Policy Text
ISSUE: 25-16 TRAINING BULLETIN DATE: April 25, 2025
California Assembly Bill 977
Effective January 1, 2025, the following amendments were made to Penal Code 241 and Penal
Code 243 under Assembly Bill 977:
Under prior law, an assault or battery committed against a physician or nurse engaged in rendering
emergency medical care outside a hospital, clinic, or other healthcare facility was punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
AB 977 made an assault or battery committed against a physician, nurse, or other healthcare worker of a
hospital engaged in providing services within the emergency department punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding $2,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
The bill authorized health facilities that maintain and operate an emergency department to post a notice in
the emergency department stating that an assault or