Recall and resentencing: incarcerated firefighters.

As Assembly Members Lowenthal and Elhawary describe, this measure intertwines a broadened recall-and-resentencing framework with a dedicated CDCR-regulatory track aimed at incarcerated firefighters and conservation camp participants, reflecting a dual approach to criminal procedure reform and targeted workforce-related resentencing referrals. The package foregrounds a substantial expansion of opportunities for recall and resentencing while creating a regulatory timetable for a specific population tied to conservation camp work and institutional firehouses.

The amended recall framework for Penal Code 1172.1 allows the court to recall and resentence within 120 days of commitment, or at any time if original sentencing laws have changed or on specified recommendations from CDCR, the Board of Parole Hearings, the district attorney, or the Attorney General, with the new term not exceeding the initial sentence. It directs the court to apply current Judicial Council sentencing rules and to consider postconfinement factors such as rehabilitation, health, age, and changed circumstances to reduce disparities and promote uniformity. Resentencing options include either reducing the term or vacating the conviction and resenting on a lesser offense with the defendant and district attorney’s concurrence. When a recall is court-initiated, pleas entered via plea bargains are protected from being recharacterized to lesser offenses without both parties’ concurrence. The bill also requires time served to be credited, mandates the court to state its reasons on the record, and provides for hearings or stipulations—with victims able to seek a hearing within a defined window and with remote appearance possible. A presumption in favor of recall applies when requests originate from the CDCR secretary, the Board of Parole Hearings, a county correctional administrator, a district attorney, or the Attorney General, unless the court finds an unreasonable risk to public safety.

In addition, the measure imposes a regulatory duty on CDCR to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2027 governing resentencing referrals for current California Conservation Camp participants, former participants still in custody, and incarcerated personnel at institutional firehouses who use the existing extraordinary conduct referral process. The regulations must establish eligibility for referral of incarcerated persons with two or more years remaining to serve, prohibit exclusion based solely on past or pending parole hearing dates, and prohibit imposing a minimum time served as a prerequisite for consideration. The regulatory framework is designed to operate alongside the recall provisions, with enforcement and administration situated in court proceedings while CDCR handles referral eligibility and process rules.

The bill’s findings emphasize the California Conservation Camp program’s role in emergency response, noting the camps’ minimum-security status, the health clearances for vigorous activity, and the dangerous nature of firefighting work, including fatalities, while highlighting the January 2025 fires in Los Angeles County in which incarcerated firefighters contributed to containment efforts. The authors assert that incarcerated workers are an essential component of the state’s emergency response and that the measures formalize a structured pathway for resentencing referrals tied to conservation-camp participation and related firehouse duties. Fiscal considerations are acknowledged through required legislative review, with no explicit appropriation within the text, leaving budgetary impacts to be assessed in the annual process as administrative and court proceedings adapt to the broadened framework.