Gov. Code, § 3305.5 · Chapter 9.7. Public Safety Officers
Gov. Code, § 3305.5
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) A punitive action, or denial of promotion on grounds other than merit, shall not be undertaken by any public agency against any public safety officer solely because that officer’s name has been placed on a Brady list, or that the officer’s name may otherwise be subject to disclosure pursuant to Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83.
(b) This section shall not prohibit a public agency from taking punitive action, denying promotion on grounds other than merit, or taking other personnel action against a public safety officer based on the underlying acts or omissions for which that officer’s name was placed on a Brady list, or may otherwise be subject to disclosure pursuant to Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83, if the actions taken by the public agency otherwise conform to this chapter and to the rules and procedures adopted by the local agency.
(c) Evidence that a public safety officer’s name has been placed on a Brady list, or may otherwise be subject to disclosure pursuant to Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83, shall not be introduced for any purpose in any administrative appeal of a punitive action, except as provided in subdivision (d).
(d) Evidence that a public safety officer’s name was placed on a Brady list may only be introduced if, during the administrative appeal of a punitive action against an officer, the underlying act or omission for which that officer’s name was placed on a Brady list is proven and the officer is found to be subject to some form of punitive action. If the hearing officer or other administrative appeal tribunal finds or determines that a public safety officer has committed the underlying acts or omissions that will result in a punitive action, denial of a promotion on grounds other than merit, or any other adverse personnel action, and evidence exists that a public safety officer’s name has been placed on a Brady list, or may otherwise be subject to disclosure pursuant to Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83, then the evidence shall be introduced for the sole purpose of determining the type or level of punitive action to be imposed.
(e) For purposes of this section, “Brady list” means any system, index, list, or other record containing the names of peace officers whose personnel files are likely to contain evidence of dishonesty or bias, which is maintained by a prosecutorial agency or office in accordance with the holding in Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 779, Sec. 1. (SB 313) Effective January 1, 2014.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=3305.5.
- Text hash
- sha256 aba644dbf49df0b7ae9158cc4a2a5d345a3a4fc2df177bece2fe081077ed5ba9
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.