Pen. Code, § 451.5 · Chapter 1. Arson
Pen. Code, § 451.5
Not yet in force
Section operative January 1, 2029, by its own provisions.
(a) A person who willfully, maliciously, deliberately, with premeditation, and with intent to cause injury to one or more persons, or to cause damage to property under circumstances likely to produce injury to one or more persons, or to cause damage to one or more structures or inhabited dwellings, sets fire to, burns, or causes to be burned, or aids, counsels, or procures the burning of any residence, structure, forest land, or property, is guilty of aggravated arson if either of the following aggravating factors exists:
(1) The defendant has been previously convicted of arson on one or more occasions within the past 10 years.
(2) The fire caused damage to, or the destruction of, five or more inhabited dwellings.
(b) A person who is convicted under subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 10 years to life.
(c) A person who is sentenced under subdivision (b) shall not be eligible for release on parole until 10 calendar years have elapsed.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2029.
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) A person who willfully, maliciously, deliberately, with premeditation, and with intent to cause injury to one or more persons, or to cause damage to property under circumstances likely to produce injury to one or more persons, or to cause damage to one or more structures or inhabited dwellings, sets fire to, burns, or causes to be burned, or aids, counsels, or procures the burning of any residence, structure, forest land, or property, is guilty of aggravated arson if one or more of the following aggravating factors exists:
(1) The defendant has been previously convicted of arson on one or more occasions within the past 10 years.
(2) (A) The fire caused property damage and other losses in excess of ten million one hundred thousand dollars ($10,100,000), exclusive of damage to, or destruction of, inhabited dwellings.
(B) In calculating the total amount of property damage and other losses under subparagraph (A), the court shall consider the cost of fire suppression. It is the intent of the Legislature that this paragraph be reviewed within five years to consider the effects of inflation on the dollar amount stated herein.
(3) The fire caused damage to, or the destruction of, five or more inhabited dwellings.
(b) A person who is convicted under subdivision (a) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for 10 years to life.
(c) A person who is sentenced under subdivision (b) shall not be eligible for release on parole until 10 calendar years have elapsed.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that amendments to the threshold dollar amount set forth in this section are to be applied prospectively only and shall not be interpreted to benefit any defendant who committed any crime or received any sentence before the effective date of the threshold.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 706, Sec. 1) by Stats. 2025, Ch. 545, Sec. 1. (SB 571) Effective January 1, 2026. Repealed as of January 1, 2029, by its own provisions. See later operative version, as amended by Sec. 2 of Stats. 2023, Ch. 706.
History (not yet in force)
Amended (as amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 619, Sec. 2) by Stats. 2023, Ch. 706, Sec. 2. (SB 281) Effective January 1, 2024. Section operative January 1, 2029, by its own provisions.
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§ionNum=451.5.
- Text hash
- sha256 905d2b42e4bcb3d60a4ccc5da1344439fa32289c60700ee96a8a79cb353d1b26
- 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
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 451.5. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
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