How to File a Petition for Resentencing in California

To file a petition for resentencing in California, you submit it to the superior court that originally imposed your sentence, under the specific Penal Code section that matches your conviction. The two petitions an incarcerated person can file directly are Penal Code section 1172.6 (for murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter convictions based on felony murder or the natural and probable consequences doctrine) and Penal Code section 1170.18 (for certain drug and property felonies eligible under Proposition 47). Other resentencing routes exist, but you cannot start them yourself.

Picking the right statute is the first real decision. File under the wrong one and the court will deny the petition without reaching the merits. The rest of this guide walks through each pathway, what belongs in the filing, and what happens after the court receives it.

Which Resentencing Statute Fits Your Case

Three factors decide the pathway: the offense of conviction, the legal theory the prosecution used, and whether you are still serving the sentence.

Convicted of murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter where the prosecution relied on felony murder or the natural and probable consequences doctrine: Penal Code section 1172.6.
Convicted of a qualifying non-violent drug possession offense, or a property offense (shoplifting, petty theft, receiving stolen property, check fraud, forgery) involving $950 or less: Penal Code section 1170.18 (Proposition 47).
Any other conviction where you believe a sentence reduction is warranted based on rehabilitation, changed law, or an unconstitutional original proceeding: Penal Code section 1172.1, which you cannot file yourself. You would need a recommendation from CDCR, the district attorney, or another authorized official.
Committed the offense at age 25 or younger: you may also be eligible for a youth offender parole hearing under Penal Code section 3051, which is not a resentencing but functions similarly.

Filing a Petition Under PC 1172.6

PC 1172.6 is the main self-filed resentencing petition. It applies when a person could not be convicted of murder or attempted murder today because California has since narrowed the theories that support those convictions. Malice can no longer be imputed to a person based solely on their participation in a crime, and felony murder now requires that the person was the actual killer, aided the killer with intent that someone die, or was a major participant in the underlying felony who acted with reckless indifference to human life.¹²

A person who acted as a lookout during a robbery that turned deadly, without any intent to kill or a major role in the violence, is the kind of petitioner the statute was designed for. Someone who personally caused the death, or who actively encouraged the killing, is not eligible because current law still covers that conduct.

Where To File

The petition goes to the superior court that originally imposed the sentence. There is no filing fee.³

What the Petition Must Contain

Three items are required:

A signed declaration stating that you meet all eligibility requirements under PC 1172.6.
The superior court case number and the year of the conviction.
A statement of whether you want the court to appoint an attorney.³

The California Office of the State Public Defender publishes a sample petition packet you can use, though its specific form is not mandatory.⁴

Who Must Be Served

Copies of the petition must be served on the district attorney (or whichever agency prosecuted the case) and on the attorney who represented you at trial, or the public defender’s office of that county.

Appointment of Counsel

If the petition is complete and you have requested an attorney, the court must appoint one. If information is missing and the court cannot fill the gaps from its own records, it may deny the petition without prejudice, meaning you can refile once you have the missing details.³

What Happens After You File a 1172.6 Petition

Prima Facie Review

After filing, the prosecutor has 60 days to respond, and you have 30 days to reply. The court then decides whether you have made a prima facie case, which means the claim is legally plausible on the record. If the charging documents allowed the prosecution to proceed on a felony murder or natural and probable consequences theory, and you were convicted of murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter, the petition clears this first hurdle.

The court can review the record of conviction to check for categorical ineligibility. If the jury was never instructed on felony murder or the natural and probable consequences doctrine, the petition fails here. But the court cannot weigh evidence or make credibility judgments at this stage.

The Evidentiary Hearing

If the petition survives prima facie review, the court issues an order to show cause and sets a full evidentiary hearing. The prosecution then bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that you would still be guilty of murder or attempted murder under current California law. If the prosecution cannot meet that burden, the court vacates the conviction and resentences you on any remaining counts.³

Filing a Proposition 47 Petition Under PC 1170.18

Proposition 47, codified at Penal Code section 1170.18, converted several non-violent felonies into misdemeanors. Eligible offenses are certain drug possession charges and property crimes (shoplifting, petty theft, receiving stolen property, check fraud, forgery) where the value involved was $950 or less.⁵

Which form of relief you file for depends on your status:

If you are currently serving the felony sentence, you petition the sentencing court to recall the sentence and resentence you to a misdemeanor. The court must grant the petition if you qualify, unless resentencing would pose an unreasonable risk that you will commit a “super strike” felony (murder, certain sex offenses, and other listed violent crimes).
If you have already completed the sentence, you apply to have the felony reclassified as a misdemeanor. Once reclassified, the conviction counts as a misdemeanor for all purposes.⁵

A person resentenced under Prop 47 receives credit for time served and is generally placed on one year of parole afterward, unless the court releases them from parole as part of the order.⁵

The original November 2022 filing deadline was removed effective October 2023. Eligible individuals can file at any time.⁶

Prop 47 does not apply to anyone with a prior “super strike” conviction listed in Penal Code section 667(e)(2)(C)(iv), which includes sexually violent offenses, certain sex crimes against children, murder, and other serious violent felonies.⁵

Routes You Cannot File Yourself

Penal Code section 1172.1 authorizes resentencing in a much wider set of cases, but the statute is explicit that a defendant has no right to file for this relief, and the court is not required to respond if a defendant asks for it.⁷

Resentencing under PC 1172.1 must be initiated either by the sentencing court on its own motion (within 120 days of commitment, or at any time if the applicable sentencing law has since changed) or by a recommendation from one of the following:

The Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The Board of Parole Hearings.
The district attorney of the county where the person was sentenced.
The Attorney General, if that office originally prosecuted the case.
The county correctional administrator, for people in county custody.⁷

When the court does consider a PC 1172.1 resentencing, it looks at factors well beyond the original crime: disciplinary and rehabilitation records in prison, whether aging or declining health has reduced the risk of violence, whether childhood trauma or domestic violence contributed to the offense, and whether constitutional rights were violated in the original proceedings. The new sentence cannot be longer than the original.⁷

Because you cannot force this process, the practical route is to write to the district attorney’s office or CDCR and ask them to recommend resentencing. Families and advocates can do the same. There is no guarantee of a response, but requests do sometimes lead to referrals when the rehabilitation record is strong or the original sentence reflects outdated policy.

Youth Offender Parole Hearings

If the controlling offense was committed at age 25 or younger, Penal Code section 3051 provides a parole hearing at which the Board of Parole Hearings must give “great weight” to the person’s youth at the time of the crime, reduced culpability, and greater capacity for change. This is not a resentencing petition, and it is not filed in court. The first hearing is scheduled by the Board based on the sentence: the 15th year of incarceration for a determinate term, the 20th year for a life term of less than 25 years to life, and the 25th year for a 25-to-life term or for someone sentenced to life without parole for a crime committed before age 18.⁸

People sentenced under the Three Strikes law, the One Strike sex offense law (PC 667.61), or to life without parole for a crime committed after age 18 are excluded.

Victim Participation

Under Marsy’s Law, crime victims and their immediate family have the right to receive notice of resentencing proceedings and to attend and be heard.⁹ For the petitioner, this means an evidentiary hearing may include a victim statement. Judges give those statements real weight, and a petition is stronger when the record shows genuine accountability.

What a Successful Petition Does Not Fix

Reducing or vacating a California conviction does not automatically clear every consequence attached to it.

Immigration

Federal immigration authorities apply their own rules. A conviction vacated because of a genuine legal defect (such as a constitutional violation or failure to advise about immigration consequences) generally is not treated as a conviction by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. But a conviction vacated for rehabilitative reasons, or to help avoid deportation, may still be treated as valid for federal immigration purposes.¹⁰ Anyone with immigration exposure should consult an immigration attorney before assuming a state resentencing has resolved the federal picture.

Federal Firearm Rights

Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing a firearm.¹¹ The federal test looks at the maximum possible sentence for the original offense, not what was actually imposed or later reduced. A reduction to a misdemeanor under Prop 47, or a resentencing under PC 1172.1, may not restore federal firearm eligibility. A pardon is generally the only reliable route back to federal gun rights after a qualifying conviction.

1
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 188
2
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 189
3
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code PEN 1172.6 – Resentencing
4
Office of the State Public Defender. SB 775 Pro Per Packet
5
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170.18
6
California Courts. Record Cleaning: Felony Convictions and Proposition 47
7
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1172.1
8
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 3051 – Youth Offender Parole Hearings
9
California Department of Justice. Victim Rights: Notification and Participation
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts