Is Prostitution Ever Legal in California?

Prostitution is illegal throughout the state of California. Both the sex worker and the “john” can be prosecuted for a misdemeanor that carries up to 6 months in jail and $1,000 in fines.

These same penalties also apply to

• soliciting (offering to engage in) prostitution or
• agreeing to an offer to engage in prostitution

even if no sex act occurs and no money or consideration changes hands.

However, it is no longer a crime in California to loiter with an intent to commit prostitution.

In this article I discuss what you need to know about California prostitution laws. Also listen to our informative podcast here:

What is prostitution?

Prostitution is the crime of willfully engaging in sexual intercourse or a lewd act with someone else in exchange for money or something else of value.¹

A lewd act is any sexual activity or contact between a prostitute and a customer that involves the following body parts, and is done for the purpose of either sexual arousal or gratification:

• genitals,
• buttocks, or
• female breast.²

The payment that is made does not have to go to the person who is performing the sex act. It can be made to someone else, as well, such as a pimp.³ It can be money or anything else of value, including drugs.⁴

What about solicitation?

Solicitation is a similar offense to prostitution. While prostitution covers the sexual act and payment, solicitation covers the request to engage in prostitution. Specifically, in California, solicitation is the crime of:

1. requesting someone else to engage in an act of prostitution,
2. intending to engage in an act of prostitution with that other person, and
3. the other person receiving the request.⁵

Agreeing to a solicitation to engage in prostitution is also illegal in California.

New Prostitution Laws

Senate Bill 233 sections 3 & 4

California Senate Bill 233 (SB 233) immunizes people from prosecution of certain sex offenses if they are reporting certain other offenses to law enforcement. This protects sex workers who have seen or experienced a serious crime.

Before SB 233 was passed, reporting the offense would involve incriminating themselves. This dilemma had put sex workers in a vulnerable position. Other people knew that sex workers were unlikely to report a crime out of fear of facing prostitution charges.

This made sex workers ripe targets for illegal activities. It also made it easier for other criminal enterprises, especially those involved in sex trafficking, to function.

Senate Bill 233 section 1

SB 233 also prevents law enforcement from using condoms to support probable cause to arrest someone for:

• public nuisance, or
• soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct or prostitution.

Before SB 233 was passed, police used to use condoms as a reason to suspect that someone was a prostitute. They used to claim that it was proof that the suspect was a sex worker.

This deterred people, regardless of whether they were actually a sex worker, from carrying condoms on their person. This increased the risk of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases.

Without condoms to support an arrest, it may leave law enforcement with insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.⁶

Senate Bill 357

California recently passed Senate Bill 357 (or SB 357), repealing the California law that prohibited loitering with an intent to commit prostitution.

In addition to decriminalization, SB 357 lets people with prior loitering convictions to petition the court to have this offense dismissed and sealed from their record.

Prior to the passage of SB 357, people could be convicted of a misdemeanor for loitering in a public place in order to engage in prostitution. Suspects could break the law even if they never actually engaged in a sex act for payment.

Convictions for loitering with intent to commit prostitution carried up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.⁷

What are the penalties?

In the state of California, prostitution, solicitation, and agreeing to prostitution are misdemeanor sex crimes. A first offense carries up to:

• 6 months of jail time, and
• $1,000 in fines.

Prostitution is a priorable offense. This means that subsequent offenses carry higher penalties, including mandatory minimums of:

• 45 days in county jail for a second offense, and
• 90 days in county jail for a third or subsequent offense.⁸

If the offense happened in a car or motor vehicle and near a residence, it can lead to a driver’s license suspension.⁹

A prostitution conviction does not require sex offender registration in California.

What are some defenses?

From my experience defending thousands of clients charged with prostitution or solicitation, I have found that prosecutors may agree to dismiss the entire case when I can show that:

• you were the victim of police entrapment,
• there is insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, or
• you had a lack of intent to solicit or engage in prostitution.

Additional Resources

If you are a sex worker in need of help, refer to the following:

• National Harm Reduction Coalition – Resource library.
• Red Umbrella Fund – Sex worker-led participatory fund to advance the interest of sex workers.
• Sex Workers Project – Medical, financial, and mental health resources.
• National Human Trafficking Hotline – Immediate help for victims.
• Sex Workers Outreach Project Los Angeles (SWOPLA) – A peer support organization run by sex workers for sex workers.