Amended  IN  Assembly  April 23, 2025
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 28, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1363

Introduced by Assembly Member Stefani

February 21, 2025

An act to add Section 6380.5 to the Family Code, relating to protective orders.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1363, as amended, Stefani. Protective orders: Wyland’s Law.
Existing law requires each county to develop a procedure for electronically transmitting, upon the issuance of certain types of protective orders, the contents of the order and other specified information to the Department of Justice (department) through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. Existing law also requires the department to maintain a California Restraining and Protective Order System and to make specified information electronically available to court clerks and law enforcement personnel.
This bill, Wyland’s Law, would require a superior court to maintain a record demonstrating that it has discharged its obligation to transmit information about a protective order to the Department of Justice department and would require the Department of Justice department to maintain a record demonstrating its receipt of the information transmitted about a protective order, as specified. The bill would require those records to be made available to a petitioner, respondent, or protected person, or their representative, within one business day upon an oral or written request. This bill would require The bill would require, as of January 1, 2027, each superior court and the department to develop and implement an electronic form and manage an email address to facilitate the electronic submission of these requests. The bill would require a superior court and the Department of Justice department to conspicuously post the form and the email address on their respective internet websites under the heading “Wyland’s Law Record Request.” The bill would make these records subject to disclosure under a request for a judicial administrative record or a public record request, as specified. For a case pending before January 1, 2026, the bill would make the information necessary to verify a superior court’s transmission obligations under these provisions a judicial administrative record or a public record, as specified, that is not exempt from disclosure. The bill would require a record demonstrating transmission of information about a protective order that a superior court is required to maintain or a record demonstrating receipt of information about a protective order that the department is required to maintain to be open to public inspection and copying. The bill would authorize the court and the department to redact personal identifying information, as defined, about the protected person from any record made available to the public. The bill would make these provisions apply to a case pending before January 1, 2026, to the extent information about a protective order is necessary to verify a superior court’s specified transmission obligations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 6380.5 is added to the Family Code, to read:

6380.5.
 (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as Wyland’s Law.
(b) (1) A superior court shall maintain a record demonstrating it has discharged its obligation to transmit pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6380 to transmit information about a protective order to the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6380, which shall include, but not be limited to, department. The record shall include, at a minimum, the name of the respondent, the date of issuance of the order, and the date it transmitted the order.
(2) If a superior court uses a designee to transmit information about a protective order to the Department of Justice department pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6380, the designee shall confirm with the superior court that it transmitted information about the protective order to the department pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 6380, and the superior court shall maintain the record that the order information about the protective order was transmitted to Department of Justice as described in paragraph (1). the department.
(c) The Department of Justice department shall maintain a record demonstrating receipt of the information about a protective order it received transmitted to the department pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 6380, which shall include, but not be limited to, the name of the respondent, the date of issuance of the order, and the date it received the order. 6380.
(d) The superior court that issued a protective order shall make a record it maintains pursuant to subdivision (b) available upon the oral or written request of a petitioner, respondent, or protected person, or their representative, within one business day or, if the request is made on the same day the order is issued, within two business days.
(e) The Department of Justice Notwithstanding Section 7922.535 of the Government Code, the department shall make a record it maintains pursuant to subdivision (c) available upon request of a petitioner, respondent, or protected person, or their representative, within one business day or, if the request is made on the same day the order is issued, within two business days.
(f) (1) Each As of January 1, 2027, each superior court and the Department of Justice department shall develop and implement an electronic form and manage an email address to facilitate the electronic submission of a request made pursuant to subdivision (d) or (e).
(2) A superior court and the Department of Justice department shall post the form and email address described in this subdivision conspicuously on their respective internet websites under the heading “Wyland’s Law Record Request.”
(g) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a record maintained demonstrating transmission of information about a protective order that a superior court maintains pursuant to subdivision (b) is a judicial administrative record, as described in Rule 10.500 of the California Rules of Court, that is not exempt from disclosure. required to be open to public inspection and copying. The court may redact personal identifying information about the protected person from any record that it makes available to the public.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, a record maintained demonstrating receipt of information about a protective order that the department maintains pursuant to subdivision (c) is a public record that is not exempt from disclosure in response to a public record request made pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code). The department may redact personal identifying information about the protected person from any record that it makes available to the public.
(3) In This subdivision applies to a case pending before January 1, 2026, the information to the extent that information about a protective order is necessary to verify a superior court’s transmission obligations under this section: section, or pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 6380.

(A)If requested from the superior court, is a judicial administrative record, as described in Rule 10.500 of the California Rules of Court, that is not exempt from public disclosure.

(B)If requested from the Department of Justice, is a public record that is not exempt from public disclosure in response to a public record request made pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(4) This Paragraph (2) of this subdivision does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law.
(h) For purposes of this section, the following terms are defined as follows:
(1) “Department” means the Department of Justice.
(2) “Personal identifying information” has the same meaning as in subdivision (b) of Section 530.55 of the Panel Code.