The California Emergency Services Act is the state law that governs how emergencies are declared and managed in California. It gives the Governor authority to issue binding orders, suspend regulations that stand in the way of response, and commandeer private property when necessary; it lets cities and counties declare their own local emergencies; and it activates consumer protections, most notably a cap on price increases for essential goods. Violating an order issued under the Act is a misdemeanor.
The Three Levels of Emergency
The Act defines three categories, each with a different trigger and a different decision-maker.
A local emergency covers conditions of disaster or extreme peril inside a single city or county that overwhelm local resources. Fire, flood, epidemic, drought, cyberterrorism, and riot all qualify. The local governing body, or an official the body has designated by ordinance, makes the declaration.
A state of emergency involves the same kinds of dangerous conditions, but at a scale requiring the combined resources of an entire mutual aid region or several regions. Only the Governor can proclaim one.
A state of war emergency exists automatically, with no proclamation needed, whenever California or the United States is attacked or receives a federal warning that attack is probable or imminent.
One boundary matters: labor disputes are excluded from all three definitions. A strike or lockout, however disruptive, is not an emergency under this law.1California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8558
What the Governor Can Do During a State of Emergency
Once the Governor proclaims a state of emergency, they have complete authority over every state agency and can exercise the full police power of the state in the affected area.2California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8627 That authority takes several concrete forms.
Orders With the Force of Law
The Governor can issue, amend, and rescind orders and regulations to carry out the Act’s purposes. These take effect immediately and carry the force of law until the emergency ends. Widespread public notice is required for each one.3California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8567
Suspending Statutes and Regulations
Where strict compliance with a state statute or agency regulation would prevent, hinder, or delay the emergency response, the Governor can suspend it. The power reaches regulatory statutes and state procedural rules, not constitutional provisions, and applies during both a state of emergency and a state of war emergency.4California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8571
Commandeering Private Property
The Governor can commandeer or use private property and personnel to carry out emergency duties, and the state must pay reasonable value for whatever it takes. Newspapers, wire services, and broadcast stations are exempt. If no other means of communication is available, the Governor may use news wire services, but must interfere as little as possible with news transmission and must pay for the use.5Justia Law. California Code GOV 8565-8574
Deploying the National Guard
The Governor can deploy the California National Guard to assist with the response. Under state orders, the Governor keeps command and control. Under a separate federal arrangement known as Title 32 status, Guard members still answer to the Governor while receiving federal funding for their duty.
Declaring and Ending a State of Emergency
The Governor can proclaim a state of emergency when two things are true: dangerous conditions of the type the Act describes exist, and either a local official has asked for help or the Governor has determined that local authority cannot handle the crisis alone. A city’s mayor, or a county’s board chair or administrative officer, can make that request.6California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8625
The Governor must end the proclamation as soon as conditions allow, and all emergency powers under the Act expire at that point. The Legislature can also terminate a state of emergency at any time by concurrent resolution, immediately stripping the Governor of the powers the Act confers.7Justia Law. California Code GOV 8625-8629 That legislative check became a focus of public debate during the extended COVID-19 declarations.
Local Emergencies
Local emergencies move faster but come with tighter oversight. A city or county governing body, or an official specifically designated by ordinance, can proclaim one. When a designated official acts alone, the proclamation expires after seven days unless the governing body ratifies it. Even after ratification, the governing body must review whether the emergency still needs to continue at least every 60 days, and must terminate it as soon as conditions allow.8California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8630
During a local emergency, the governing body or its designees can issue written orders and regulations to protect life and property, including imposing curfews within specific boundaries when needed for public safety.9California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8634 Counties and cities may also create disaster councils by ordinance to develop all-hazards emergency plans, which are filed with the state Office of Emergency Services.10California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8610-8610.5
Price Gouging Protections
Once any emergency is declared at the state or local level, California’s price gouging law activates. For 30 days after a proclamation, no seller can raise prices on essential goods and services by more than 10 percent above pre-emergency prices. The protected categories are broad: food, emergency supplies, medical supplies, building materials, housing, transportation, fuel, and cleanup services. For repair and reconstruction contractors, the 10 percent cap extends to 180 days.
A seller can exceed the cap only by proving the increase was directly caused by higher costs from their own supplier, and even then the final price cannot exceed the seller’s cost plus their normal pre-emergency markup by more than 10 percent. Violating the price gouging law is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.11California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 396
Penalties for Ignoring Emergency Orders
Anyone who violates the Act, or refuses or willfully neglects to obey a lawful order or regulation issued under it, is guilty of a misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment for up to six months, or both.12California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8665 That is the general penalty. Specific violations such as price gouging carry their own, steeper penalties.
The general penalty applies equally to private individuals and public officials. A government employee who ignores a lawful evacuation order and a business owner who defies an emergency closure directive face the same misdemeanor exposure. Because emergency orders carry the force of law, treating them as suggestions can produce a criminal record.
Built-In Limits on the Power
The Act grants sweeping authority, but not unlimited authority. Several structural checks prevent emergency powers from hardening into something permanent.
The Legislature can terminate a state of emergency at any time by concurrent resolution, ending the Governor’s emergency powers immediately.7Justia Law. California Code GOV 8625-8629 Emergency orders and regulations expire the moment the emergency ends, with no lingering legal effect.3California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8567 Local proclamations by a designated official expire in seven days without governing-body ratification, and continued local emergencies require review every 60 days.8California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 8630
The suspension power reaches regulatory and procedural statutes, not constitutional rights. The commandeering power exempts news organizations. And when the state takes private property, it must pay reasonable value.5Justia Law. California Code GOV 8565-8574