Article 1 - Employment of Prisoners Generally

California Penal Code — §§ 2700-2717

Sections (16)

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 241, Sec. 32. (SB 857) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall require of every able-bodied prisoner imprisoned in any state prison as many hours of faithful labor in each day and every day during the prisoner’s term of imprisonment as shall be prescribed by the rules and regulations of the

Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(b)When any statute requires a price to be fixed for any services to be performed in connection with the work program of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the compensation paid to prisoners shall be included as an item of cost in fixing the final statutory price.

(c)Prisoners not engaged on work programs under the jurisdiction of the California Correctional Training and Rehabilitation Authority, but who are engaged in productive labor outside of such programs may be compensated in like manner. The compensation of the prisoners shall be paid either out of funds appropriated by the Legislature for that purpose or out of such other funds available to the Department of Corrections

and Rehabilitation for expenditure, as the Director of Finance may direct.

(d)When a prisoner escapes, the secretary shall determine what portion of the prisoner’s earnings shall be forfeited and the forfeiture shall be deposited in the State Treasury in a fund known as the Inmate Welfare Fund of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

§ 2700.1

Section 2700 applies to inmates sentenced to death, except as otherwise provided in this section.

Every person found guilty of murder, sentenced to death, and held by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pursuant to Sections 3600 to 3602 shall be required to work as many hours of faithful labor each day he or she is so held as shall be prescribed the rules and regulations of the department.

Physical education and physical fitness programs shall not qualify as work for purposes of this section. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may revoke the privileges of any condemned inmate who refuses to work as required by this section.

In any case where the condemned inmate owes a restitution fine or restitution order, the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall deduct 70 percent or the balance owing, whichever is less, from the

condemned inmate’s wages and trust account deposits, regardless of the source of the income, and shall transfer those funds to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board according to the rules and regulations of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, pursuant to Sections 2085.5 and 2717.8.

§ 2701

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 241, Sec. 33. (SB 857) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is hereby authorized and empowered to cause the prisoners in the state prisons of this state to be employed in the rendering of services as are now, or may hereafter be, needed by the state, or any political subdivision thereof, or that may be needed for any state, county, district, municipal, school, or other public use, or that may be needed by any public institution of the state or of any political subdivision thereof, or that may be needed for use by the federal government, or any department, agency, or corporation thereof, or that may be needed for use by the government of any other state, or any department, agency, or corporation thereof, except for services provided by enterprises under

the jurisdiction of the California Correctional Training and Rehabilitation Authority. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may enter into contracts for the purposes of this article.

(b)The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may cause prisoners in the prisons of this state to be employed in the rendering of emergency services for the preservation of life or property within the state, whether that property is owned by public entities or private citizens, when a county level state of emergency has been declared due to a natural disaster and the local governing board has requested the assistance of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

§ 2702

Added by Stats. 1989, Ch. 1357, Sec. 5.

No person imprisoned after conviction of a violation of Section 502 or of subdivision (b) of Section 502.7 shall be permitted to work on or have access to any computer system of the department.

§ 2706

Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1549, Sec. 10.

All prisoners shall be employed under supervision of the wardens respectively, and such skilled foremen as they may deem necessary in the performance of work for the state.

§ 2707

Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 2256.

The director is further authorized and empowered to purchase, install, and equip, such machinery, tools, supplies, materials, and equipment as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.

§ 2708

Added by Stats. 1941, Ch. 106.

No inmate of any State prison shall be employed in the manufacture or production, of any article, intended for the private and personal use of any State officer, or officer, or employee, of any State institution; provided, that this act shall not prevent repairing of any kind nor the employment of such inmates in household or domestic work connected with such prison.

§ 2710

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 727, Sec. 1. (AB 2624) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)(1) An incarcerated person imprisoned in a state prison shall be allowed relief from prison employment after the death of an immediate family member of the incarcerated person.

(2)If the incarcerated person is enrolled in an educational program instead of, or in addition to, being employed, the incarcerated person shall additionally be allowed relief from the educational program.

(3)The incarcerated person shall request relief from the warden or their designee.

(4)The incarcerated person shall provide substantiation to support

the request.

(5)Upon receiving the request and substantiation, the warden shall approve or deny the relief as soon as practicable.

(b)The incarcerated person shall be paid their regular compensation for the hours and days the individual is scheduled to work during the period of relief.

(c)The relief shall not exceed three days for any one occurrence.

(d)To the extent resources are available, the incarcerated person shall have access to a mental health professional during their period of relief.

(e)(1) The warden or other administrator of the facility shall grant the relief

from employment pursuant to this section unless the incarcerated person is employed in a position requiring emergency response, including, but not limited to, a firefighter, and there is an exigent circumstance requiring their employment during the period requested by the incarcerated person.

(2)If the warden or other administrator of the facility denies the relief pursuant to paragraph (1), the relief shall be granted as soon as practicable after the exigent circumstance has ended.

(f)A warden or other administrator of the facility shall not discipline, punish, refuse to hire, discharge, demote, fine, suspend, expel, or discriminate against an individual as a result of either of the following:

(1)An individual’s

exercise of the right to relief from employment pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2)An individual’s request for relief from employment or provision of substantiation to support the request pursuant to subdivision (a).

(g)(1) This section does not authorize an incarcerated person to leave the prison facility.

(2)This section does not authorize the prison to deny an incarcerated person access to other regularly scheduled activities, including, but not limited to, recreation, meals, group sessions, or counseling.

(h)For the purposes of this section, “immediate family member”

has the same meaning as defined in Section 3000 of Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations.

§ 2713

Added by Stats. 1963, Ch. 1200.

Whenever an inmate is paid for his labor, performed under the supervision of the Department of Corrections or any other public agency, and is discharged, all sums due him shall be paid upon release. If an inmate is released on parole all sums due him shall be paid to the inmate as prescribed by the director.

§ 2713.1

Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1406, Sec. 1.

In addition to any other payment to which he is entitled by law, each prisoner upon his release shall be paid the sum of two hundred dollars ($200), from such appropriations that may be made available for the purposes of this section.

The department may prescribe rules and regulations (a) to limit or eliminate any payments provided for in this section to prisoners who have not served for at least six consecutive months prior to their release in instances where the department determines that such a payment is not necessary for rehabilitation of the prisoner, (b) to establish procedures for the payment of the sum of two hundred dollars ($200) within the first 60 days of a prisoner’s release, and (c) to eliminate any payment provided for in this section to a parolee who upon release has not been paid the entire amount prescribed by this section and who willfully absconds after release on parole, but before any remaining balance of the two hundred dollar ($200) release funds has been paid.

The provisions of this section shall not be applicable if a prisoner is released to the custody of another state or to the custody of the federal government.

§ 2713.2

Added by Stats. 2007, Ch. 7, Sec. 9. Effective May 3, 2007.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall examine and report to the Legislature on whether the provisions of existing law related to payments to inmates released from prison are hindering the success of parolees and resulting in their rapid return to prison for parole violations. The report shall specifically examine whether the costs of transportation of the inmate from prison to the parole location should be paid from the amounts specified in Section 2713.1 or whether it should be paid separately by the department. The department shall submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature on or before January 15, 2008.

§ 2714

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 681, Sec. 1. (AB 247) Effective October 13, 2025.

In addition to the credits received pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 2933.3, incarcerated individual hand crew members shall be paid an hourly wage equal to seven dollars and twenty-five cents ($7.25) while assigned to an active fire incident. The wage rate shall be reviewed annually.

§ 2715

Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 2256.

Land belonging to the State of California may, with the approval of the Department of Finance, be transferred to the jurisdiction of the director for the purpose of establishing thereon a prison farm and prisoners in the state prisons may be transferred to such farm. Products from said farm shall first be used for supplying the state prisons, prison camps, or the prison farm and any surplus may be sold to any other state institution.

§ 2716

Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1549, Sec. 16.

(a)The Director of Corrections may enter into agreements with other state agencies for the use of inmates confined in the state prisons to perform work necessary and proper to be done by them in facilities of such state agencies for the purpose of vocational training and the improvement of job skills preparatory to release.

(b)The director shall determine which prisoners shall be eligible for such assignment and training.

(c)Suitable facilities for the housing, care, and feeding of the inmates may be provided by the agency for whom the work is performed at the location of such agency.

(d)The director shall have full jurisdiction over the discipline and control of the inmates assigned.

(e)The provisions of Title 5 (commencing with Section 4500) of Part 3 shall apply to all persons on such assignment.

§ 2716.5

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 241, Sec. 34. (SB 857) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)There is hereby established the Prerelease Construction Trades Certificate Program, hereinafter referred to in this section as “the program,” in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, hereinafter referred to in this section as the “department,” to increase employment opportunities in the construction trades for inmates upon release.

(b)The department shall establish a joint advisory committee for the purpose of implementation of the program. The committee shall be composed of representatives from building and construction trades employee organizations, the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, joint apprenticeship training programs, the

California Correctional Training and Rehabilitation Authority, the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and any other representatives the department determines appropriate. The responsibilities of the committee shall include, but are not be limited to, the following:

(1)Develop guidelines for the participation of inmates in preapprenticeship training programs, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 14230 of the Unemployment Insurance Code. The guidelines shall provide for the integration, for all inmate preapprenticeship training programs in the building and construction trades, of the multicraft core curriculum implemented by the State Department of Education for its California Partnership Academies pilot project and by the California Workforce Development Board and local boards.

(2)Develop and implement a prerelease construction trades certification that validates that an inmate completed instruction, skills, and competencies required by and recognized by the participating building and construction trades.

(3)Ensure compliance with any applicable requirements and regulations of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

(4)Evaluate prerelease on-the-job training opportunities to compare and match competencies with those of registered apprentices in the building and construction trades.

(5)Explore the feasibility of the electronic tracking of each participating inmate’s relevant activities to efficiently capture competencies

related to the certification.

(6)Explore the prerelease awarding of formal credit for apprenticeship hours recognized by joint apprenticeship training programs and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

(7)Facilitate the admission of graduates of inmate preapprenticeship programs, after release, into state-approved apprenticeship programs and for apprenticeship programs to evaluate such individuals for admission with advanced standing based on prior coursework and work experience.

§ 2717

Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 525, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2001.

The Department of Corrections shall require prisoners who are working outside the prison grounds in road cleanup crews pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 2760) or fire crews pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 2780) to wear distinctive clothing for identification purposes.