California Scanner Laws

California Penal Code Sec. 632.5. Intercepting or Receiving Cellular Radio Telephone Communication.

632.5.  (a) Every person who, maliciously and without the consent of
all parties to the communication, intercepts, receives, or assists
in intercepting or receiving a communication transmitted between
cellular radio telephones or between any cellular radio telephone and
a landline telephone shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), by imprisonment in the county
jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, or by both that
fine and imprisonment.  If the person has been previously convicted
of a violation of this section or Section 631, 632, 632.6, 632.7, or
636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail not
exceeding one year or in the state prison, or by both that fine and
imprisonment.
   (b) In the following instances, this section shall not apply:
   (1) To any public utility engaged in the business of providing
communications services and facilities, or to the officers,
employees, or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited are
for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct, or operation
of the services and facilities of the public utility.
   (2) To the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service
furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility.
   (3) To any telephonic communication system used for communication
exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city
correctional facility.
   (c) As used in this section and Section 635, "cellular radio
telephone" means a wireless telephone authorized by the Federal
Communications Commission to operate in the frequency bandwidth
reserved for cellular radio telephones.

California Penal Code Sec. 632.6. Intercepting or Receiving Cordless Telephone Communication; Penalty; Exceptions

632.6.  (a) Every person who, maliciously and without the consent of
all parties to the communication, intercepts, receives, or assists
in intercepting or receiving a communication transmitted between
cordless telephones as defined in subdivision (c), between any
cordless telephone and a landline telephone, or between a cordless
telephone and a cellular telephone shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), by imprisonment
in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison,
or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If the person has been
convicted previously of a violation of Section 631, 632, 632.5,
632.7, or 636, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding
ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail
not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine
and imprisonment.
   (b) This section shall not apply in any of the following
instances:
   (1) To any public utility engaged in the business of providing
communications services and facilities, or to the officers,
employees, or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited are
for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct, or operation
of the services and facilities of the public utility.
   (2) To the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service
furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility.
   (3) To any telephonic communications system used for communication
exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city
correctional facility.
   (c) As used in this section and in Section 635, "cordless
telephone" means a two-way low power communication system consisting
of two parts--a "base" unit which connects to the public switched
telephone network and a handset or "remote" unit--which are connected
by a radio link and authorized by the Federal Communications
Commission to operate in the frequency bandwidths reserved for
cordless telephones.


632.7.  (a) Every person who, without the consent of all parties to
a communication, intercepts or receives and intentionally records, or
assists in the interception or reception and intentional recordation
of, a communication transmitted between two cellular radio
telephones, a cellular radio telephone and a landline telephone, two
cordless telephones, a cordless telephone and a landline telephone,
or a cordless telephone and a cellular radio telephone, shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year,
or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If
the person has been convicted previously of a violation of this
section or of Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, or 636, the person
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000), by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year,
or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
   (b) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
   (1) Any public utility engaged in the business of providing
communications services and facilities, or to the officers,
employees, or agents thereof, where the acts otherwise prohibited are
for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct, or operation
of the services and facilities of the public utility.
   (2) The use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service
furnished and used pursuant to the tariffs of the public utility.
   (3) Any telephonic communication system used for communication
exclusively within a state, county, city and county, or city
correctional facility.
   (c) As used in this section, each of the following terms have the
following meaning:
   (1) "Cellular radio telephone" means a wireless telephone
authorized by the Federal Communications Commission to operate in the
frequency bandwidth reserved for cellular radio telephones.
   (2) "Cordless telephone" means a two-way, low power communication
system consisting of two parts, a "base" unit which connects to the
public switched telephone network and a handset or "remote" unit,
that are connected by a radio link and authorized by the Federal
Communications Commission to operate in the frequency bandwidths
reserved for cordless telephones.
   (3) "Communication" includes, but is not limited to,
communications transmitted by voice, data, or image, including
facsimile.


633.6.  (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, and in
accordance with federal law, upon the request of a victim of domestic
violence who is seeking a domestic violence restraining order, a
judge issuing the order may include a provision in the order that
permits the victim to record any prohibited communication made to him
or her by the perpetrator.
   (b) The Judicial Council shall amend its domestic violence
prevention application and order forms to incorporate the provisions
of this section.


634.  Any person who trespasses on property for the purpose of
committing any act, or attempting to commit any act, in violation of
Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636 shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or in the
state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If the person
has previously been convicted of a violation of this section or
Section 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the person shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or in the
state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.


635.  (a) Every person who manufactures, assembles, sells, offers
for sale, advertises for sale, possesses, transports, imports, or
furnishes to another any device which is primarily or exclusively
designed or intended for eavesdropping upon the communication of
another, or any device which is primarily or exclusively designed or
intended for the unauthorized interception or reception of
communications between cellular radio telephones or between a
cellular radio telephone and a landline telephone in violation of
Section 632.5, or communications between cordless telephones or
between a cordless telephone and a landline telephone in violation of
Section 632.6, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), by imprisonment in the county
jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that
fine and imprisonment.  If the person has previously been convicted
of a violation of this section, the person shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000),  by imprisonment
in the county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or
by both that fine and imprisonment.
   (b) This section does not apply to either of the following:
   (1) An act otherwise prohibited by this section when performed by
any of the following:
   (A) A communication utility or an officer, employee or agent
thereof for the purpose of construction, maintenance, conduct, or
operation of, or otherwise incident to the use of, the services or
facilities of the utility.
   (B) A state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency or an
agency of the federal government.
   (C) A person engaged in selling devices specified in subdivision
(a) for use by, or resale to, agencies of a foreign government under
terms approved by the federal government, communication utilities,
state, county, or municipal law enforcement agencies, or agencies of
the federal government.
   (2) Possession by a subscriber to communication utility service of
a device specified in subdivision (a) furnished by the utility
pursuant to its tariffs.


California Penal Code Section 636.5 Wrongful Interception and Divulgence of Police Radio Communication.

Any person not authorized by the sender, who intercepts any
public safety radio service communication, by use of a scanner or any
other means, for the purpose of using that communication to assist
in the commission of a criminal offense or to avoid or escape arrest,
trial, conviction, or punishment or who divulges to any person he or
she knows to be a suspect in the commission of any criminal offense,
the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect or meaning of
that communication concerning the offense with the intent that the
suspect may avoid or escape from arrest, trial, conviction, or
punishment is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution of any person
under Section 31 or 32.
   As used in this section, "public safety radio service
communication" means a communication authorized by the Federal
Communications Commission to be transmitted by a station in the
public safety radio service.