PC 1000 in California: Eligibility, Costs, and Dismissal

In California, PC 1000 is a pretrial diversion program that lets people charged with certain personal-use drug offenses complete a treatment or education program and have their charges dismissed without ever being convicted. You plead not guilty, your case is pulled out of the normal criminal track, and if you finish the program the court dismisses the charges. No guilty plea is ever entered, and no conviction appears on your record.

How the Program Works

Before 2018, PC 1000 was structured as “deferred entry of judgment,” which required you to plead guilty before starting the program. AB 208 changed that effective January 1, 2018. Under the current version, you plead not guilty, waive your right to a speedy trial and jury trial, and the court diverts your case while you complete the program.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000.1 No conviction is ever entered.

The prosecutor reviews your file at arraignment to determine eligibility and must put that determination on the record or in writing. If you’re found eligible, the court sets a hearing to discuss diversion. If the prosecutor finds you ineligible, your only remedy is a post-conviction appeal.2California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000

Charges That Qualify

PC 1000 covers a defined list of drug offenses, all tied to personal use rather than sales or trafficking:

  • Simple possession of a controlled substance (Health and Safety Code 11350)
  • Possession of marijuana over the legal limit (Health and Safety Code 11357)
  • Possession of drug paraphernalia (Health and Safety Code 11364)
  • Being present where drugs are used (Health and Safety Code 11365)
  • Possession of certain prescription drugs without a valid prescription (Health and Safety Code 11375(b)(2) and 11377)
  • Being under the influence of a controlled substance (Health and Safety Code 11550, Penal Code 381, or Penal Code 647(f))
  • Cultivating marijuana for personal use (Health and Safety Code 11358)
  • Obtaining drugs through a forged prescription for personal use (Health and Safety Code 11368)
  • Soliciting someone to commit a drug offense for personal use only (Penal Code 653f(d))
  • Possession of marijuana in a vehicle (Vehicle Code 23222(b))

Manufacturing, selling, or distributing drugs will not qualify, and neither will any charge involving violence or threatened violence.2California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000

Who Is Eligible

Even with a qualifying charge, four additional requirements must all be met:

  • No conviction for any controlled substance offense (other than the qualifying offenses listed above) within the past five years.
  • The current charge did not involve violence or the threat of violence.
  • No evidence of a simultaneous non-qualifying drug offense, such as possession for sale.
  • No felony conviction of any kind within the past five years.

These requirements are cumulative. Failing any one of them disqualifies you.2California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000

What the Program Requires

Participants attend a county-approved drug education or treatment program. The specifics depend on what the court or probation department determines you need. Options range from classroom-based drug education to more intensive counseling. Regular drug testing is standard, and the court monitors compliance.

The program lasts a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 18 months. You cannot petition for early dismissal before the 12-month mark, even if you’ve finished every requirement ahead of schedule.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000.1

Program Costs and Fee Waivers

PC 1000 is not free. Expect two categories of costs: court administrative fees and the actual program fees for drug education or treatment. California caps administrative fees at $300 for drug-related misdemeanors and $500 for felony charges. Those fees cover processing, lab analysis, and supervision. Drug education fees vary by county and provider, often running from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars depending on program length and intensity.

No one can be denied diversion for inability to pay. The court must consider your ability to pay when setting fees, and if you’re indigent you can request a waiver. Courts typically grant waivers to people receiving public benefits or whose income falls below set thresholds.

What You Get If You Complete the Program

If you complete the program satisfactorily, dismissal is mandatory, not discretionary. Once the program authority gives a positive recommendation and you’ve reached at least 12 months, you, the prosecutor, the court, or probation can move for dismissal, and the court must grant it.1California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000.1

A dismissal under PC 1000 is cleaner than an expungement. With an expungement under Penal Code 1203.4, a conviction existed and was later set aside. With PC 1000, no conviction ever enters your record. You were diverted before trial, you never pleaded guilty, and the charges were dropped. For most purposes, it reads as if the case never happened.

What Happens If You Fail

Failing the program sends your case back into the criminal justice system. The court can schedule a hearing to terminate diversion if you perform unsatisfactorily, are convicted of any felony, or are convicted of any offense suggesting a propensity for violence. The prosecutor, probation department, or the court itself can initiate termination.3Napa Superior Court. Pre-Trial Diversion Advisement PC 1000

If diversion is terminated, criminal proceedings resume where they left off. Because you pleaded not guilty at the outset, the prosecution still has to prove its case. You haven’t admitted anything, and the fact that you were in diversion and failed cannot be used against you at trial. That’s one of the structural advantages of pretrial diversion over the old deferred entry of judgment system, where a guilty plea was already on file.

Employment and Background Checks

California gives PC 1000 participants strong employment protections. Under Government Code section 12952, employers conducting background checks are prohibited from considering your “referral to or participation in a pretrial or posttrial diversion program.”4California Legislative Information. AB 1008 Employment Discrimination – Conviction History Even if an employer learns you went through PC 1000, they cannot legally use that information in a hiring decision. The same statute bars employers from considering convictions that have been dismissed or expunged.

Federal law adds another layer. The Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits adverse items other than conviction records from being reported after seven years.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements on Consumer Reporting Agencies Because a PC 1000 dismissal is not a conviction, any record of the arrest or dismissed charges should drop off commercial background reports within seven years.

Licensed professionals face a more complicated picture. Many California licensing boards ask about criminal history, and some require disclosure of diversion participation even after dismissal. If you hold a license in healthcare, finance, law, or another regulated field, check with your specific board before assuming the dismissal makes the matter invisible. For securities professionals, FINRA may require disclosure of charges even if they were ultimately dismissed through diversion.

Immigration Consequences

The 2018 shift from deferred entry of judgment to pretrial diversion was especially significant for non-citizens. Under federal immigration law, a “conviction” exists when someone enters a guilty plea or admits sufficient facts to support a finding of guilt and a judge orders some form of punishment or restraint on liberty.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors Under the old system, the guilty plea entered before starting the program could be treated as a conviction for immigration purposes even after the charges were later dismissed.

Pretrial diversion avoids that trap. Because you plead not guilty and never admit to the charges, no conviction exists under the federal definition. USCIS guidance notes that pre-trial diversion programs requiring no admission or finding of guilt may not count as convictions for immigration purposes.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors

This matters because drug offenses carry severe immigration consequences. Under federal law, any non-citizen convicted of or who admits to a controlled substance violation is generally inadmissible to the United States.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens Completing PC 1000 without entering a guilty plea avoids creating the kind of record that triggers these provisions. Immigration law is fact-specific, so non-citizens facing drug charges should consult an immigration attorney before accepting or declining diversion.

International Travel After a PC 1000 Dismissal

A dismissed charge does not guarantee hassle-free international travel. Canada, for example, can deny entry to anyone who has committed or been convicted of a crime, and its definition of criminal inadmissibility includes drug possession offenses. Canadian border officers may have access to U.S. arrest records regardless of how the case was resolved. Canada’s immigration guidance advises anyone with a foreign discharge or dismissal to contact the relevant visa office before traveling to confirm admissibility.8Canada.ca. Overcome Criminal Convictions

Other countries with strict drug policies may take similar positions. Keep copies of your dismissal paperwork accessible. Documentation showing the charges were dismissed without any finding of guilt is your best tool at a foreign border crossing.

PC 1000 vs. Proposition 36

PC 1000 is not the only drug diversion option in California, and it’s often confused with Proposition 36. The two programs serve different situations.

  • Timing: PC 1000 is pretrial diversion, before any conviction. Prop 36 is a post-conviction sentencing alternative where treatment replaces jail time.
  • Plea: PC 1000 requires a not-guilty plea. Prop 36 follows a conviction, meaning a guilty plea or guilty verdict has already occurred.
  • Dismissal: Successful completion of PC 1000 results in mandatory dismissal. Dismissal after Prop 36 is discretionary and not guaranteed.
  • Eligible offenses: PC 1000 covers the specific list of personal-use drug offenses above. Prop 36 covers non-violent drug possession offenses more broadly and may accept defendants with more complex criminal histories, including some prior felonies.
  • Duration: PC 1000 runs 12 to 18 months. Prop 36 typically lasts about one year but can extend to two.
  • Probation: PC 1000 participants are not on probation and are not sentenced. Prop 36 participants are sentenced and placed on formal probation.

If you qualify for PC 1000, it almost always produces the cleaner outcome. No conviction ever enters your record, and the dismissal is guaranteed. Prop 36 serves as a safety net for cases too serious for PC 1000 but still appropriate for treatment rather than incarceration.