Pen. Code, § 529.6 · Chapter 8. False Personation and Cheats
Pen. Code, § 529.6
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) (1) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Freedom to Count Act.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that all Californians have access to accurate, timely information about the census and that all Californians have the opportunity to participate in the census freely and without fear of fraud, intimidation, or harm.
(b) A person is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, who does either of the following:
(1) Falsely represents that they are a census taker with the intent to interfere with the operation of the census or with the intent to obtain information or consent to an otherwise unlawful search or seizure.
(2) Falsely assumes some or all of the activities of a census taker with the intent to interfere with the operation of the census or with the intent to obtain information or consent to an otherwise unlawful search or seizure.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 831, Sec. 2. (AB 1563) Effective January 1, 2020.
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=529.6.
- Text hash
- sha256 be6457d2773813eb20e0568267a08f7007486bda410afa944ad628ed51440f28
- 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.