Title GOV — California Gov. Code

At the day and hour appointed for the assembling of any regular session of the Legislature, the President of the Senate, or in case of his absence or inability, the senior member present, shall take the chair, call the members and members elect to order, and have the secretary ca…

At the day and hour appointed for the assembling of any regular session of the Legislature, the Chief Clerk of the Assembly, or in case of his absence or inability, the senior member elect present, shall take the chair, call the members elect to order, and call over the roll of c…

Members of the Legislature who did not take the oath of office at the assembling of the Legislature may take the oath at any time during the term for which they were elected. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)

An entry of the oath taken by members of the Legislature shall be made on the journals of the proper house. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)

All standing committees of either the Senate or Assembly shall be appointed by the presiding officer of their respective house if the house by resolution or its rules does not direct otherwise. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)

Televised or other audiovisual recordings of public proceedings. (a) Televised or other audiovisual recordings of the public proceedings of each house of the Legislature and the committees thereof may be used for any legitimate purpose and without the imposition of any fee due to…

Except as otherwise provided in this article, all meetings of a house of the Legislature or a committee thereof shall be open and public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend the meetings. As used in this article, “meeting” means a gathering of a quorum of the members of …

Any meeting that is required to be open and public pursuant to this article, including any closed session held pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 9029, shall be held only after full and timely notice to the public as provided by the Joint Rules of the Assembly and Senate.

(a) A house of the Legislature or a committee thereof may hold a closed session solely for any of the following purposes: (1) To consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, or dismissal of a public officer or employee, to consider or hear complaints or charge…

(a) A closed session may be held pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 9029 under any of the following circumstances: (1) An adjudicatory proceeding before a court, administrative body exercising its adjudicatory authority, hearing officer, or arbitrator, to whi…

Each Member of the Legislature who attends a meeting of the Assembly, the Senate, or any committee or subcommittee thereof, where action is taken in violation of Section 9027, with knowledge of the fact that the meeting is in violation thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Any interested person may commence an action by mandamus, injunction, or declaratory relief for the purpose of stopping or preventing violations or threatened violations of this article by Members of the Legislature or to determine the applicability of this article to actions or …

As used in this article, “disaster” means a war or enemy-caused calamity within this State, such as an attack by nuclear weapons.

If a disaster occurs, the Legislature shall convene itself in special session immediately after such disaster first occurs, which session shall convene at the permanent seat of government in the City of Sacramento or at the temporary seat of government as established by law if th…

If the Legislature is convened in special session pursuant to this article on the date specified by the State Constitution for the convening of a regular session, the Legislature may convene in such regular session without adjourning the special session or it may provide by concu…

Every person who wilfully, and by force or fraud, prevents the Legislature, either of the houses composing it, or any of the members thereof from meeting or organizing is guilty of a felony. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)

Every person who wilfully disturbs the Legislature, or either of the houses composing it, while in session, or who commits any disorderly conduct in the immediate view and presence of either house tending to interrupt its proceedings or impair the respect due to its authority is …

As used in this article, “bill or resolution” includes a constitutional amendment.

Every person who fraudulently alters the draft of any bill or resolution which has been presented to either of the houses composing the Legislature for passage or adoption, with intent to procure it to be passed or adopted by either house, or certified by the presiding officer of…

Every person who fraudulently alters the enrolled copy of any bill or resolution which has been passed or adopted by the Legislature, with intent to procure it to be approved by the Governor, certified by the Secretary of State, or printed or published by the State in language di…

(a) Every person who intentionally, maliciously, with knowledge of the falsity, and with intent to defame a particular legislator, publishes or causes to be published any writing which purports to be a facsimile of an actual bill or resolution, or any part thereof, of the Califor…

Every person who obtains, or seeks to obtain, money or other thing of value from another person upon a pretense, claim, or representation that he can or will improperly influence in any manner the action of any member of a legislative body in regard to any vote or legislative mat…

Every member of the Legislature convicted of any crime defined in this article, in addition to the punishment prescribed, forfeits his office and is forever disqualified from holding any office in the State. (Enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134.)

Any person who shall secure through his influence, knowingly exerted for that purpose, the introduction of any bill, resolution or amendment into the State Legislature and shall thereafter solicit or accept from any person other than a person upon whose request he secured such in…

The Legislature finds and declares that access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business by the Legislature is a fundamental and necessary right of every citizen in this state.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Legislative Open Records Act.

As used in this article: (a) “Person” includes any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, firm, or association. (b) “Legislature” includes any Member of the Legislature, any legislative officer, any standing, joint, or select committee or subcommitte…

Legislative records are open to inspection at all times during the normal office hours of the Legislature and any person has a right to inspect any legislative record, except as hereafter provided. Any person shall be furnished reasonable opportunities for inspection of legislati…

All requests to inspect any legislative record shall be made to the appropriate Rules Committee of each house of the Legislature or the Joint Rules Committee, except that all requests to inspect any legislative record in the possession of the Auditor General shall be made to the …

Nothing in this article shall be construed to invalidate or affect the operation of Sections 10207, 10208, 10525, and 10526 of this code, or Temporary Joint Rule 37 of the Senate and Assembly in effect on the effective date of this article, or to require the disclosure of records…

Any person may institute proceedings for injunctive or declarative relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce his right to inspect any legislative record or class of legislative records under this article. The times for responsive pleadings and for hearings in such …

Whenever it is made to appear by verified petition to the superior court of the county where the records or some part thereof are situated that certain legislative records are being improperly withheld from a member of the public, the court shall order the committee charged with …

The court shall award court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the plaintiff should the plaintiff prevail in litigation filed pursuant to Section 9077.

If the court finds that the plaintiff’s case is clearly frivolous, it shall award court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the public agency.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that legislative records relating to bills, resolutions, or proposed constitutional amendments before the Legislature provide evidence of legislative intent that may be important in the subsequent interpretation of laws enacted in the Legisl…

Legislative offices for the use of the Members of the Legislature in the performance of their legislative duties, shall be maintained at all times, and without regard to whether the Legislature is or is not in session, in the State Building in Los Angeles, in the State Building i…

The legislative offices provided for in this article shall be under the management and control of the Senate Committee on Rules.

The Department of General Services shall provide suitable office space in the State Building in Los Angeles and in the State Building in San Francisco and in an appropriate building in San Diego County and in a state building in Alameda County for the offices provided for in this…

Appropriations for the support of the offices provided for in this article shall be included in the Budget Bill.

The State Capitol Building Annex is the annex to the historic State Capitol, constructed to the east of the original building, situated in the area bounded by 10th, L, 15th and N Streets in the City of Sacramento.

(a) Any work of construction, restoration, rehabilitation, renovation, or reconstruction undertaken pursuant to Article 5.2 (commencing with Section 9112) shall do all of the following: (1) Incorporate elements complementary to the historic State Capitol, elements to make the new…

The State Capitol Building Annex is intended primarily for the use of the legislative department and, except as otherwise provided in this article, shall be devoted exclusively to such use.

There is hereby created the Joint Rules Committee which shall have the membership specified in the Joint Rules of the Senate and the Assembly. The committee herein created has a continuing existence and may meet and act during sessions of the Legislature or any recess thereof and…

Any reference in any code or statute to the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization shall be deemed a reference to the Joint Rules Committee.

The first floor of the State Capitol Building Annex is excepted from the provisions of this article. Such excepted space shall continue under the control of the Department of General Services. All other space in the State Capitol Building Annex shall be allocated from time to tim…

The determination of the Joint Rules Committee as to the needs of the Legislature shall be subject to change only by action of the committee or by concurrent resolution. If, at any time, the committee determines that there is space in the State Capitol Building Annex in excess of…

(a) The maintenance and operation of all of the State Capitol Building Annex is under the control of the Department of General Services, subject to this article. (b) Security of the State Capitol Building Annex is the responsibility of the Department of the California Highway Pat…

The Joint Rules Committee may participate in the work of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The following Members of the Legislature are authorized to act as members of the committee for the purpose of attending meetings of the conference: (1) the President pro Tempor…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 9108, the Joint Rules Committee may pursue the construction of a state capitol building annex or the restoration, rehabilitation, renovation, or reconstruction of the State Capitol Building Annex described in Section 9105 a…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that available cash sources, including, but not limited to, an allocation of the moneys deposited into the State Project Infrastructure Fund prior to 2018 and moneys appropriated in the Budget Acts of 2018, 2021, and 2022, be used to fund t…