Proposition 47 is a California ballot measure, approved by voters in November 2014, that reclassified several lower-level theft and drug felonies as misdemeanors. Its central rule is a $950 value line for property crimes and a blanket reduction of simple drug possession for personal use, no matter the amount. Prop 47 is still in effect, but Proposition 36, passed in November 2024, added new felony options for people with prior theft or drug convictions, which has narrowed Prop 47’s reach for repeat offenders.
What Prop 47 Changed
Before 2014, many theft offenses in California could be charged as felonies even when the amount involved was small, and prior convictions often pushed low-dollar conduct into felony territory automatically. Prop 47 drew a clear line. If the value of the stolen, forged, or received property is $950 or less, the offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail rather than a state prison term.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 490.2
The measure also reclassified simple possession of controlled substances for personal use, including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, from a felony to a misdemeanor.2California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 11350 Possession for sale or distribution was not touched and remains a felony.
Two carve-outs sit on the face of the statute. The misdemeanor treatment does not apply if you have a prior conviction for a “super strike” offense listed in Penal Code 667(e)(2)(C)(iv), which covers crimes like murder, certain sex offenses against children, and assault with a machine gun on a peace officer. It also does not apply if you are required to register as a sex offender.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 490.2 Theft of a firearm is excluded from the $950 threshold entirely.
Which Crimes Are Covered
Prop 47 did not touch all low-level offenses. It amended or created a specific set of statutes:
- Shoplifting under Penal Code 459.5, defined as entering a commercial establishment during business hours intending to steal merchandise worth $950 or less. This replaced felony commercial burglary charges for the same conduct.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 459.5
- Petty theft under Penal Code 490.2 for any theft of property worth $950 or less, regardless of method.
- Receiving stolen property under Penal Code 496 where the property is worth $950 or less.
- Forgery under Penal Code 473 where the value involved is $950 or less.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 473
- Bad checks under Penal Code 476a where the check is for $950 or less.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 476a
- Repeat petty theft under Penal Code 666, where Prop 47 eliminated most of the automatic felony enhancements that used to attach based on prior convictions.
- Simple drug possession under Health and Safety Code 11350 and 11377.
The $950 line applies to each individual act of theft, but prosecutors can combine the values from separate thefts into one grand theft charge if the thefts were part of a single plan or scheme. The legislature made this aggregation rule more explicit in AB 2356.6California Legislative Information. AB 2356 Theft Aggregation Five $200 thefts from the same employer as part of one scheme can be charged as a $1,000 felony. Aggregation works whether the thefts targeted one victim or many, as long as they came from one overall intent.
How Prop 36 Changed Things in 2024
In November 2024, voters passed Proposition 36 with roughly 68% of the vote. Prop 36 did not repeal Prop 47, but it added new felony categories for repeat offenders that reach the same conduct Prop 47 made a misdemeanor.
Repeat Theft
Prop 36 created Penal Code 666.1. If you have two or more prior convictions for theft-related offenses such as shoplifting, burglary, or carjacking, a new petty theft or shoplifting can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony at the prosecutor’s discretion.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 666.1 A felony conviction under 666.1 can carry up to three years in county jail or state prison.8California Secretary of State. Proposition 36 Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes People with two prior theft convictions no longer have the Prop 47 ceiling they used to.
Drug Possession with Priors
Prop 36 also created Health and Safety Code 11395. Possessing heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, or methamphetamine can be charged as a felony if you have two or more prior drug convictions. Fentanyl was added to the covered list, something Prop 47 never addressed in 2014.9California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 11395 The statute uses a treatment-first approach: in most cases, courts cannot sentence someone to jail or prison under 11395 unless the person is found ineligible or unsuitable for treatment, and completing a treatment program can lead to dismissal.
Prop 36 separately requires courts to warn anyone convicted of distributing fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine that a future overdose death from drugs they distribute can support a murder charge.8California Secretary of State. Proposition 36 Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes
Reducing an Old Felony Conviction
Prop 47 was retroactive. Penal Code 1170.18 opened a path for people with pre-existing felony convictions for the newly reclassified offenses to get those convictions reduced.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170.18 The process depends on where you are in the sentence.
If You Are Still Serving
You can petition the trial court to recall your sentence and be resentenced as a misdemeanant. The court must grant the petition unless it finds that resentencing you would pose an “unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.” Under Prop 47, that phrase has a narrow meaning: the risk of committing a new super-strike offense such as murder, a serious sex crime against a child, or certain assaults on peace officers. A general risk of reoffending with low-level crimes is not enough.
If You Have Already Finished the Sentence
You can apply to have the conviction redesignated as a misdemeanor on your record. This is not resentencing because there is no sentence left to adjust. A successful redesignation makes the conviction a misdemeanor “for all purposes,” with firearms as the one carved-out exception discussed below.11Justia Law. People v. Vasquez
The Deadline and Good Cause
The statutory filing deadline for both petitions and applications was November 4, 2022. Late filings are still possible, but you have to show the court “good cause” for the delay.12Judicial Branch of California. Prior Reforms Judges have discretion over what counts, with arguments like lack of notice, being unrepresented, or transfers between facilities commonly raised. The further past the deadline you file, the harder the showing.
What Redesignation Does and Doesn’t Fix
A redesignation changes the level of the offense on your record, not the fact of conviction. The benefits are real but bounded.
Firearms. Prop 47 itself withholds this benefit. A redesignated conviction is a misdemeanor for all purposes except possession of firearms, and you remain prohibited from owning or possessing them.11Justia Law. People v. Vasquez Restoring gun rights takes separate proceedings.
Immigration. For noncitizens, dropping a conviction from felony to misdemeanor can lower deportation priority and reopen eligibility for programs that a felony would block. It does not necessarily eliminate immigration consequences, since even a misdemeanor drug conviction can trigger deportation and bar most immigration relief. Talk to an immigration attorney before relying on redesignation to solve an immigration problem.
Employment and background checks. After redesignation, the conviction appears as a misdemeanor rather than a felony, but it is not an expungement or a dismissal. Some employers, particularly in law enforcement or roles requiring firearms, can still consider the underlying conviction.
DNA removal. If your DNA was collected based on a felony that has since been redesignated, you can petition under Penal Code 299 to have your profile removed from the state database. You have to send a written request to the trial court, the DNA Laboratory at the Department of Justice, and the prosecuting attorney, and wait at least 180 days after notifying the prosecution and DOJ before the court can act.13California Department of Justice. Penal Code Section 299 Removal is not automatic; you have to request it.