California Statutes (Cal. Stats., also cited asStats. within the state) are the acts of theCalifornia State Legislature as approved according to theCalifornia Constitution and collated by theSecretary of State of California.
A legislativebill is "chaptered" by theSecretary of State once it passes through both houses of the California State Legislature and has either been signed by theGovernor or has become law without the Governor's signature. The secretary of state assigns a sequential chapter number to all bills that become law. Statutes are cited by chapter and year, but legislative bills are also referred to by the bill number assigned by the Assembly or Senate when the bill is introduced.
Since the 1950s, virtually all general laws enacted as part of the California Statutes have been drafted as modifications to one of the 29California Codes, each covering a general area of the law. One legislative bill may make changes in the statutes in a number of codes. For example, laws that relate to civil relations generally fall in the Civil Code; those relating to the rules of evidence in court proceedings generally fall in the Evidence Code; those relating to crimes and punishments generally fall in the Penal Code; etc. Asearchable database of all 29 Codes, as well as the California Constitution, is maintained by theCalifornia Legislative Counsel.
Regulations adopted by California state agencies are generally codified in the separateCalifornia Code of Regulations (CCR).