Protective orders: Wyland’s Law.

Assembly Member Stefani's protective order legislation, known as Wyland's Law, establishes new record-keeping requirements for California courts and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to document the transmission and receipt of protective orders. The measure creates a verification system requiring superior courts to maintain records of protective order transmissions to DOJ, including the respondent's name, order issuance date, and transmission date.

The bill institutes specific timelines for records access, requiring both courts and DOJ to provide documentation to petitioners, respondents, protected persons, or their representatives within one business day of request, or within two business days for same-day requests. To facilitate these requests, courts and DOJ must develop electronic submission forms and dedicated email addresses, prominently displayed on their websites under "Wyland's Law Record Request."

Under the legislation, transmission verification records are classified as judicial administrative records when held by courts and as public records when maintained by DOJ. This classification applies to both new and pending cases prior to January 1, 2026, explicitly making these records subject to disclosure through standard public records request procedures. The measure builds upon existing protective order transmission protocols without requiring new appropriations, implementing these documentation requirements within current resource frameworks.