SB 941
Private detention facilities: canteens.
Vote required
Majority
Fiscal committee
No
Appropriation
No
Current location
In Floor Process
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Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
- To Governor
- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill regulates the prices of goods sold in commissaries at private detention facilities in California. Currently, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sets limits on the markup for canteen items. This bill extends that same 35% markup limit to commissary sales at private facilities, ensuring that the prices of items sold are not excessively inflated. It aims to provide incarcerated individuals with more affordable access to essential goods.
Key provisions
- Defines ‘commissary’ as an onsite or online store selling goods to incarcerated individuals.
- Defines ‘private detention facility’ as a for-profit facility operating under contract with a government entity.
- Prohibits commissary sales at private detention facilities from exceeding a 35% markup on vendor prices.
- Applies the same markup limit as currently exists for canteen sales.
- Establishes a new chapter (24.6) in the Business and Professions Code to govern these provisions.
- Relates to the operation of private detention facilities.
- Specifies the meaning of commissary and private detention facility.
Who is affected
- Incarcerated individuals
- Private detention facility operators
- Vendors supplying goods to detention facilities
- The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Notable changes
- Extends price controls from canteen sales to commissary sales at private detention facilities.
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SB941:v99#DOCUMENT
Bill Start
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 941
| Introduced by Senator Padilla (Principal coauthors: Senators Caballero and Hurtado) (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Carrillo) (Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Durazo, and Gonzalez) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Elhawary, Garcia, Ortega, Celeste Rodriguez, and Solache) |
| January 29, 2026 |
An act to add Chapter 24.6 (commencing with Section 22756) to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to detention facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 941, as introduced, Padilla. Private detention facilities: canteens.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to maintain a canteen at its active facilities, and until January 1, 2028, prohibits the sale prices of the articles offered for sale in a canteen from exceeding a 35% markup above the price of the articles paid to the vendors. Existing law, commencing on January 1, 2028, requires the sale amounts of the articles to be offered for sale to be fixed by the secretary at amounts that will render each canteen self-supporting.
This bill would prohibit the sale price of an article offered for sale in a commissary, as defined, at a private detention facility, defined as a detention facility that is operated by a private, nongovernmental, for-profit entity, and operating pursuant to a contract or agreement with a governmental entity, from exceeding a 35% markup above the amount paid to a vendor for that article.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 24.6 (commencing with Section 22756) is added to Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 24.6. Private Detention Facilities
22756.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Commissary” means any onsite or online store, canteen, vendor-operated program, or retail service that sells goods, food, hygiene supplies, phone cards, or other items to people confined in a private detention facility, whether operated directly by the facility or through a third-party contractor.
(2) “Private detention facility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 9500 of the Penal Code.
(b) The sale price of an article offered for sale in a commissary at a private detention facility shall not exceed a 35-percent markup above the amount paid to a vendor for that article.