance application process shall be initiated prior to any fingerprint-based background check. Completion of the background check shall occur concurrently with the department’s processing of the annual gate clearance application. If the program provider has already provided fingerprints to an institution or the department, a clearance application shall be submitted to the additional institution, noting where the fingerprints were previously provided. The institution shall not require the program provider to provide additional fingerprints.
(c) Approved applicants shall renew their gate clearance annually.
(d) Approved applicants with an annual gate clearance shall have either a program provider identification card or a sponsor.
(e) (1) The department shall not limit the number of annual gate clearances an applicant can receive.
(2) The department shall notify all applicants for an annual gate clearance of the decision to approve or disapprove the application within 30 days of receipt of the application. If the department has not received the applicable information from the Department of Justice after 30 days, the department shall provide an update to the applicant. The department shall notify applicants of the decision to approve or disapprove the application within 30 days of receiving the applicable information from the Department of Justice.
SEC. 5.
Section 7463 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7463.
(a) The department shall provide a standardized packet of forms to the institution for a program provider identification card, which allows program providers to use the same packet for different institutions. An institution shall not require additional institution-specific “local” forms.(b) (1) A program provider identification card is valid for five years, provided the program provider meets testing and annual training requirements and renews their clearance annually.
(2) A program provider with a program provider identification card shall be able to escort other authorized program providers within the institution for which the program provider identification card is valid.
(3) A program provider applying for a program provider identification card shall be subject to the same baseline TB screening and testing, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 6006.5, as required by various departmental staff. The department shall accept forms from a hospital, military, University of California system, or local public health department in lieu of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation standard forms as documentation of testing if the forms include the date of the testing and evaluation, the results, and the licensed evaluator’s or physician’s signature.
(4) A program provider shall be subject to a fingerprint-based background check with their initial clearance application. If the program provider has already provided fingerprints to the department, a clearance application shall be submitted to the additional institution, noting where the fingerprints were previously provided. The institution shall not require the program provider to provide additional fingerprints.
(c) (1) The department shall not limit the number of program provider identification cards a program provider can receive.
(2) The department shall notify all program provider card applicants of the decision to approve or disapprove within 30 days of receipt of the application. If the department has not received the applicable information from the Department of Justice after 30 days, the department shall provide an update to the program provider. The department shall notify applicants of the decision to approve or disapprove the application within 30 days of receiving the applicable information from the Department of Justice.
SEC. 6.
Section 7464 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7464.
(a) (1) The department shall accept applications for statewide gate clearance from qualified program providers and legal professionals and, if a program provider is approved, the department shall provide a program provider identification card pursuant to Section 7463 if the program provider does not already have a valid identification card.(2) Approved applicants shall renew their clearance annually.
(3) A program provider applying for this clearance shall be subject to a fingerprint-based background check with their initial clearance application. If the applicant has already provided fingerprints to the department, a clearance application shall be submitted to the additional institution, noting where the fingerprints were previously provided. The institution shall not require the applicant to provide additional fingerprints.
(b) A program provider with statewide gate clearance shall be able to escort other authorized program providers within each institution for which the statewide gate clearance is valid.
(c) A program provider with statewide gate clearance may provide programs without a sponsor.
(d) If a program provider has been providing programming for a minimum of six months at more than three institutions, when approved to provide programs at any additional institutions, they may immediately request a program provider identification card.
(e) The department shall notify all statewide gate clearance applicants of the decision to approve or disapprove the application within 30 days of receipt of the application.
SEC. 7.
Section 7465 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7465.
(a) The department shall designate a standardized approval process for people who were formerly incarcerated and who are applying for all clearances covered by this chapter.(b) The department shall not exclude people who were formerly incarcerated from applying based on the type of institution or local area the person is applying to, unless extraordinary circumstances exist, such as verified or credible evidence by a warden that the person who was formerly incarcerated has introduced contraband into the institution or poses a significant security concern.
(c) For applicants who were formerly incarcerated and who are currently under supervision by the Division of Adult Parole Operations and who require documentation from the division to be provided any type of clearance, the division shall provide the documentation within 14 calendar days of the receipt of the request.
(d) An institution shall write and explain in a memorandum the reasons for denying a formerly incarcerated person’s application for clearance. The memorandum shall be provided to the applicant by email or mail.
(e) Denial of applications for clearance shall be grounds for an appeal. An appeal of denial of applications for clearance shall be resolved within 90 days.
SEC. 8.
Section 7466 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7466.
(a) The department shall notify all applicants for clearance of their right to appeal clearance decisions and of the process for filing an appeal.(b) The department shall notify all applicants for clearance of the final disposition of their appeal within 90 days.
SEC. 9.
Section 7467 of the Penal Code is amended to read:7467.
(a) The department shall submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information required by the Department of Justice from an applicant applying for an annual gate clearance, program provider identification card, or statewide gate clearance, as defined in Section 7460, in accordance with subdivision (u) of Section 11105.(b) The Department of Justice shall provide a state or federal response to the department pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 11105.
SEC. 10.
Section 7468 is added to the Penal Code, to read:7468.
The following persons shall, upon request, be granted a short-term gate clearance for any institution without the requirement to apply for a clearance for all Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities upon request:(a) The Governor and all cabinet members.
(b) Members of the Legislature and legislative staff.
(c) Current judges of the State of California.
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