Senate BillPassed both housesPenal
SB 938: Peace officers: training requirements.
What SB 938 does, verified September 14, 2026
This bill would disqualify individuals who were previously employed by entities assisting in immigration enforcement after January 20, 2025, from becoming peace officers, except for those who meet specific requirements. The cooling-off period would be a minimum of 10 years from the date of separation from the federal immigration enforcement agency. The bill aims to address a statewide concern and would apply to all cities, including charter cities. The state would be required to reimburse local agencies and school districts for any mandated costs associated with implementing this bill.
Bill journey
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✓First Chamber FloorComplete
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5GovernorCurrent
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. (2026-08-25)Alert me
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| Sep. 04, 2026 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. |
| Aug. 28, 2026 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 10.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Aug. 27, 2026 | From committee: That the Assembly amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) |
| Aug. 26, 2026 | From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. |
| Aug. 26, 2026 | Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(d). |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, August 31, 2026 · 1,609 words
| Enrolled August 31, 2026 |
| Passed IN Senate August 28, 2026 |
| Passed IN Assembly August 25, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly August 06, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly June 16, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate May 22, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate April 23, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate March 25, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 938
| Introduced by Senator Menjivar (Coauthors: Senators Gonzalez and Wiener) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Schultz and Sharp-Collins) |
January 29, 2026 |
An act to amend Section 13510.1 of the Penal Code, relating to peace officers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 938, Menjivar. Peace officers: training requirements.
Existing law contains numerous provisions governing the qualifications, standards, and training of peace officers. Existing law requires specified peace officers to successfully complete a training course prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) before exercising the powers of a peace officer. Existing law requires the commission, for those instances where individuals have acquired prior comparable peace officer training, to adopt regulations providing for alternative means for satisfying the training required by a specified provision of law. Existing regulations provide a Basic Course Waiver to individuals with qualifying out-of-state or federal law enforcement experience whose law enforcement training, experience, and education are deemed by POST to demonstrate sufficient law enforcement knowledge, skill, and proficiency.
This bill would provide that service as a sworn federal law enforcement officer whose primary duties consisted of any one or any combination of immigration inspection, border enforcement, or apprehension, detention, or removal of noncitizens under the federal immigration laws, and the training for that service, does not, standing alone, constitute qualifying training, experience, and education demonstrating sufficient law enforcement knowledge, skill, and proficiency for purposes of determining eligibility for a Regular Basic Course Waiver. By increasing duties on local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California has a vital interest in ensuring that any person who exercises the powers of a California peace officer has completed training and supervised field evaluation sufficient to protect public safety, constitutional rights, community trust, and the fair and lawful enforcement of state law.
(b) California’s Regular Basic Course requirement, and the limited waiver process for that requirement, are designed to ensure that persons appointed as California peace officers have demonstrated competence in the practical application of California law, local agency policies, constitutional policing, deescalation, use of force, arrest and detention standards, community interaction, and other patrol responsibilities.
(c) A Basic Course Waiver is not automatic reciprocity for out-of-state or federal law enforcement experience. It is a limited exemption from the Regular Basic Course that depends on a determination that the applicant’s prior training, education, and experience are sufficiently equivalent to California’s requirements for peace officer service.
(d) Service as a federal immigration enforcement officer is not necessarily equivalent to service as a California peace officer performing general law enforcement uniformed patrol duties. Federal immigration enforcement officers operate under different legal authorities, policies, command structures, operational objectives, and accountability systems than California peace officers.
(e) Recent federal immigration enforcement operations have raised serious concerns regarding the adequacy of training, supervision, transparency, and accountability for federal immigration enforcement officers, including concerns involving the use of force, concealment of officer identity, compliance with constitutional limitations, treatment of detained persons, and cooperation with state and local accountability mechanisms.
(f) Public reports, court filings, and official state investigations have documented or alleged patterns of misconduct and harmful enforcement practices associated with federal immigration enforcement operations in California and elsewhere, including operations that have undermined public trust and raised significant concerns regarding whether federal immigration enforcement personnel receive training and supervision comparable to that required of California peace officers.
(g) The federal government has also recently modified and accelerated training for immigration enforcement officers while rapidly expanding its immigration enforcement workforce. These changes have generated public concern that federal training may be insufficient to prepare officers for the full range of constitutional, deescalation, use-of-force, and community-facing responsibilities required of California peace officers.
(h) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to preserve the integrity of California peace officer training standards, including the Regular Basic Course and the Basic Course Waiver process, and to ensure that federal immigration enforcement service does not establish eligibility for appointment as a California peace officer or for any waiver of California’s basic training requirements.
SEC. 2.
Section 13510.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read:13510.1.
(a) The commission shall establish a certification program for peace officers described in Section 830.1, 830.2 with the exception of those described in subdivision (d) of that section, 830.3, 830.32, or 830.33, or any other peace officer employed by an agency that participates in the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) program. A certificate or proof of eligibility issued pursuant to this section shall be considered the property of the commission.(b) Basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates shall be established for the purpose of fostering professionalization, education, and experience necessary to adequately accomplish the general police service duties performed by peace officer members of city police departments, county sheriffs’ departments, districts, university and state university and college departments, or by the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(c) (1) Certificates shall be awarded on the basis of a combination of training, education, experience, and other prerequisites, as determined by the commission.
(2) In determining whether an applicant for certification has the requisite education, the commission shall recognize as acceptable college education only the following:
(A) Education provided by a community college, college, or university that has been accredited by the department of education of the state in which the community college, college, or university is located or by a recognized national or regional accrediting body.
(B) Until January 1, 1998, educational courses or degrees provided by a nonaccredited but state-approved college that offers programs exclusively in criminal justice.
(d) Persons who are determined by the commission to be eligible peace officers may make application for the certificates, provided they are employed by an agency that participates in the POST program. Any agency appointing an individual who does not already have a basic certificate as described in subdivision (a) and who is not eligible for a certificate shall make application for proof of eligibility within 10 days of appointment.
(e) The commission shall assign each person who applies for or receives certification a unique identifier that shall be used to track certification status from application for certification through that person’s career as a peace officer.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission shall have the authority to suspend, revoke, or cancel any certification pursuant to this chapter. This authority extends to any certificate or proof of eligibility issued by the commission including, without limitation, any certificate or proof of eligibility that is invalid, inactive, expired, or canceled.
(g) (1) An agency that employs peace officers described in subdivision (a) shall employ as a peace officer only individuals with current, valid certification pursuant to this section, except that an agency may provisionally employ a person for up to 24 months, pending certification by the commission, provided that the person has received a proof of eligibility and has not previously been certified or denied certification or had their certification revoked.
(2) In accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 832.4, deputy sheriffs described in subdivision (c) of Section 830.1 shall obtain valid certification pursuant to this section upon reassignment from custodial duties to general law enforcement duties.
(h) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), the commission shall issue a basic certificate or proof of eligibility to any peace officer described in subdivision (a) who, on January 1, 2022, is eligible for a basic certificate or proof of eligibility but has not applied for a certification.
(2) Commencing on January 1, 2023, any peace officer described in subdivision (a) who does not possess a basic certificate and who is not yet or will not be eligible for a basic certificate, shall apply to the commission for proof of eligibility.
(3) Notwithstanding any other law, service as a sworn federal law enforcement officer whose primary duties consisted of any one or any combination of immigration inspection, border enforcement, or apprehension, detention, or removal of noncitizens under the federal immigration laws, and the training required to engage in that service, shall not, standing alone, constitute qualifying training, experience, and education demonstrating sufficient law enforcement knowledge, skill, and proficiency for purposes of determining eligibility for a Regular Basic Course Waiver, including any specialized training waiver pursuant to Section 1005 of Title 11 of the California Code of Regulations, or any successor regulation.
(i) As used in this chapter, “certification” means any and all valid and unexpired certificates issued pursuant to subdivision (b), including basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates or any proof of eligibility issued by the commission pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.Text of SB 938 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions