(a) Following the receipt of a verdict and before discharging the jury in a criminal action or proceeding alleging a violent felony, the court shall provide written information to the trial jurors about mental health awareness, including information about stress relief and symptoms that may be experienced following exposure to trauma.
§ 242.Mental health awareness information provided to jurors
Title 3. Persons Specially Invested With Powers of a Judicial Nature · Chapter 1. Trial Jury Selection and Management Act · Enacted 2024 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 242 requires courts to distribute Judicial Council mental health awareness information to jurors and alternates after a verdict, or a discharge without a verdict, in a case alleging a violent felony, covering stress relief and trauma symptoms.
Full Text of § 242
(b) Following the receipt of a verdict in a criminal action or proceeding alleging a violent felony, the court shall distribute, in a manner determined by the court, information to the alternate jurors who have been discharged from their duty about mental health awareness, including information about stress relief and symptoms that may be experienced following exposure to trauma.
(c) At the conclusion of a criminal action or proceeding alleging a violent felony in which evidence was presented, but a verdict was not rendered by the jury, the court shall provide written information about mental health awareness, including information about stress relief and symptoms that may be experienced following exposure to trauma, before discharging the jury and alternate jurors. The information shall only be provided after the jurors and alternate jurors are no longer responsible for rendering a verdict in the trial.
(d) The court may share this information with jurors and alternate jurors following the conclusion of a criminal action or proceeding alleging an offense that is not a violent felony.
(e) The Judicial Council shall develop the written educational information that the court shall print and distribute pursuant to this section. The information shall include, but shall not be limited to, the signs and symptoms of distress, healthy coping mechanisms, and how to seek help for exposure to trauma if needed.
(f) For the purposes of this section, “violent felony” has the same definition as in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code.
Plain-English Summary
Section 242 addresses jurors’ wellbeing after service in a difficult case. Following a verdict in a case alleging a violent felony, the court distributes mental health awareness information to discharged alternate jurors, covering stress relief and symptoms that can follow exposure to trauma.
If a violent-felony case ends without a verdict after evidence was presented, the court must still provide written mental health awareness information before discharging the jury and alternates, timed so it comes only after the jurors are no longer responsible for reaching a verdict. Courts may also share this information after a non-violent-felony case. The Judicial Council develops the written materials, covering signs and symptoms of distress, healthy coping strategies, and how to seek help, and “violent felony” carries the same definition used in Penal Code § 667.5(c).
Frequently Asked Questions
Do California jurors get mental health resources after a difficult trial?
Yes, in violent-felony cases. Section 242 requires courts to distribute Judicial Council mental health awareness information to jurors and alternates after a verdict, or after the case ends without one.
Does Section 242 apply to civil trials?
Section 242 is framed around cases alleging a violent felony, a criminal-case category defined by cross-reference to Penal Code § 667.5(c); it is not written as a civil-case provision.
Who prepares the mental health information given to jurors?
The Judicial Council develops the written educational materials courts distribute under § 242.
Amendment History
Added Stats 2024 ch 204 § 1 (AB 2985), effective January 1, 2025.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: juror mental health resources californiajury trauma information violent felony californiamental health awareness jurors california lawjudicial council juror wellness information