California voters revised Proposition 47 in November 2024. The new thresholds and procedural rules became operational through 2025; 2026 is the first full year of practice under them. The framework that defined California property-crime defense for a decade has shifted, and counsel have adjusted both charging and plea-bargaining posture accordingly.
What Changed
Two core changes drive 2026 practice:
- Felony threshold for theft offenses. The threshold for grand theft and shoplifting charges moved upward in some categories and downward in others, ending the flat $950 line that governed since 2014. Repeat-offender provisions now permit felony charging at lower dollar amounts when the defendant has prior theft convictions within a specified window.
- Fentanyl-related drug possession. Simple possession of fentanyl in specified quantities can now be charged as a wobbler — available as either misdemeanor or felony at the prosecutor’s charging discretion — restoring some of the felony exposure that the 2014 version of Prop 47 eliminated for drug-possession offenses generally.
Charging Patterns
Prosecution offices have implemented the changes at varying speeds. Larger urban district attorneys’ offices generally issued written charging policies through early 2025 that specified when felony filings would be sought under the new repeat-offender provisions. Smaller offices have charged case-by-case. The variability matters at intake — defense counsel needs to know the local office’s written policy before evaluating the realistic plea posture.
Plea Bargaining
The plea-negotiation environment has compressed. Pre-revision practice often produced misdemeanor pleas on charges that would have been felonies under the older statute; that flexibility has narrowed. Defense counsel are now structuring pleas around:
- Concessions on enhancement allegations rather than reductions to misdemeanor.
- Diversion eligibility under court-supervised programs.
- Restitution-conditioned felony pleas with structured-payment language that opens the door to post-completion misdemeanor reduction under Pen. Code § 17(b).
Sentencing
The downstream sentencing picture has not changed in the same direction. Determinate-sentencing law remains as it was; the change is on the charging side, not on the sentencing side. Defense counsel evaluating exposure should focus on the charging decision and the prior-conviction record rather than expecting downstream relief.
2026 Takeaway
Prop 47 in its 2024 form is a more nuanced charging statute than the 2014 version it replaced. Defense practice has adjusted by becoming more office-specific, more prior-record-attentive, and more focused on the early charging decision as the highest-stakes moment in the case.