Cal. GOV § 8314.5

This is the official text of Cal. GOV § 8314.5, part of California’s Government Code — covers the structure and operation of state and local government, including public employment and public records.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

(a) In furtherance of Section 8314 and except as provided in subdivision (b), it shall be unlawful for any elected state or local officer, including any state or local appointee, employee, or consultant, to knowingly use a state-owned or state-leased computer to access, view, download, or otherwise obtain obscene matter.

(b) This section does not apply to accessing, viewing, downloading, or otherwise obtaining obscene matter for use consistent with legitimate law enforcement purposes, to permit a state agency to conduct an administrative disciplinary investigation, or for legitimate medical, scientific, academic, or legislative purposes, or for other legitimate state purposes.

(c) “Obscene matter” as used in this section has the meaning specified in Section 311 of the Penal Code.

(d) “State-owned or state-leased computer” means a computer owned or leased by one of the following:

(1) A state agency, as defined by Section 11000, including the California State University.

(2) The University of California.

(3) The Legislature.

(e) This section shall not apply to the University of California unless and until the Regents of the University of California act, by resolution, to make it applicable.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in California?

Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.