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Pen. Code, § 311.12 · Chapter 7.5. Obscene Matter

Pen. Code, § 311.12

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) (1) Every person who is convicted of a violation of Section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.10, or 311.11 in which the violation is committed on, or via, a government-owned computer or via a government-owned computer network, shall, in addition to any imprisonment or fine imposed for the commission of the underlying offense, be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), unless the court determines that the defendant does not have the ability to pay.

(2) Every person who is convicted of a violation of Section 311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 311.10, or 311.11 in which the production, transportation, or distribution of which involves the use, possession, or control of government-owned property shall, in addition to any imprisonment or fine imposed for the commission of the underlying offense, be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), unless the court determines that the defendant does not have the ability to pay.

(b) The fines in subdivision (a) shall not be subject to the provisions of Sections 70372, 76000, 76000.5, and 76104.6 of the Government Code, or Sections 1464 and 1465.7 of this code.

(c) Revenue from any fines collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into a county fund established for that purpose and allocated as follows, and a county may transfer all or part of any of those allocations to another county for the allocated use:

(1) One-third for sexual assault investigator training.

(2) One-third for public agencies and nonprofit corporations that provide shelter, counseling, or other direct services for victims of human trafficking.

(3) One-third for multidisciplinary teams.

(d) As used in this section:

(1) “Computer” includes any computer hardware, computer software, computer floppy disk, data storage medium, or CD-ROM.

(2) “Government-owned” includes property and networks owned or operated by state government, city government, city and county government, county government, a public library, or a public college or university.

(3) “Multidisciplinary teams” means a child-focused, facility-based program in which representatives from many disciplines, including law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, medical and mental health, and victim and child advocacy work together to conduct interviews and make team decisions about the investigation, treatment, management, and prosecution of child abuse cases, including child sexual abuse cases. It is the intent of the Legislature that this multidisciplinary team approach will protect victims of child abuse from multiple interviews, result in a more complete understanding of case issues, and provide the most effective child- and family-focused system response possible.

(e) This section shall not be construed to require any government or government entity to retain data in violation of any provision of state or federal law.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 926, Sec. 5. (AB 1831) Effective January 1, 2025.

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=PEN&sectionNum=311.12.
Text hash
sha256 0b33149fd87ac58d19ee2f7623e4debb26ba0c2864e4b9b9f291d67d3d59dd2d
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

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

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.