Evidence: credibility of witnesses and evidence affected or excluded by extrinsic policies.
Summary
(1) Existing law sets forth the procedure by which, in any prosecution for rape or other specified sexual offenses, evidence of sexual conduct of the complaining witness may be offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness. This procedure involves, among other things, the filing of a written motion by the defendant, accompanied by an affidavit filed under seal stating an offer of proof, and, if the court determines that the offer is sufficient, a hearing out of the presence of the jury regarding the offer of proof. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court may make an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant. Under existing law, these procedures do not apply if the specified offenses are alleged to have occurred in a local detention facility or state prison, as defined. This bill would remove this exception, thereby also applying these procedures to specified offenses alleged to have occurred in a local detention facility or state prison. (2) Existing law provides that evidence of a person's character or a trait of their character is generally inadmissible when offered to prove the person's conduct on a specified occasion. Existing law prohibits, during the prosecution of specified sex crimes, the admission of, among other things, opinion evidence, reputation evidence, or specific instances of sexual conduct involving the victim and persons other than the defendant to prove the victim's consent. This prohibition does not apply to specified offenses alleged to have occurred in a local detention facility or state prison, as defined. This bill would additionally remove this exception, thereby also prohibiting the admission of such evidence in the prosecution of specified offenses alleged to have occurred in a local detention facility or state prison.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Jun 2026
Assembly Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
Jun 2026
Signed into Law
Jun 2026
Introduced Feb 20, 2026
Signed Jun 30, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
02/20/26 - Introduced
→
06/17/26 - Enrolled
·
2 edits
·
Jun 17, 2026
MINOR
AB 2556 removes exceptions that excluded local detention facilities and state prisons from two key evidence protections in sexual offense prosecutions: the procedure governing admission of a victim's sexual conduct to attack credibility (Section 782) and the prohibition on using opinion, reputation, or specific-instance evidence of a victim's sexual conduct to prove consent (Section 1103). The enrolled version makes one substantive change from the introduced version by removing current Penal Code Section 262 from the list of covered offenses in Section 782(c)(1), likely a technical correction since that section was previously repealed and consolidated. All other differences are formatting changes (removal of line numbers, page renumbering, and addition of legislative history).
SCOPE
Section 782(c)(1) no longer lists current Penal Code Section 262 among the covered offenses, though 'former Section 262' remains. This is a technical correction reflecting that Section 262 (spousal rape) was previously repealed and its provisions folded into other sections.
The bill's core purpose - removing the exception for crimes alleged to have occurred in local detention facilities or state prisons - applies to both Section 782(c)(1)-(3) and Section 1103(c)(1). This means victims of sexual offenses in jails and prisons now receive the same evidentiary protections as victims in other settings, including the sealed-motion procedure for credibility attacks and the bar on using a victim's prior sexual conduct to prove consent.
Floor votes · Senate Jun 15, 2026 · Assembly Apr 16, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 40
Jun 15, 2026
D
Democratic30
93% Yea
R
Republican10
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
16
Key actions
8
Committee
7
Jun 30, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by the Governor.
legislature
Jun 15, 2026
Lower · Passed
In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.
lower
Jun 15, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 4761.).
upper
Jun 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 9).
upper
May 6, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on PUB. S.
upper
Apr 16, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 68. Noes 0. Page 4682.)
lower
Apr 8, 2026
Lower · Passed
From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 7).
lower
Mar 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Com. on PUB. S.
lower
Feb 21, 2026
Lower · Passed
From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Tasha Boerner
DDemocratic
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