California Senate Democrats just killed a bill that would have banned convicted sex offenders from sitting on school boards, then advanced a replacement that still lets many of them run.
Quick Take
- Senate Democrats rejected a Republican bill closing a loophole that lets some sex offenders run for school board.
- The fix passed the Assembly 60-0 but died in a Senate committee.
- A rival bill Democrats advanced only bans lifetime “Tier 3” registrants from office.
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 offenders, including some convicted of sexually assaulting children, would stay eligible.
- Lawmakers face an August 31 deadline to finish this year’s session.
Assembly’s Unanimous Fix Dies in the Senate
State Senator Suzette Valladares, a Santa Clarita Republican, wrote Assembly Bill 2753 to stop registered sex offenders from running for school board. The bill cleared the Assembly by a 60-0 vote, backed by lawmakers from both parties. Then Senate Democrats killed it in committee, choosing instead to advance a different bill that carves out exceptions for people convicted of sex crimes against children.
Valladares said current California law has no rule stopping a registered sex offender from holding a school board seat right now. Fox News reported that Senate Democrats rejected her effort to close what she called a “loophole,” even as the offenses in question involve crimes against minors.
The Tiered Loophole Democrats Chose Instead
The bill Senate Democrats advanced, Assembly Bill 2691, does not ban all sex offenders from office. It only blocks people who fall under California’s lifetime “Tier 3” sex offender registration category. The Senate Republican Caucus warned that changes made in the Senate Elections Committee stripped out offenses requiring 10 or 20 years of registration, meaning those offenders would remain eligible to serve on school boards.
California’s sex offender registry splits offenders into three tiers under a 2017 law. Tier 1 requires 10 years of registration, Tier 2 requires 20 years, and Tier 3 means registering for life. Because AB 2691 only targets Tier 3, offenders convicted of serious crimes that fall under Tier 1 or Tier 2 would not be barred from running for local office.
What Crimes Could Still Qualify for a School Board Run
The Senate Republican Caucus said the narrowed bill means people convicted of sodomizing, orally copulating, or sexually penetrating a child could still hold public office, including seats on local school boards, because those crimes can fall outside the lifetime Tier 3 category. That detail is the core of conservative outrage: a bill sold as child-safety reform still leaves serious child sex offenders a path to run classrooms’ governing boards.
KCRA reported plainly on what the committee vote means for California families. After Senate Democrats acted, registered sex offenders and people convicted of serious child sex crimes can still run for city council, school board, or the state Legislature. That is not a hypothetical risk debated by lawyers. It is the actual state of California election law right now, confirmed by a news outlet watching the committee vote firsthand.
A Pattern of Carve-Outs in Sacramento
This is not the first time California lawmakers have softened rules meant to keep sex offenders away from schools. A 2017 bill, Senate Bill 26, revised prior restrictions and authorized certain registered sex offenders to enter school campuses for lawful business when students were not present, dropping a requirement that they first get written permission from a school administrator. Supporters call these changes narrow fixes. Critics see a legislature more comfortable weakening restrictions than tightening them.
California lawmakers must wrap up this year’s lawmaking session by midnight on August 31, and school safety bills are among the items still being fought over in the final days. Parents and school-board candidates watching this fight are left with a plain fact: an Assembly that voted 60-0 to close this loophole could not get the same result out of the Senate. Instead, the chamber advanced a bill that keeps a door open for offenders convicted of some of the most serious crimes against children.
Sources:
calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org, foxnews.com, src.senate.ca.gov
