California Penal Code 2020 Edition - Current Complete Text

In this review of the California Penal Code 2020 Edition from Sacramento Legal Publishing, the bottom line is simple: this is the go-to, complete statutory text for practitioners, students, and anyone needing an authoritative reference for California criminal law as current on December 28, 2019. The reviewer found the edition valuable because it collects all four parts of the Penal Code in one revised volume, making it practical for courtroom reference, class study, or legal research. Its currency and completeness are the single biggest reasons to buy.

Key Features

• Revised and Current: Contains statutory language that is revised and completely current as of December 28, 2019, so readers are consulting up-to-date text for that cutoff date.
• Complete Coverage: Includes all four parts of the Penal Code, providing a single-source reference for crimes, criminal procedure, state prisons and county jails, and prevention and apprehension provisions.
• Legal Reference Focus: Presented as the official code text rather than commentary, which benefits users who need verbatim statutory language for citation and analysis.
• Compact Organization: Arranged by the Penal Code structure so users can quickly locate offenses, procedural rules, institutional provisions, and crime prevention sections.
• Publisher Authority: Issued by Sacramento Legal Publishing, which signals an emphasis on legal accuracy and fidelity to the legislative text for California statutes.

Who It's For

This edition is well suited to law students preparing for classes or exams who need the full statutory text for study and citation, prosecutors or defense attorneys who require a current hardcopy of the Penal Code for courtroom or office reference, and paralegals or public defenders who handle daily criminal matters and want a concise, authoritative code source. It is also useful for librarians and instructors building a law reference collection.

Those looking for annotated opinions, editorial analysis, or practice guidance should look elsewhere or supplement this code with casebooks and treatises, because this volume provides the statutory text itself rather than commentary or annotations.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Authoritative text current to the stated date, which supports accurate citation and legal reference.
• Comprehensive inclusion of all four parts of the Penal Code keeps related provisions together for efficient research.
• Publisher focus on legal publishing increases confidence in the fidelity of the reproduced statutes.

Cons

• Does not include annotations, case law, or interpretive commentary, so users needing explanatory material must consult additional resources.

Specifications

Title	California Penal Code 2020 Edition
Publisher	Sacramento Legal Publishing
Authority	California Legislature statutory text
Currency	Revised and current as of December 28, 2019
Contents	Parts I-IV: Crimes, Criminal Procedure, State Prison and County Jails, Prevention and Apprehension
Format	Complete code text (non-annotated)

Our Verdict

The California Penal Code 2020 Edition is recommended for students, attorneys, and legal staff who need an up-to-date, complete statutory text in a single volume. It provides good value as an official reference copy, though users seeking interpretive guidance should pair it with annotated resources or case law digests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this edition current?
Yes. The text is revised and completely current as of December 28, 2019.

Does the book include annotations or case summaries?
No. This edition reproduces the Penal Code statutory text and does not contain annotations or case law commentary.

Which parts of the Penal Code are included?
The volume includes all four parts: crimes and punishments; criminal procedure; state prison and county jails; and prevention of crimes and apprehension of criminals.