California SB 524 (Penal Code 13663: AI-drafted police reports)

Binding law — in force

Keep the AI first draft and an audit trail of who used AI and which footage, as long as the police report (California SB 524)

Cal. Penal Code 13663(b) · official text · In force: applies since 1 Jan 2026 · California (US-CA)

From 2026-01-01, when an officer or agency member uses AI to create an official report, fully or partly, the agency must retain the first draft (the initial narrative produced solely by AI, 13663(e)(3)) for as long as the official report is retained; no draft other than the official report is the officer's statement (13663(b)); and the agency using AI to generate a first draft or official report must keep, for as long as the report, an audit trail identifying at least the person who used AI to create the report and the video and audio footage used, if any (13663(c)). Detect AI report drafting with no stored first draft or audit trail, or code that deletes drafts.

Who it applies to

• Duty falls on: deployer
• Sectors: government
• Each California law enforcement agency (any state or local department or agency employing a peace officer) whose officers or members prepare official reports with AI systems that draft police report narratives from in-car, dash or body-worn camera audio or video, or from dictation, and the report-writing software that implements those reports. In force 2026-01-01. The duty is the agency's; the guard lives in the vendor's report-writing product (D-11 pattern 2).
• Whether it applies depends on facts outside the code; a person has to decide.

draft = llm.invoke(prompt_from(footage))
report.narrative = draft
save(report)

draft = llm.invoke(prompt_from(footage))
drafts.insert_once(report_id=report.id, first_draft=draft, retain_with=report.id)
audit_trail.record(report_id=report.id, ai_user_id=current_user.id, footage_ids=[f.id for f in footage])
report.narrative = draft  # edits change the report, never the stored first draft
save(report)

Related incidents

No guardrail sits on this exact control; these incidents are cited by guardrails on related controls.

• Court compelled discovery on how nH Predict works (2026-03-09; confirmed). A federal magistrate judge in the District of Minnesota ordered UnitedHealth to produce documents on how nH Predict works, including whether it was designed to supplant physician decision-making. Plaintiffs needed litigation discovery to learn how the model was designed and used. Source: U.S. District Court, D. Minn. (Order, Doc. 162) · evidence grade: primary · cited by Record enough at decision time to reproduce and explain every consequential AI decision

Rule id ca-sb524.ai-first-draft-and-audit-trail-retained · review status: primary source derived

Binding law — in force

An AI-drafted police report names the AI program, carries the AI statement on each page, and is signed as reviewed (California SB 524)

Cal. Penal Code 13663(a) · official text · In force: applies since 1 Jan 2026 · California (US-CA)

From 2026-01-01, each law enforcement agency must maintain a policy requiring every official report prepared fully or partly with artificial intelligence to identify, on each page or in the body, every specific AI program used, in a way readily apparent to the reader, and to state prominently 'This report was written either fully or in part using artificial intelligence.'; and to carry the preparing officer's or member's signature, physical or electronic, verifying that they reviewed its contents and that its facts are true and correct (Penal Code 13663(a)). 'Official report' is the final version signed under (a)(2) (13663(e)(5)). Detect report-writing code that finalizes or exports an AI-drafted report without the statement or without the signature and review attestation.

Who it applies to

• Duty falls on: deployer
• Sectors: government
• Each California law enforcement agency (any state or local department or agency employing a peace officer) whose officers or members prepare official reports with AI systems that draft police report narratives from in-car, dash or body-worn camera audio or video, or from dictation, and the report-writing software that implements those reports. In force 2026-01-01. The duty is the agency's; the guard lives in the vendor's report-writing product (D-11 pattern 2).
• Whether it applies depends on facts outside the code; a person has to decide.

narrative = client.chat.completions.create(model=MODEL, messages=msgs).choices[0].message.content
report.narrative = narrative
report.status = 'final'
render_pdf(report)

AI_STATEMENT = 'This report was written either fully or in part using artificial intelligence.'
narrative = client.chat.completions.create(model=MODEL, messages=msgs).choices[0].message.content
report.narrative = narrative
report.ai_programs.append(MODEL_PRODUCT_NAME)
if not (report.author_signature and report.review_attested):
    raise PermissionError('author must sign and attest review before the report is final')
report.status = 'final'
render_pdf(report, page_footer=f"{AI_STATEMENT} AI used: {', '.join(report.ai_programs)}")

Rule id ca-sb524.ai-report-disclosure-and-officer-signature · review status: primary source derived

Binding law — in force

A police-report AI vendor may not share, sell or otherwise use agency data except for the agency's purposes or a court order (California SB 524)

Cal. Penal Code 13663(d) · official text · In force: applies since 1 Jan 2026 · California (US-CA)

From 2026-01-01, a contracted vendor (a third party that has made AI available to law enforcement to generate draft police reports, 13663(e)(2)) shall not share, sell or otherwise use information a law enforcement agency provides to be processed by AI, except for the contracted agency's purposes or under a court order; the vendor may access data processed by AI for troubleshooting, bias mitigation, accuracy improvement or system refinement (13663(d)). Detect vendor code that sends report narratives, transcripts or footage to analytics, advertising, data-broker or partner endpoints.

Who it applies to

• Duty falls on: provider
• Sectors: government
• Contracted vendors that make AI available to California law enforcement agencies to generate draft police reports, for the information agencies provide to be processed by AI. In force 2026-01-01. Whether a given internal use is 'troubleshooting, bias mitigation, accuracy improvement, or system refinement' is for counsel.
• Whether it applies depends on facts outside the code; a person has to decide.

analytics.track(user_id, 'report_drafted', {'narrative': narrative, 'transcript': transcript})

analytics.track(user_id, 'report_drafted', {'agency_id': agency.id, 'draft_seconds': elapsed})  # no report content leaves the tenant

Rule id ca-sb524.contracted-vendor-limits-on-agency-data · review status: primary source derived