Article 1 - General

California Government Code — §§ 12910-12919

Sections (10)

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature in establishing the bureau to establish an initial framework and it is the intent of the Legislature that the scope and responsibilities of the bureau may expand as necessary to fulfill its mission and address additional harms as identified.

(b)It is the intent of the Legislature that, as the bureau expands its scope in the future, it shall do both of the following:

(1)Address the lasting harms of disenfranchisement, segregation, discrimination, exclusion neglect, and violence impacting both descendants and communities harmed as described in Chapters 1 to 13,

inclusive, of the California Reparations Report.

(2)Advise on reparative remedies to target the persistent consequences of this legacy, guided by Chapters 14 to 33, inclusive, of the California Reparations Report.

(c)Implementation of this chapter shall be contingent upon appropriation of sufficient funding by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or other statute for that purpose.

§ 12911

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

For purposes of this chapter:

(a)“Bureau” means the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery.

(b)“Deputy director” means the Deputy Director of the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery.

(c)“Descendants” means individuals

who can establish direct lineage to a person who, prior to 1900, was subjected to American chattel slavery and meets at least one of the following criteria:

(1)Was emancipated through legal or extralegal means, including self-purchase, manumission, executive or legislative action, military service, or judicial ruling.

(2)Obtained freedom through gradual abolition statutes or constitutional amendments.

(3)Was classified as a fugitive from bondage under federal or state law.

(4)Was deemed contraband by military authorities.

(5)Rendered military or civic service while subject to legal restrictions

based on ancestry historically associated with slavery.

§ 12912

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)The Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery is hereby established within the department. The bureau shall be under the direct control of a deputy

director who shall be responsible to the Director of Civil Rights.

(b)The deputy director shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and shall perform all duties, exercise all powers, assume and discharge all responsibilities, and carry out and effect all purposes vested by law in the bureau.

(c)The bureau shall establish a mission statement consistent with the recommendations from the former reparations task force established pursuant to Chapter 319 of the Statutes of 2020.

§ 12913

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)As part of its duties, the bureau shall verify an individual’s status as a descendant. Proof of an individual’s descendant status shall be a qualifying criterion for benefits authorized by the state for descendants.

The bureau shall create a Genealogy Division.

(b)Following the establishment of a process for conducting or verifying genealogical research for the purpose of confirming an individual’s status as a descendant of an enslaved person as provided by Chapter 4.8 (commencing with Section 8308) of Division 1, as added by Senate Bill 437 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, the Genealogy Division shall do all of the following:

(1)Establish a process for individuals to request certification as a descendant of American slaves informed by the process created pursuant to Chapter 4.8 (commencing with Section 8308) of Division 1, as added by Senate Bill 437 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.

(2)Review and determine requests for certification as a descendant.

(3)Establish a process for individuals to appeal a

determination made pursuant to paragraph (2).

(c)Subdivision (b) shall become operative only if Senate Bill 437 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2026.

§ 12914

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)The bureau shall create an Education and Outreach Division to develop and implement a public education campaign regarding all of the following:

(1)The cycle of gentrification, displacement, and exclusion.

(2)The connection between redlining and gentrification.

(3)The history of discriminatory urban planning in California.

(4)Other findings presented in the California Reparations Report.

(b)To accomplish the goals of this section, the division may collaborate with colleges and universities, community organizations, and individuals, including, but not limited to, the entities included in

Item 6610-001-0001 of the Budget Act of 2025.

(c)The entities supported with funds provided for the purpose of

education and outreach in Item 6610-001-0001

of the Budget Act of 2025 shall coordinate and implement education and outreach activities in consultation with the division. Upon the bureau’s request, the entities shall regularly report to the division on these activities and provide guidance to ensure alignment with the bureau’s objectives.

§ 12915

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

The bureau shall create a Legal Affairs Division to do all of the following:

(a)Provide legal advice, counsel, and services to the bureau and its officials.

(b)Ensure that the bureau’s programs are administered in accordance with applicable legislative authority.

(c)Advise the head of the bureau on legislative, legal, and regulatory initiatives.

(d)Serve as an external liaison on legal matters with other state agencies and other entities.

§ 12916

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)Nonpublic personal and genetic information held under the bureau’s authority shall be collected, held, and disclosed only as relevant and necessary to accomplish the purposes set forth in this chapter and in a manner permitted by and consistent with federal and California data privacy laws.

(b)Before asking individuals to supply information for its system of records, the bureau shall inform each individual of all of the following:

(1)The authority that authorizes the solicitation of the information and whether disclosure of that information is mandatory or voluntary.

(2)The principal purpose or purposes for which the information is intended to be used.

(3)The routine uses that may be made of the information.

(4)The effects on the individual, if any, of not providing all or any part of the requested information.

(c)The bureau shall not disclose any data contained in its system of records by any means of communication to any person except as necessary to fulfill the purposes of this chapter and pursuant to either a written request by, or the written consent of, the

individual to whom the record pertains. Intra-agency, interagency, or public disclosure shall not be permitted without that written authorization.

§ 12917

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

The Civil Rights Department may adopt, promulgate, amend, and rescind suitable rules and regulations to implement this chapter.

§ 12918

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)Notwithstanding any other law, the bureau may receive moneys from any federal, state, or local grant and from any nongovernmental entity, including from any private donation or grant, for the purposes of this chapter.

(b)Receipt of funds pursuant to this section shall not confer any right or authority on a donor or grantor to direct, control, or influence the division’s programs, operations, or policy decisions.

§ 12919

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 586, Sec. 1. (SB 518) Effective January 1, 2026.

If any clause, sentence, paragraph, provision, part, or section of this chapter, or the application thereof, for any reason, is adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, that judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this chapter and the application thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which the judgment shall have been rendered and to the circumstances involved.