Title
Rules and Forms | Criminal Law: Advisements on the Felony Plea Form (Action Required)
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Summary
Before accepting a plea of guilty or no contest, courts must advise a defendant on the record that if they are not a citizen, conviction of the charged offense may result in specified immigration consequences. Recent legislation requires courts to advise defendants of these immigration consequences with the verbatim language of Penal Code section 1016.5(a). Additionally, when a defendant pleads guilty or no contest to a sexually violent offense, the California Supreme Court has directed trial courts to advise defendants about the possibility of being referred to sexually violent predator civil commitment proceedings. The Criminal Law Advisory Committee recommends amendments to the optional felony plea form to incorporate the verbatim immigration advisement and to clarify the advisement in cases involving sexually violent offenses.
Recommendation
The Criminal Law Advisory Committee recommends that the Judicial Council, effective July 1, 2026, revise Plea Form, With Explanations and Waiver of Rights--Felony (form CR-101) to incorporate recent statutory amendments on immigration advisements and update the existing advisement on sexually violent predator civil commitment proceedings.