California Ordinances (2026)

Government Code sections 66310 through 66342, the recodified ADU law formerly at 65852.2, establish statewide ministerial approval, size minimums, and parking caps for accessory…

California ADU law, Government Code 66310 et seq. (formerly 65852.2), expressly authorizes converting an existing garage into an ADU, with no replacement parking allowed and…

California law requires every beekeeper, apiary owner, broker, or person possessing an apiary in the state to register each colony's number and location by January 1 each year with the…

California Food and Agriculture Code section 31683 preempts cities from banning specific dog breeds, though localities may regulate spay-neuter and breeding by breed.

California Food and Agricultural Code section 16902 forbids any owner from willfully or negligently letting livestock stray onto, or stand unattended on, a public highway that is…

California prohibits importing, transporting, or possessing wild and exotic animals classified as restricted species, including ferrets, hedgehogs, monkeys, sugar gliders, and most big…

California has no statute titled "animal hoarding," but Penal Code 597.1 makes keeping any animal without proper care and attention a misdemeanor and lets peace officers and humane…

California law makes it illegal to knowingly feed big game mammals, deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, black bear, and Nelson bighorn sheep, anywhere in the state. The California…

California requires statewide licensing of tobacco and vape retailers under the STAKE Act and the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act. Business and Professions Code 22970…

California licenses cannabis retailers under MAUCRSA, but Business and Professions Code section 26200 preserves each city's and county's power to zone, permit, or completely prohibit…

Health and Safety Code section 11362.2 grants every adult 21 or older the statewide right to cultivate up to six cannabis plants indoors, and bars local governments from completely…

California sets a statewide minimum wage floor under Labor Code 1182.12, $16.90 per hour for all employers as of January 2026. Local governments are not preempted and may set higher…

California's Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act under Labor Code 245-249 mandates paid sick leave for nearly all employees statewide. SB 616 (2023) raised the minimum to 40 hours…

The California Coastal Act, Public Resources Code sections 30000 through 30900, requires Coastal Development Permits for nearly all work in the coastal zone and gives the Coastal…

California requires anyone clearing, grading, or disturbing one acre or more of land to obtain coverage under the State Water Board's Construction General Permit, file a Notice of…

Government Code sections 65302 and 65962, together with Water Code section 8401 and the State Building Code Chapter 16, set uniform floodplain mapping, disclosure, and construction…

California Water Code sections 13260 and 13383 implement the federal Clean Water Act through statewide MS4 NPDES permits issued by the State and Regional Water Boards, binding all…

California Civil Code Section 841, the Good Neighbor Fence Act, presumes adjoining landowners share equal benefit and equal cost responsibility for boundary fences, applying statewide…

California requires property owners in fire hazard zones to maintain 100 feet of defensible space around structures, applying uniformly across State and Local Responsibility Areas.

California uniformly prohibits possession, sale, and use of dangerous fireworks statewide, while permitting cities to further restrict or ban Safe and Sane fireworks locally.

California requires permits for most outdoor burning, with statewide CAL FIRE and Air Resources Board rules that uniformly apply alongside local air district restrictions.

California uniformly applies the State Fire Marshal's propane storage standards through the California Fire Code, which all local jurisdictions must enforce as a minimum.

California uniformly classifies and maps Fire Hazard Severity Zones statewide, with mandatory building, disclosure, and defensible space rules tied to zone designations.

California regulates concealed carry weapons licenses statewide under Penal Code 26150 through 26225. Senate Bill 2 (2023) imposes uniform sensitive-place restrictions and applicant…

California preempts most local firearm regulation under Government Code 53071 and Penal Code 25605, reserving licensing, registration, and manufacture authority to the state. However…

California broadly prohibits open carry of firearms statewide under Penal Code 25850 (loaded firearms in public) and Penal Code 26350 (open carry of unloaded handguns). The prohibition…

California prohibits carrying loaded firearms in vehicles statewide under Penal Code 25400 and 25850. Unloaded handguns transported in private vehicles must be in a locked container or…

California Retail Food Code (Health and Safety Code 113700-114437) sets uniform mobile food facility permit, equipment, and food safety standards enforced by counties statewide.

California's Safe Sidewalk Vending Act (SB 946) preempts most local bans on sidewalk vending, allowing only objective health, safety, and welfare regulations.

California's Gambling Control Act bars any city or county from issuing a gambling license to a cardroom unless a local ordinance authorizes it first: one adopted by voters after…

California Penal Code § 326.5 lets only tax-exempt nonprofits, mobilehome park associations, senior groups, and school-affiliated charities run bingo, and only under a local city or…

California law exempts private home card games from gambling regulation entirely. Penal Code § 337j(e)(2)(D) excludes any card game played in a private home or residence from the…

California has no legal sports betting, in stores or online. Penal Code section 337a criminalizes bookmaking, pool-selling, and placing or accepting any bet on the result of a sporting…

California HOAs may levy regular and special assessments, charge late fees and interest, record liens, and ultimately foreclose on delinquent owners under the Davis-Stirling Act. State…

California's Davis-Stirling Act gives every HOA member the right to inspect and copy association records under Civil Code § 5205. Boards must produce current-year records within 10…

California overrides HOA governing documents on several owner protections. The Davis-Stirling Act and related Civil Code sections bar HOAs from prohibiting solar systems, U.S. flag…

California voids any HOA governing-document clause that effectively bans or unreasonably restricts a clothesline or drying rack in an owner's exclusive-use backyard. Civil Code Section…

Civil Code section 4735 voids any HOA rule that bans low-water plants, turf replacement, or artificial turf, and bars fines for cutting back watering during a declared drought…

Civil Code § 4745 voids any HOA covenant or governing-document rule that prohibits or unreasonably restricts installing an EV charging station in an owner's unit or designated parking…

Civil Code § 4705 bars every California homeowners association from limiting a member's display of the United States flag on their own lot or within their exclusive-use common area…

California law caps homeowners association fines at $100 per violation or the amount listed in the association's published penalty schedule, whichever is less. Civil Code section 5850…

A California homeowners association cannot foreclose on a member’s home over unpaid dues until the delinquent assessments alone reach $1,800, or until the assessments secured by the…

Civil Code § 4741 bars every California homeowners association from adopting or enforcing a rule that prohibits, or unreasonably restricts, renting out a separate interest, and sets a…

Government Code section 51035 forbids any California city, county, or city and county from prohibiting a cottage food operation in a residential dwelling. The local agency must pick…

Health and Safety Code sections 1597.40 through 1597.465 require all California cities and counties to treat licensed family daycare homes as permitted residential uses, preempting any…

California lets home cooks sell meals from their own kitchen under a microenterprise home kitchen operation (MEHKO) permit, capped at 30 meals a day, 90 a week, and $100,000 in annual…

While most home occupation rules are local, state law guarantees certain residential uses statewide, including accessory dwelling units under Government Code 66310 et seq., family…

Sobriety checkpoints are lawful in California and stopping at one is a statutory obligation, not a courtesy. Vehicle Code § 2814.2(a) requires a driver to stop and submit to a sobriety…

California is one of the few states that answers this by statute rather than by case law alone. Penal Code § 148(g) says that photographing or making an audio or video recording of a…

California has no general stop-and-identify statute. The old Penal Code § 647(e), which required a person lawfully detained to give "credible and reliable" identification, was held…

California has no statute that requires you to consent to a search of your car, and none that requires an officer to warn you that you may refuse. What the Legislature and the voters…

Since SB 676 took effect in 2024, Government Code 53087.7 protects only drought-tolerant living landscaping from local bans, so cities may again prohibit artificial turf. Civil Code…

SB 1383 requires every California resident and business to separate food scraps and yard waste from trash, with universal collection or on-site composting.

AB-1572 prohibits using potable water to irrigate non-functional turf at commercial, institutional, and HOA-common areas, accelerating native and low-water landscape conversions…

The 2012 Rainwater Capture Act allows California residents to capture rainwater from rooftops for non-potable outdoor use without a state water-right permit, preempting most local…

California's State Water Resources Control Board issues statewide drought emergency regulations and waste prohibitions that apply to every household, overriding more lenient local…

A low-speed vehicle in California may not be driven on any roadway with a speed limit above 35 miles per hour. Vehicle Code section 21260 permits it to cross a faster road only where…

California sets statewide airport noise limits under Title 21 CCR, with the state preempting most local aviation noise control because federal FAA authority dominates aircraft…

California Vehicle Code sections 22651 and 22669 set uniform rules allowing peace officers and authorized agents to remove abandoned vehicles from public and private property after…

California Civil Code sections 4745 and 1947.6, plus Government Code 65850.7, create statewide rights for residents to install EV charging stations and require expedited local…

California doesn't ban private-property towing, but Vehicle Code Section 22658 controls how it happens. A posted sign at least 17 by 22 inches must warn drivers before a tow company…

California evictions run through the unlawful detainer process. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 1161, nonpayment requires a 3-day notice to pay rent or quit (excluding weekends and…

California landlords must keep rentals fit to live in. Civil Code §§ 1941 and 1941.1, reinforced by Green v. Superior Court, imply a warranty of habitability covering plumbing, heat…

Civil Code 1946.2 requires landlords statewide to have just cause to terminate tenancies of qualifying tenants who have lived in a covered unit at least 12 months.

California Civil Code § 1954 limits when a landlord may enter a rented home. Except in emergencies, abandonment, or with tenant consent, the landlord must give reasonable written…

California sets no fixed dollar or percentage cap on rent late fees, but a late fee in a residential lease is treated as liquidated damages. Under Civil Code § 1671, such a fee is…

To end a California month-to-month tenancy, a tenant gives 30 days' written notice. A landlord gives 30 days if the tenant has lived there under a year, or 60 days if a year or more…

California limits annual rent increases statewide to 5% plus the local change in the cost of living, capped at 10%, under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB-1482). It also lets…

California requires written notice before raising a month-to-month tenant's rent. Under Civ. Code § 827, increases of 10% or less in 12 months need 30 days' notice; increases above 10%…

As of July 1, 2024, California landlords may collect no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, regardless of whether the unit is furnished. The deposit, minus any lawful…

California adverse possession requires five years of continuous, open, hostile possession AND payment of all property taxes during that period under Code of Civil Procedure § 325. A…

The California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Williamson Act), Government Code 51200-51297.4, allows landowners to enter contracts with counties restricting land to agricultural use…

The California Right to Farm Act under Civil Code 3482.5 protects established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits brought by neighbors who moved in after farming began. The…

California requires hosting platforms to warn hosts to check their lease and insurance before listing (Business and Professions Code 22592), and AB 537 requires short-term lodging…

California Civil Code Section 4710 universally prohibits homeowner associations from banning noncommercial political signs on owner-occupied separate interest property, overriding any…

California prohibits grocery stores and large retailers from providing single-use plastic carryout bags under Public Resources Code 42280-42288, enacted by SB 270 (2014) and ratified…

California restricts expanded polystyrene food containers statewide through SB 54 (2022) packaging requirements under Public Resources Code 42040-42081. The law mandates that…

California Public Resources Code 42270-42273, enacted by AB 1884 (2018), prohibits full-service restaurants from providing single-use plastic straws unless requested by the customer…

California Civil Code section 714 makes any HOA covenant, deed restriction, or governing document provision that effectively prohibits or restricts a solar energy system void and…

California's Solar Rights Act and the SolarAPP+ mandate (SB 379) require expedited permit review of small residential solar systems, preempting restrictive local processes.

California Health and Safety Code sections 115920-115929 (Swimming Pool Safety Act) impose statewide minimum fencing and drowning-prevention standards for new and remodeled residential…

California prohibits sale of tobacco and vapor products to anyone under 21 statewide under Business and Professions Code 22958, enacted by SBX2-7 in 2016. The Tobacco 21 standard…

California bans retail sale of most flavored tobacco products statewide under Health and Safety Code 104559.5, enacted by SB 793 (2020) and upheld by voters via Proposition 31 in…

California provides statewide protections for native oak woodlands and heritage trees through CEQA review, Public Resources Code, and Forest Practice Rules that apply uniformly.

California works from a closed list: Vehicle Code section 24003 says no vehicle may carry any lamp or illuminating device not required or permitted by the code, so an accessory light…

California measures dash cam placement in square inches. Vehicle Code section 26708(b)(13) lets a video event recorder occupy a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield…

Lane splitting is lawful in California. Vehicle Code section 21658.1, added by AB 51 in 2016, defines it as driving a motorcycle with two wheels in contact with the ground between rows…

California does not let you put a cover over your license plate. Vehicle Code section 5201(c) allows exactly two things: a full car cover on a lawfully parked vehicle, and a license…

No section of the California Vehicle Code makes it an offense for a private motorist to own, carry or use a radar detector. The prohibition in Vehicle Code section 28150 reaches only…

California permits metal studded tires only between November 1 and April 30, and only where the studs are tungsten carbide or another suitable material and the metal touching the road…

California never publishes a "legal VLT" for front side windows because it does not permit aftermarket darkening there at all. Vehicle Code section 26708(d) allows only clear…