PC 1000 California: Eligibility, Dismissal, and Consequences

PC 1000 in California is a pretrial diversion program that lets people charged with certain personal-use drug offenses complete a drug education or treatment program in exchange for having their charges dismissed. Since January 1, 2018, the program has worked as true pretrial diversion, so you never enter a guilty plea and no conviction is ever placed on your record.¹

How the Program Works

Before 2018, PC 1000 was structured as “deferred entry of judgment,” which required a guilty plea up front. That plea created serious collateral problems, especially for non-citizens, because federal agencies could treat it as a conviction even after the case was later dismissed. AB 208 rebuilt the program as pretrial diversion. You plead not guilty, waive your right to a speedy trial and a jury trial, and the court moves your case out of the criminal track while you complete the program.¹

The process starts at arraignment. The prosecutor reviews your file, decides whether you meet the eligibility rules, and must put that determination on the record or in writing. If you’re eligible, the court schedules a hearing on diversion. If the prosecutor finds you ineligible, your only remedy is a post-conviction appeal.² Once you consent to diversion, the court can refer the matter to the probation department for an investigation or grant diversion directly.

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. Neither will any charge that involved violence or the threat of violence.²

Who Is Eligible

A qualifying charge is only the starting point. Four additional requirements must all be met, and failing even one disqualifies you:

No conviction for a controlled substance offense (other than the qualifying offenses above) within the past five years
No violence or threat of violence in the current charge
No evidence you simultaneously committed a non-qualifying drug offense, such as possession for sale
No felony conviction of any kind within the past five years

The list is cumulative, not a menu.²

What the Program Requires

Participants attend a drug education or treatment program approved by the county. The specifics depend on what the court or probation department determines you need. Some people are placed in straightforward classroom-based drug education. Others are directed to more intensive counseling and treatment. Regular drug testing is standard, and the court monitors compliance throughout.

The program runs 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 have completed every requirement ahead of schedule.¹

What It Costs

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

Ability to pay is built into the statute. No one can be denied diversion because they can’t afford it. The court must consider your financial situation when setting fees, and indigent participants can request a fee waiver. Courts commonly grant waivers to people receiving public benefits or with income below set thresholds.

What Dismissal Means for Your Record

If you complete the program satisfactorily, the court must dismiss the charges. Once the program authority gives a positive recommendation and you have reached at least 12 months, the defendant, prosecutor, court, or probation department can move for dismissal, and the court has no discretion to refuse.¹

A PC 1000 dismissal is stronger than an expungement. Under Penal Code 1203.4 expungement, a conviction existed and was then set aside. Under PC 1000, no conviction ever entered your record. You pleaded not guilty, you were diverted before trial, and the case was dropped. For most purposes, it is treated as if the case never happened.

What Happens If You Don’t Complete the Program

Failing the program pushes your case back into the criminal process. The court can schedule a hearing to terminate your diversion if you perform unsatisfactorily, get convicted of any felony, or get convicted of any offense suggesting a propensity for violence. The prosecutor, probation department, or court itself can start termination proceedings.³

If diversion is terminated, criminal proceedings pick up where they left off. Because you pleaded not guilty at the start, the prosecution still has to prove its case. You have not admitted anything, and the fact that you were in diversion and failed cannot be used against you at trial. That is a structural advantage over the old deferred entry of judgment framework, where a guilty plea was already sitting in the file.

Employment and Background Checks

California gives PC 1000 participants some of the strongest employment protections in the country. Under Government Code section 12952, employers running background checks are prohibited from considering your “referral to or participation in a pretrial or posttrial diversion program.”⁴ Even if an employer discovers that you went through PC 1000, they cannot legally use it against you in hiring. The same statute also bars employers from considering convictions that have been dismissed or expunged.

On the federal side, the Fair Credit Reporting Act limits how long non-conviction records can appear on background checks. Adverse items other than conviction records cannot be reported after seven years.⁵ Because a PC 1000 dismissal is not a conviction, any record of your arrest or the dismissed charges should drop off commercial background reports within seven years.

Licensed professionals face a more complicated situation. Many California licensing boards ask about criminal history on their applications, 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 matter is invisible. Securities professionals, for example, may face FINRA disclosure obligations even for charges that were ultimately dismissed through diversion.

Immigration Consequences

The 2018 shift to pretrial diversion mattered most 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.⁶ Under the old deferred entry of judgment system, the required guilty plea could be treated as a conviction for immigration purposes even after the state charges were dismissed.

Pretrial diversion sidesteps that problem. You plead not guilty and never admit to the charges, so no “conviction” exists under the federal definition. USCIS guidance specifically notes that pretrial diversion programs requiring no admission or finding of guilt may not count as convictions for immigration purposes.⁶

This matters because drug offenses carry heavy 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.⁷ Completing PC 1000 without ever pleading guilty avoids creating the record that triggers these provisions. Immigration law is complex and fact-specific, though, and non-citizens facing drug charges should talk to an immigration attorney before deciding on diversion.

International Travel After Dismissal

A dismissed charge doesn’t guarantee smooth international travel. Canada 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 see 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.⁸ Other countries with strict drug policies may take similar positions. Keep copies of your dismissal paperwork accessible if international travel matters to you.

PC 1000 vs. Proposition 36

PC 1000 is not the only drug diversion option in California, and people frequently confuse it with Proposition 36. The two programs serve different populations and work differently:

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 guilty plea or guilty verdict.
Dismissal: PC 1000 completion produces mandatory dismissal. Prop 36 dismissal is discretionary and not guaranteed.
Eligible offenses: PC 1000 covers the specific personal-use list 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.
Supervision: PC 1000 participants are not sentenced or placed on probation. Prop 36 participants are sentenced and placed on formal probation.

If you qualify for PC 1000, it is almost always the better option because the outcome is cleaner. No conviction ever enters your record, and the dismissal is guaranteed. Prop 36 works as a fallback for people whose cases are too serious for PC 1000 but who would still benefit from treatment rather than incarceration.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000.1
2
California Legislative Information. California Code Penal Code 1000
3
Napa Superior Court. Pre-Trial Diversion Advisement PC 1000
4
California Legislative Information. AB 1008 Employment Discrimination – Conviction History
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements on Consumer Reporting Agencies
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12 Part F Chapter 2 – Adjudicative Factors
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
8
Canada.ca. Overcome Criminal Convictions