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Cal. PEN § 626.81

This is the official text of Cal. PEN § 626.81, part of California’s Penal Code — defines crimes and sets criminal procedure in California.

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) A person who is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290, who comes into any school building or upon any school ground without lawful business thereon and written permission indicating the date or dates and times for which permission has been granted from the chief administrative official of that school, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b) (1) The chief administrative official of a school may grant a person who is subject to this section and not a family member of a pupil who attends that school, permission to come into a school building or upon the school grounds to volunteer at the school, provided that, notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 290.45, at least 14 days prior to the first date for which permission has been granted, the chief administrative official notifies or causes to be notified the parent or guardian of each child attending the school that a person who is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 has been granted permission to come into a school building or upon school grounds, the date or dates and times for which permission has been granted, and his or her right to obtain information regarding the person from a designated law enforcement entity pursuant to Section 290.45. The notice required by this paragraph shall be provided by one of the methods identified in Section 48981 of the Education Code.

(2) Any chief administrative official or school employee who in good faith disseminates the notification and information as required by paragraph (1) shall be immune from civil liability for action taken in accordance with that paragraph.

(c) Punishment for a violation of this section shall be as follows:

(1) Upon a first conviction by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not more than six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(2) If the defendant has been previously convicted once of a violation of this section, by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not less than 10 days or more than six months, or by both imprisonment and a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), and shall not be released on probation, parole, or any other basis until he or she has served not less than 10 days.

(3) If the defendant has been previously convicted two or more times of a violation of this section, by imprisonment in a county jail for a period of not less than 90 days or more than six months, or by both imprisonment and a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500), and shall not be released on probation, parole, or any other basis until he or she has served not less than 90 days.

(d) Nothing in this section shall preclude or prohibit prosecution under any other provision of law.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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.