Tuesday, July 7, 2026

New State Law Lets LA County Prosecute Labor Traffickers and Wage Thieves Across County Lines

Legislation sponsored by the county’s district attorney closes a jurisdictional gap in wage theft and trafficking cases

Employers who traffic workers or steal their wages across county lines can now be prosecuted in the county where those workers lived, where their employment agreement was entered into, where any portion of the work was performed, or where the offending business operated, under a bill that has been signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom and takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The measure, AB 1583, was sponsored by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and co-sponsored by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. It was authored by Assemblymember Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa, and passed the Legislature unanimously with bipartisan support.

The bill closes a loophole that has made it difficult for prosecutors to pursue cases spanning more than one county — for instance, when a victim lives in one county but was hired or worked in another. It also authorizes coordinated prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions.

“Labor traffickers don’t stop at county lines, and our work to stop their crimes doesn’t either,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in the release. “Under this new law, labor exploiters can be held fully accountable and can no longer hide behind multi-jurisdictional crimes.”

The law will also strengthen protections for vulnerable workers in Los Angeles County and statewide, including immigrant workers in the agriculture, service, construction and garment manufacturing industries, Hochman said in the release.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office operates a branch office in Pasadena, according to the office’s directory. That means labor trafficking or wage theft cases affecting Pasadena and Altadena workers could potentially be handled by that office, though the release does not specify how cases will be assigned once the law takes effect.

Hochman credited Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney and Legislative Advocate Tamar Tokat with helping advance the bill through the Legislature, and thanked Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Katy Yount for drafting it, according to the release.

The law will be enforced locally through the district attorney’s Economic and Labor Justice Unit, which investigates and prosecutes cases involving unpaid wages, exploitative labor practices and human trafficking. According to the office, the unit has become a leader in the field, providing training, technical assistance and strategic guidance to agencies across California and throughout the nation.

Once the law takes effect, prosecutors will have jurisdictional options for labor trafficking and wage theft cases that current law does not provide.