Emergencies: crimes.

The document was reformatted from an official authenticated electronic legal material layout to a web page display, adding site navigation elements (header links, search bar, version history list) and removing the formal 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header.

Section 4 corrected the constitutional article reference from 'Article XIIIB' to 'Article XIII B' (added a space between the Roman numeral and the letter).

The bill was assigned Chapter number 545 and received Governor's approval on October 10, 2025, as reflected in the new header and signature block.

The legislative counsel's digest was updated to remove 'as amended' from the bill reference and to fix two typos: 'a crime crime' corrected to 'a crime' and a duplicated 'misdemeanor, misdemeanor or a felony' corrected to 'misdemeanor or a felony'.

Passage dates were added (Senate September 11, 2025; Assembly September 9, 2025) and a Governor's approval block was appended at the end of the enrolled bill.

Amendment history lines, original introduction byline with coauthors, line numbers, and page formatting artifacts were removed as part of converting to the final enrolled format.

The amendment to Penal Code Section 459 (burglary) was removed entirely. This provision had clarified that a structure damaged by a natural or other disaster could still be the subject of a burglary conviction.

The bill's stated purpose changed from 'Looting. Emergencies: crimes' to simply 'Emergencies: crimes,' reflecting the removal of the looting penalty enhancements and burglary clarification.

The amendment to Penal Code Section 463 (looting) was removed entirely. The prior version would have made second-degree burglary and grand theft during emergencies punishable only as felonies (eliminating the misdemeanor option), imposed mandatory 180-day county jail sentences for probation, removed court discretion to reduce those sentences, and extended the looting window to 180 days after an emergency ends.

The fine amount for the misdemeanor version of the new first responder impersonation crime (Section 538i) was clarified to $2,000. The prior draft contained confusing dual amounts ($20,000 and $2,000) in the same clause, suggesting a drafting error that has now been corrected.

For looting via 2nd-degree burglary (Section 463(a)), the punishment option of 'imprisonment in a county jail for one year' was removed, leaving only state prison under Section 1170(h). The court's ability to reduce or eliminate the mandatory 180-day jail sentence as a condition of probation was also removed.

For looting via grand theft (Section 463(b)), the same changes apply: county jail option removed, leaving only state prison under Section 1170(h), and judicial discretion to reduce or eliminate the mandatory 180-day jail sentence was removed.

Community service for burglary-based looting probation increased from up to 160 hours to up to 240 hours.

Section 1, which stated the Legislature's intent to strengthen penalties on looting during a state of emergency, impersonating first responders, and aggravated arson, was removed entirely from the bill.

Senator Valladares was added as a co-author of the bill.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' and the state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now formally acknowledges it imposes costs on local agencies requiring fiscal review.

Added a 180-day post-emergency window: looting offenses now apply not only during a state of emergency, local emergency, or evacuation order, but also within 180 days after any of those conditions terminate.

Created a new Penal Code Section 538i making it a crime (misdemeanor or felony) for a non-first-responder to wear, exhibit, or use first responder uniforms, insignia, or credentials with intent to fraudulently impersonate a first responder in an evacuation area, or to impersonate a first responder online or by electronic means for the purpose of defrauding another. Punishable by up to one year in county jail and/or $20,000 fine (misdemeanor) or state prison under Section 1170(h) and $20,000 fine (felony).

Added an exemption in Section 463(e) providing that consensual entry into a commercial structure with intent to commit certain financial crimes (fraud, forgery, credit card offenses) shall not be charged as looting.

Looting based on second-degree burglary or grand theft is now punishable as a felony (imprisonment in state prison under Section 1170(h)) in addition to the existing one-year county jail option, rather than being limited to a misdemeanor-level penalty.

Added petty theft during an emergency or evacuation order as a looting offense, punishable as a misdemeanor with up to six months in county jail, a 90-day mandatory minimum jail term on probation, and up to 80 hours of community service.

Added aggravated arson provisions (Section 451.5) with a property damage threshold of $10,100,000, a mandatory sentence of 10 years to life in state prison, no parole eligibility for 10 calendar years, and a sunset date of January 1, 2029. Includes a five-year inflation review of the dollar threshold.

Added community service requirements as a condition of probation for looting convictions: up to 240 hours for burglary-based looting, up to 160 hours for grand theft-based looting, and up to 80 hours for petty theft-based looting.

Amended the burglary definition (Section 459) to clarify that a structure is 'inhabited' if it was not occupied solely because a natural or other disaster caused occupants to leave, and added a new subdivision stating that damage to a structure by a disaster shall not preclude a burglary conviction.

Added formal definitions within Section 463 for 'state of emergency,' 'local emergency,' and 'evacuation order,' specifying when each begins and ends and who may issue an evacuation order.

Changed the fiscal analysis from 'no' state-mandated local program and 'no' fiscal committee review to 'yes' for both, with a new Section 5 providing that no reimbursement is required because the act creates new crimes or changes penalties within the meaning of Government Code Section 17556.

New Penal Code Section 463.2 allows a court to consider, as an aggravating factor at sentencing for a looting conviction under Section 463, whether the defendant impersonated emergency personnel (peace officers, firefighters, search and rescue, armed forces, EMTs, etc.) while committing the crime.

The crime of electronically impersonating a first responder for fraud (Section 538i) is now limited to conduct occurring during an evacuation order or within 30 days after its termination. Previously there was no time limitation tied to an evacuation order.

A new Section 5 makes the entire act operative only if Assembly Bill 468 of the 2025-26 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2026. If AB 468 does not pass by that date, SB 571 will not take effect.

Fine amounts in Section 538i are now spelled out in words alongside numerals (two thousand dollars ($2,000) and twenty thousand dollars ($20,000)), a standard legislative drafting convention.