Bail Bond Industry

TL;DR: “Bond exonerated” means your case has concluded and your bail obligations to the court are officially released. This blog explains how bail works, when a bond is exonerated, and what it means for your money and legal status.

Updated September 2026. Written for families in California, with a section for every one of the state’s 58 counties. The law here is checked against the Penal Code, the California Constitution, and published court opinions through the California Supreme Court’s April 2026 decision in In re Kowalczyk. If your case is in federal court, Texas, or Idaho, jump to the out-of-state section.

Quick answer: When people say a bond was “revoked,” one of three different things usually happened. A judge ended the person’s release and ordered them back into custody. The person missed court, so the judge declared the bail forfeited and issued a bench warrant. Or the bail company surrendered the person back to jail. In California, being taken back into custody is usually not the end of release for good. Outside the short list of cases where the state Constitution lets a judge deny bail entirely, the judge must set new release terms, and the California Supreme Court confirmed in 2026 that any money bail has to be an amount the person can reasonably pay. A revoked or forfeited bond does not erase what was already paid, though. The premium paid to a bail company is generally not refunded. And after a missed court date, the law gives the defendant, the family, and the bail company 180 days to get the person back (when the court mails a forfeiture notice, 185 days counted from the mailing date) in front of the judge before a forfeiture becomes a debt. The fastest way to protect everyone is to act inside that window. That means going to court or turning in voluntarily, telling the bail company the same day, and bringing proof of any excuse.

Bond Revoked at a Glance

Short on time? This table is the whole article in miniature. Each row gets a full, sourced explanation below.

In this guide: What “bond revoked” means | Why judges revoke release | What happens next | Can you get another bond? | The money | Bail company surrender | Getting the bond back | Why people miss court | In their words | Outside California | All 58 counties | First 48 hours | How Bail Hotline can help | FAQ

What “Bond Revoked” Means in California

“Bond revoked” is how people search. It is not how most California court papers put it. Texas statutes and federal court use the word “revoke” for bail all the time, which is why so much of what you read online is written for those systems. California court records usually say something more specific, and knowing the right term helps you understand the paperwork and ask the clerk the right question.

The Fresno County Superior Court’s glossary makes the point: it defines revocation as “the act of voiding or canceling something, usually probation or a driver’s license.” It defines remand as “to return a prisoner to custody until proceedings are resumed or the matter is set for further action.” When a California family says “bond revoked,” the court is usually describing a remand, a forfeiture, or a surrender. The rest of this guide takes those one at a time.

Two related events are covered in their own articles: what it means when a bond is exonerated, which is the good ending, and bond surrender, which is the bail company’s side.

Why a Judge Revokes Release in California

California does not have one statute called “bail revocation.” A judge’s power to put a released person back in custody comes from several places, and which one applies depends on what happened.

Missing court

This is the most common path by far. When a person who is out on bail misses a required court date “without sufficient excuse,” the court must “in open court declare forfeited the undertaking of bail or the money or property deposited as bail” (PC 1305(a)). A bench warrant may issue for anyone out on bail or on their own recognizance who misses a date they were ordered to attend (PC 978.5, in a new version that took effect January 1, 2026).

There is no such thing as an unimportant court date. In a 2016 case, the California Supreme Court held that when a defendant’s presence is required at a routine pretrial hearing and he misses it without an excuse, the court must declare the bail forfeited. The opinion records that the defendant’s own lawyer “could not contact” him the morning of the hearing (People v. Safety National Casualty Corp. (2016) 62 Cal.4th 703).

A judge who has reason to think there may be a good excuse can hold off. PC 1305.1 lets the court continue the case “for a period it deems reasonable to enable the defendant to appear without ordering a forfeiture of bail or issuing a bench warrant.” That is why a phone call from the defense lawyer before the hearing matters so much (see the court cases below). If it has already happened, see what to do after a missed court date.

Skipping court on purpose is also its own crime. For felony cases, willfully failing to appear “in order to evade the process of the court” while out on bail is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, custody, or both (PC 1320.5). For people released on their own recognizance, the same conduct is a misdemeanor in a misdemeanor case and a felony in a felony case, and the law presumes an intent to evade after 14 days (PC 1320).

A new arrest while out on bail

A new arrest does not automatically cancel the old bond, but it changes everything around it.

• The new case gets its own bail decision. After a warrantless felony arrest, police can ask a magistrate for bail above the county schedule, and in most cases the family can ask for lower bail or own-recognizance release (PC 1269c).
• Some people lose fast release. A person on felony probation or felony parole cannot be released on their own recognizance after a new arrest “until a hearing is held in open court.” The same rule covers someone with three or more missed court dates that led to warrants in the past three years, if the new arrest is for a felony or for certain crimes such as assault, battery, or domestic violence (PC 1319.5).
• The old case can tighten. After felony charges are formally filed, the judge in the original case “may, upon good cause shown, either increase or reduce the amount of bail,” and can order the person “committed to actual custody” unless the higher bail is posted (PC 1289). Good cause means a real change, not a second opinion: an appeals court held that it “must be founded on changed circumstances,” not on a belief that the first judge got it wrong (In re Alberto (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 421). A new arrest is the textbook changed circumstance.
• A conviction can add time. A person convicted of a new felony committed while out on bail or own recognizance for an earlier felony, and also convicted in the earlier case, faces “an additional two years,” served consecutively (PC 12022.1).

Breaking a release condition

Judges attach conditions to release all the time: stay-away orders, no contact with a named person, drug or alcohol testing, electronic monitoring, check-ins with pretrial services, travel limits. Anyone released on their own recognizance signs a promise “to obey all reasonable conditions” and not to leave the state without the court’s permission (PC 1318). The California Supreme Court has encouraged these nonfinancial conditions. In In re Humphrey (2021) it named electronic monitoring, check-ins with a pretrial case manager, housing, and drug and alcohol treatment as tools that “can in many cases protect public and victim safety.”

Conditions are also where release most often breaks down. A California Policy Lab study of pretrial electronic monitoring in San Francisco covered 2,979 people from 2018 through 2021. It found that 38 percent of completed monitoring periods ended successfully, and the median time to termination was 15 days. Among people terminated in 2021 without a new arrest, violations of stay-away orders were the most common problem. About three-fourths of people terminated for noncompliance were back in custody within two months (California Policy Lab, November 2022). The report is explicit that termination is not always formal revocation: “A judge can decide to remand a person to custody or release them to a different type of pretrial supervision if they are terminated from pretrial EM.”

Protective orders and victim safety

Domestic violence and stalking cases get especially close scrutiny at every release decision, because the state Constitution tells judges to put victims first. Victims have the right “to have the safety of the victim and the victim’s family considered in fixing the amount of bail and release conditions,” and in bail decisions “Public safety and the safety of the victim shall be the primary considerations” (Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 28). A criminal protective order is a separate court order rather than a bail condition in the technical sense (PC 136.2). Violating one is its own crime (PC 166(c)). And a new arrest for violating a domestic violence restraining order, where the person made threats, used violence, or went to the protected person’s home or workplace, means a judge must hold a hearing in open court before any release on own recognizance or on bail above or below the schedule (PC 1270.1).

Prosecutors say this out loud in court. At a May 2026 release hearing in Yolo County, a deputy district attorney arguing against release in a domestic violence case put it this way, as reported by the court-watch outlet Davis Vanguard: “We’re focusing on public safety and the safety of the victims in this matter versus him failing to appear in court.” On the no-contact order alone: “that’s a piece of paper. That doesn’t prevent him from having contact with her.” The judge denied own-recognizance release and set bail. For more on these cases, see our guide to bail for domestic violence charges.

What Happens Next, Step by Step

1. A warrant or order issues. After a missed court date, the judge declares the bail forfeited and usually issues a bench warrant. After a condition violation or a new arrest, the court may order the person back into custody. A bench warrant “may be served in any county in the same manner as a warrant of arrest” (PC 978.5), so moving to another county does not make it go away.
2. The arrest or surrender. The person is picked up on the warrant, turns themselves in, or is surrendered by the bail company. Many courts also let people with warrants come to court voluntarily at set check-in times; each county’s rules are in the county guide below.
3. Court within about two days. After an arrest, a defendant must be brought before a magistrate “without unnecessary delay, and, in any event, within 48 hours,” not counting Sundays and holidays (PC 825). A person surrendered by the bail company must be brought before the court within 48 hours of the surrender (PC 1300). For more detail, see how long it takes to see a judge.
4. The hearing. The judge hears why the person missed court or what happened with the condition, and decides what release looks like now. The options run from reinstating the same bail, to new bail, to higher bail with tighter conditions, to own-recognizance release, to detention. Detention is available only in the narrow cases described in the next section.
5. The paperwork on the money. Separately from the person’s release, the forfeiture clock runs on the bond or cash deposit. That is covered in What Happens to the Money.

If Your Bond Is Revoked, Can You Get Another One?

In California, usually yes. The law on this changed in a big way in 2026.

The Constitution guarantees bail in most cases. Article I, section 12 says a person “shall be released on bail by sufficient sureties,” with exceptions. Those are capital crimes, and violent or sexual assault felonies or felonies involving threats, where a court finds by clear and convincing evidence that release would likely lead to great bodily harm or to the threat being carried out (Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 12).

In 2026, the California Supreme Court drew the line firmly. In In re Kowalczyk, decided April 30, 2026, the court held that “In noncapital cases, a trial court has the authority to deny bail only as to offenses specified in section 12, subdivisions (b) and (c).” For everyone else, bail “must generally be set in an amount that is reasonably attainable.” The court added that judges “cannot use artificially high or objectively unattainable bail as an end run” to hold someone. This builds on In re Humphrey (2021), which held that “The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional.”

What that means after a revocation. Kowalczyk did not specifically address revocations. But its rules govern any new bail a judge sets, and that includes bail set after someone is brought back on a warrant. So for most charges, the question after a revocation is not whether there will be bail. It is how much bail, and on what conditions. A history of missed court or a violated protective order is exactly what a judge weighs in answering that. The judge must consider “the probability of his or her appearing” and “The public safety shall be the primary consideration” (PC 1275). Expect a higher amount, closer supervision, or both.

A new bond is also a new decision by a bail company. A judge setting bail does not mean every bail company will write it. After a forfeiture or a surrender, the original company may decline to post again, and a new company will ask what happened. The honest answer, plus proof (a hospital record, a custody record from another county, a letter from the lawyer), is what gets a second bond written. So does a cosigner willing to stand behind it. Our guide to posting bail on an outstanding warrant covers how that works.

Own recognizance is still possible, with limits. Release on your own recognizance remains in the court’s discretion (Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 28(f)(3)). But people arrested for a violent felony, and people covered by PC 1319.5, need an open-court hearing first (PC 1319, 1319.5). And PC 1319 says a person charged with a violent felony who, by clear and convincing evidence, previously skipped court willfully on a felony charge “shall not be released on his or her own recognizance.” See what released on your own recognizance means.

What Happens to the Money When a Bond Is Revoked

This is where most of the online advice goes wrong. It usually claims that when a bond is revoked, “the money is forfeited.” In California, revocation (the person goes back into custody) and forfeiture (the bail is declared lost after a missed court date) are separate events, with separate rules. Here is what happens to each kind of money.

The premium paid to a bail company

The premium is the fee paid to the bail company for posting the bond. The California Department of Insurance tells consumers plainly: “Premiums are nonrefundable even if charges are dropped.” That surprises many families. One Alameda County man interviewed by Human Rights Watch had his charge dropped and still owed monthly payments. “I don’t understand why I have to pay something when the charge was dropped,” Frank Robinson told the researchers (Human Rights Watch, April 2017). A 2025 to 2026 bill that would have allowed partial premium refunds in some dropped cases, SB 562, was held in committee in August 2026 and is not law (LegiScan).

There are two real exceptions, and both involve surrender, not revocation:

• A court can order the premium returned. If the bail company surrenders someone who “has not failed to appear or has not violated any order of the court,” and the judge finds no good cause for the surrender, the judge “may, in its discretion” order the premium returned in whole or in part (PC 1300(b)).
• State insurance rules require a refund on an early surrender. A bail licensee may not surrender someone before their court date “without returning all premium paid.” If the licensee can show “the hazard was substantially increased,” the rule lets it keep certain out-of-pocket expenses (10 CCR 2090). The Department of Insurance sums it up as the fee being “refundable minus administrative costs.” A surrender made “at the request of the guarantor,” meaning the cosigner, “shall never, in and of themselves, be considered to be surrender for reasonable cause.”

Cash bail posted with the court

Families sometimes post the full bail amount in cash directly with the court. The forfeiture rules apply to cash too. PC 1305 covers “the money or property deposited as bail,” and the depositor gets the same notice and the same chance to fix things. If the case ends without a forfeiture, cash posted by a family member goes back to the person named on the receipt. They claim it by presenting the receipt, and the clerk must notify them if they have not claimed it within 10 days of exoneration (PC 1297). If the defendant posted their own cash, the court can apply it to fines and restitution first. More on refunds: getting money back from bail and what happens to bail money if charges are dropped.

Collateral

Collateral (a car title, a property lien, cash held by the bail company) protects the bail company if the bond is forfeited. By regulation, the company holds it “in a fiduciary capacity” (10 CCR 2088). It must be “returned immediately” once an order ends liability on the bond (10 CCR 2088.2). If a forfeiture is paid, any collateral beyond the forfeited amount must be returned immediately, subject to unpaid premium or allowed charges (10 CCR 2089). A revocation by itself does not trigger collection on collateral. An unresolved forfeiture can. See removing a bail bond lien on property and using a car title for bail.

The cosigner’s promise

A cosigner (also called a guarantor or indemnitor) signs a contract promising to repay the bail company if the bond is forfeited and not set aside. That promise is why the 180-day window below matters so much to families. California protects cosigners in several ways:

• All guarantor agreements must be in writing, and the cosigner must get a copy “promptly” (10 CCR 2084).
• A bail company cannot make a cosigner waive their rights (10 CCR 2087).
• In 2021, a California appeals court held that a cosigner’s premium financing agreement “is a consumer credit contract” that requires a specific written notice to the cosigner before signing (BBBB Bonding Corp. v. Caldwell (2021) 73 Cal.App.5th 349). In that case, the court recorded that the bail company had called the cosigner’s “phone, her mother, and her place of employment” to collect.

For the full picture, see your role as a bail bond co-signer and how to remove a cosigner’s name from a bail bond.

The forfeiture clock

When the Bail Company Surrenders the Defendant

Families sometimes say “the bondsman revoked the bond.” In California, what actually happens is a surrender. “At any time before the forfeiture,” the bail or the depositor “may surrender the defendant” to the jail (PC 1300(a)). The bail company can also arrest the defendant for that purpose. It must deliver the defendant “without unnecessary delay, and, in any event, within 48 hours of the arrest” (PC 1301). Since July 1, 2023, only certified law enforcement and licensed bail fugitive recovery agents may apprehend a person whose bond has been declared forfeited (PC 1299.02).

Common reasons a bail company surrenders someone include a new arrest, a cosigner withdrawing, or information showing the risk changed. The law puts real limits on it:

• The bail company must make a reasonable effort to notify the defendant’s last attorney (PC 1300(a)(2)).
• At the court appearance after a surrender, the judge must tell the defendant about the court’s power to order the premium returned.
• An early surrender generally means the premium must be returned; a licensee that can show a substantial increase in risk may keep only certain out-of-pocket expenses (10 CCR 2090).
• A surrender is not the end of release. The court exonerates the old bond, and the person can be released on new bail, on their own recognizance, or on another bond.

Human Rights Watch reported in 2017 that California bail agents frequently enforce payment plans “with the threat of revoking the bond and sending the accused back to jail.” The refund rules above are a check on that kind of pressure. Read our full guide to bond surrender.

Getting the Bond Back: Reinstatement and Setting Aside a Forfeiture

A forfeiture is not final on the day it is declared. California appeals courts have said that “The law traditionally disfavors forfeitures and this disfavor extends to forfeiture of bail” (People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., 2018). The statute gives specific, fairly mechanical ways out. Unlike federal court, California does not ask whether the government was harmed. It asks whether the statute’s conditions were met. The ways out:

• Coming back to court within the window. The court must vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond (PC 1305(c)(1)).
• Reinstatement instead of exoneration. The court “may order the bail reinstated and the defendant released on the same bond.” This requires that the bail company was given prior notice and has not surrendered the defendant (PC 1305(c)(4)). Reinstated bail means bail “that had been forfeited, exonerated or reduced is reestablished in its original amount,” in the words of the Stanislaus County court glossary. See our explainer on what a reinstatement is.
• Death or permanent disability, and temporary disability. Relief is available if, within the window, the defendant is shown to have died or to be permanently unable to appear because of illness, insanity, or detention by military or civil authorities, and the bail company had no part in the absence (PC 1305(d)). The clock is tolled during a temporary disability (PC 1305(e)).

Real California cases show how this plays out.

He came back on his own, and that was enough. In an Alameda County case, a man charged with unlawfully taking a vehicle missed a hearing and his bail was forfeited. Months later, still inside the window, he came to court voluntarily to recall the warrant. “Defendant appeared at 10 a.m., but the bail bondsman did not,” the opinion records. He did not return for the afternoon session. The Court of Appeal held that his morning appearance alone required the court to vacate the forfeiture: “The forfeiture is vacated, and the bail bond is exonerated” (People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., August 30, 2018).

He “missed” court because he was already in jail in another county. In a 2025 Stanislaus County case, a man out on $40,000 bail on burglary charges was arrested in Tuolumne County and stayed in custody, with a hold for Stanislaus. He missed his Stanislaus date, and bail was forfeited. The trial court refused to set the forfeiture aside. The Court of Appeal reversed, explaining that once the conditions for setting aside a forfeiture are met, “the court must act in line with that statute” (People v. North River Ins. Co., May 28, 2025).

Our own case: federal custody, and a missed court deadline. In a San Mateo County case, a $100,000 bond was posted through Bail Hotline in August 2018. The defendant missed a preliminary hearing that September, and the court forfeited bail and issued a bench warrant. Months later, the surety told the court that he “was currently in custody in the Alameda County Jail on federal charges” and asked the court to set the forfeiture aside. The trial court said no. The bond was saved on a different ground: the trial court never entered summary judgment within the 90 days the statute allows, so the Court of Appeal directed it “to enter an order exonerating the bond” and did not decide whether the federal custody alone would have been enough (People v. Bankers Ins. Co., June 10, 2021). Two lessons for families. Tell the bail company the moment you learn your person is locked up somewhere else, so it can ask for relief while the window is still open. And the deadlines bind the court, too.

An emergency, reported at the hearing, bought a day. In a San Diego County case, a lawyer standing in for the defense told the court at the hearing “that there may be an emergency Mr. Martin attended to, and he may be available tomorrow morning.” The court waited instead of forfeiting. The defendant appeared the next morning, and the Court of Appeal held the judge had “ample reason to believe” that a sufficient excuse may exist (People v. Amwest Surety Ins. Co. (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 915).

An excuse with no proof did not. In a Los Angeles County case, a defense lawyer told the judge that friends had told her the client “had a heart attack over the weekend and is in the hospital,” but she had no verification. The judge responded: “No appearance. The bond is forfeited.” The surety’s later appeal was dismissed (People v. International Fidelity Ins. Co.). Bring the paperwork: admission records, a discharge summary, a doctor’s letter.

Why People Miss Court, and What Actually Helps

Most missed court dates are not escapes. A randomized experiment published in 2025, run with 5,709 Santa Clara County public defender clients in 2022 and 2023, sent some of them automated text reminders before court. Warrants for missed court fell from 12.1 percent to 9.7 percent, and jail stays from missed court fell from 6.6 percent to 5.2 percent. The researchers write that missed court dates likely result from “a combination of intentional noncompliance, logistical challenges (e.g., issues arranging work schedules, finding childcare, or securing transportation to court), and forgetfulness” (Chohlas-Wood et al., Science Advances, October 2025).

That matches earlier research in New York City, published in Science in 2020. There, a redesigned court summons form cut failures to appear by 6.2 percentage points from a 47 percent baseline, and text reminders cut them by 21 percent (Fishbane, Ouss and Shah). Those were low-level citation cases, not bail releases. A February 2025 survey took a different approach and asked 432 people jailed on failure-to-appear warrants why they missed. Among those who gave a single reason, the top answers were not knowing about the date (32 percent), no transportation (28 percent), and forgetting (19 percent) (Crime and Justice Institute). That study was in Kentucky and Utah, and the single-reason group was small (64 people).

California courts have taken the hint. As of the Judicial Council’s April 2026 report to the Legislature, “53 counties send court date reminders to people receiving pretrial services.” Twenty-four courts reported providing rideshare vouchers, gas cards, or bus passes for court dates and check-ins (Judicial Council of California, Pretrial Services Program Year 4, April 24, 2026). That report covers July 2024 through June 2025. Courts reported 521,564 new offense bookings, 77 percent of which led to release during the period. It also reported 25,786 pretrial services cases closed successfully and 13,286 unsuccessfully, the latter including cases that “may have ended with a remand to custody, a new crime, or a failure to appear.”

One thing California does not publish is a statewide revocation rate. Even the Judicial Council’s 2023 pilot evaluation left revocations out of its outcome table, noting that “Data quality on pretrial revocations is inconsistent and therefore is not reported in this table” (Pretrial Pilot Program Final Report, July 2023). National numbers exist but are old. In a federal study of the 75 largest U.S. counties in 2009, 17 percent of released felony defendants missed a court date that led to a bench warrant (Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 2013). In federal court, technical violations are the most common problem by far. Among federal defendants released before trial from fiscal 2011 to 2018, 17 percent were charged with a technical violation, 2 percent were rearrested, 1 percent missed court, and 11 percent had their release revoked (Bureau of Justice Statistics, March 2022).

Why a revocation is worth fighting. Losing release is not just a few more days in jail. A study using randomly assigned bail judges in Philadelphia and Miami found that pretrial detention raised the chance of being found guilty by 14 percentage points, mostly through guilty pleas, and reduced later formal employment (Dobbie, Goldin and Yang, American Economic Review, 2018). In Harris County, Texas misdemeanor cases, “detained defendants are 25% more likely than similarly situated releasees to plead guilty” and “43% more likely to be sentenced to jail” (Heaton, Mayson and Stevenson, Stanford Law Review, 2017).

In Their Words

Revocation looks different from every seat in the courtroom.

The cosigner. Sherrie Lewis-Sonza cosigned her son’s bond in San Francisco while living on disability income. She told KQED the collection calls kept coming even after he was released: “He was out at the time and they were still harassing us.” A legal clinic later helped eliminate more than $23,000 of the debt (KQED, March 25, 2022). The same report quotes Rio Scharf of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights’ Bail Clinic. Scharf said some clients “were in violent relationships” and felt “coerced into co-signing on behalf of that partner.” No one should cosign under pressure from the person who harmed them.

The judge. When Kenneth Humphrey’s case came back before a San Francisco judge in 2018, three years before the California Supreme Court decided it, Judge Brendan Conroy framed it this way, as KQED reported: “This is a detention case. This isn’t about poor people being kept in jail.” He released Humphrey to a senior residential facility on 24-hour electronic monitoring (KQED, May 4, 2018).

The prosecutor. Prosecutor Courtney Burris opposed release at a hearing earlier that week, KQED reported: “Not only does he not follow the rules, but he commits more crimes.” Years later, in the San Mateo case that became In re Kowalczyk, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Martin told CalMatters there is “a sort of a rational limit” to release policies “when you imagine someone who simply refuses to come back to court” (CalMatters, May 29, 2024).

The defense. Chesa Boudin, then a deputy public defender, said of Humphrey that he was “one of literally tens of thousands of people across the state of California sitting in jail simply because they’re too poor to purchase their freedom” (KQED, May 4, 2018).

The court, in 2026. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero opened the Kowalczyk opinion with this: “Our state and federal laws generally presume that a person charged with a crime will not be detained prior to trial” (In re Kowalczyk, April 30, 2026).

Outside California: Federal Court, Texas, and Idaho

Much of the search traffic for “bond revoked” comes from people in federal court and in Texas, where the rules and vocabulary differ. The short version, current as of September 2026:

Federal court. Prosecutors start the process “by filing a motion with the district court” (18 U.S.C. 3148), which is where the phrase “motion to revoke” comes from. A judge may revoke release on probable cause of a new crime, or on clear and convincing evidence of another violation, plus a finding that no conditions will work or the person “is unlikely to abide” by them. A rebuttable presumption against release applies only when there is probable cause of a new felony, not any arrest. Missing court is a separate federal crime with penalties tied to the underlying charge (18 U.S.C. 3146). Federal bail is forfeited when any bond condition is breached, and a court may set that aside if “justice does not require bail forfeiture” (Fed. R. Crim. P. 46(f)). The “was the government harmed” factor you may read about comes from federal forfeiture cases such as United States v. Amwest Surety (9th Cir. 1995). It is not a California rule.

Texas. Texas statutes speak directly of revoking a bond. A magistrate who finds “by a preponderance of the evidence” that a defendant violated a safety-related bond condition must revoke the bond (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.40). Family violence cases have a separate procedure with a hearing within 48 hours (art. 17.152). Texas voters also expanded bail denial for certain violent and sexual felonies in November 2025, so check current Texas law.

Idaho. Idaho law provides for a “bail revocation hearing” when a defendant willfully violates a release condition (Idaho Code 19-2919). A forfeiture after a missed court date is set aside if the bench warrant is quashed within 180 days (Idaho Code 19-2915). Unlike California, Idaho’s court rule does list “prejudice suffered by the state” among the factors for relief (Idaho Criminal Rule 46).

If your case is in another state entirely, the California rules above do not apply. Read your release order and talk to your lawyer.

County-by-County Guide: Where Things Happen After a Revocation

California has one set of bail laws but 58 superior courts, 58 sets of local practices, and a mix of sheriff’s departments, corrections departments, and probation agencies. After a revocation, forfeiture, or warrant, the practical questions are local. Which courthouse? Is there an online case or warrant search? What does the current bail schedule say? Which jail will they be taken to, and how do you find them?

Each county section below answers those questions from the court’s, sheriff’s, or county’s own website, checked in September 2026. Where an official source did not confirm something, we left it out rather than guess. Bail schedules and websites change, so confirm details with the court clerk, and see how to find out if someone is in jail and our California inmate locator guide for statewide tools.

A note on “pre-arraignment release protocols.” Several courts, including Los Angeles (since October 2023), Kern, Riverside, San Joaquin, and Mendocino, have adopted booking-stage rules that set $0 bail for many lower-level offenses. Those rules govern what happens at booking, before a judge sees the case. After a revocation or a bench warrant for missing court, a judge decides release terms, and the warrant may carry its own bail amount. A zero-bail protocol does not guarantee release after a revocation.

Alameda County

Alameda County’s seat is Oakland. The Superior Court runs its own pretrial services unit, which prepares a pretrial report within minutes of booking for people arrested on new charges and on arrest warrants.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alameda. The court’s Criminal Case Portal lets the public search by name or case number without registering, according to the court’s portal information page.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant search. The criminal division page says a person with a warrant may contact the courthouse that issued it for instructions on clearing it.
• Bail schedule: 2024 Misdemeanor and Felony Bail Schedule, effective March 20, 2024. No newer local edition was posted as of September 2026. The schedule lets a judicial officer grant own recognizance (OR) release, a release on a promise to appear, through the court’s pretrial release program. This is not a blanket zero-bail rule; after a revocation, the judge sets any new release terms.
• Custody: Santa Rita Jail, 5325 Broder Blvd, Dublin (Sheriff’s facility page). Search the Sheriff’s inmate locator by name or date of birth.
• Pretrial services: Alameda Superior Court Pretrial Services, with Probation and a nonprofit partner in its Pretrial Expansion Program. The court warns: “Pretrial Services will never ask defendants or their family members for money.” The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report says the Alameda court reported successful outcomes with a court date reminder system.
• Local note: The court’s Pretrial Expansion Program impact report for February to May 2026 counted 503 people assigned in the first four months and a rearrest rate tracking at 18 percent, compared with a 42 percent rearrest rate found earlier for moderate-risk people released pending trial.

Alpine County

Alpine County’s seat is Markleeville, and the Superior Court hears all criminal matters on one Monday calendar. The court says Alpine contracts jail services with El Dorado and Calaveras counties.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alpine. The court says it “does not currently offer online access to court records via a public portal,” so records must be requested from the clerk.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal division page says a warrant from this court is cleared by coming to the courthouse on any Monday at 1:30 p.m. during the criminal calendar. Call the clerk first to confirm court is in session.
• Bail schedule: The court’s fees and bail schedules page labels its Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule “effective January 1, 2025,” and a notice of adoption was posted January 2, 2025. The linked PDF, however, is headed as El Dorado County’s 2023 schedule (Rev. 08/01/2023). Ask the clerk which amounts apply.
• Custody: The court points families to the El Dorado County Jail at 1051 Al Tahoe Blvd., South Lake Tahoe. For people held there, use the El Dorado Sheriff’s current inmates list.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists Alpine as a funded pretrial county but does not name the local agency that runs the program.

Amador County

Amador County’s seat is Jackson, where the Superior Court sits at 500 Argonaut Lane. The court’s posted felony bail schedule is still the 2022 edition as of September 2026.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Amador. The court’s case search page describes a free online portal that requires a logon account and covers cases from 2002.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal division page gives two ways to clear a warrant: turn yourself in to a Sheriff’s Department, where you “may be released with a date to appear or held,” or file an ex parte application (forms CR-070 and CR-071) to put the case back on calendar.
• Bail schedule: The court’s fee and bail schedule page lists only a 2022 Felony Bail schedule. The PDF is a scanned image, and no 2025 or 2026 felony or misdemeanor schedule was posted as of September 10, 2026. Confirm current amounts with the court.
• Custody: Amador County Jail, 700 Court Street, Jackson, with a state-rated capacity of 76 people (Sheriff’s jail page). The Sheriff posts inmate and arrest information through its Crime Graphics portal.
• Pretrial services: Amador County Probation provides “offender supervision services including pretrial.”

Butte County

Oroville is the county seat, and all criminal cases are heard at the courthouse there. The 2026 jail bail schedule sets no bail for parole and post-release supervision violations.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Butte, One Court Street, Oroville, (530) 532-7011. The court’s case information page links a free case search covering criminal cases from 1988 on; no account is needed.
• Warrants: The court’s criminal and case information pages do not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: Jail Bail Schedule for Offenses Committed Within the County of Butte, effective January 1, 2026 (Annual Order BCSC 2026-AO-02). It lists “No Bail” for special-circumstance murder and for supervision violations listed as “PRCS, Parole, CP/MS” (PRCS is post-release community supervision). It has no pre-arraignment release protocol.
• Custody: Butte County Jail, 7 Gillick Way, Oroville, (530) 552-1600. The Sheriff’s Corrections Division page has no in-house inmate search and points the public to VINE for custody status updates.
• Pretrial services: Probation has run a pretrial program with the court since July 1, 2022, according to its FY 2024-25 recommended budget. The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) as Butte’s risk tool.
• Local note: The Sheriff’s website describes a 614-bed jail with an average daily population of over 540 people (Corrections Division page, viewed September 2026).

Calaveras County

Calaveras County’s seat is San Andreas, home to both the Superior Court and the county jail. The court’s posted felony and misdemeanor bail schedule dates from 2016.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Calaveras, 400 Government Center Drive, San Andreas. The court’s online portal says an account is not required to search hearings, court calendars, or a case’s register of actions.
• Warrants: Neither the court nor the Sheriff posts an online warrant search on the pages reviewed.
• Bail schedule: The Uniform Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule says it “is effective November 1, 2016.” It is the only local criminal schedule on the court’s fees and bail schedules page, which also posts the 2026 statewide traffic schedule. Families should confirm current amounts with the court.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Detention Facility, 1045 Jeff Tuttle Drive, San Andreas, is “the central booking and intake location for all law enforcement agencies operating in Calaveras County.”
• Pretrial services: Calaveras County Probation is the designated agency for pretrial assessments and uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), a risk scoring tool.

Colusa County

Colusa is the county seat. The Superior Court holds a weekly walk-in calendar for people with bench warrants.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Colusa, 547 Market Street and 532 Oak Street, Colusa. The court’s online calendar portal says it is “temporarily unavailable until further notice.”
• Warrants: There is no online warrant search. The criminal division page says phone staff at (530) 458-5149, option 4, can give warrant status, fines owed, and hearing dates.
• Bail schedule: January 1, 2026 Traffic/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, posted with the court’s 2026 Bail Schedule notice on April 17, 2026. It covers misdemeanors and infractions only. The court’s site did not post a felony bail schedule as of September 2026.
• Custody: The Colusa County Sheriff’s Department is at 929 Bridge Street, Colusa, (530) 458-0200, according to the state Attorney General’s location listing.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) as Colusa’s risk tool.
• Local note: The criminal division page says: “If a bench warrant is issued, you need to report to the court on a Tuesday for walk-in court.” The other options are turning yourself in or contacting an attorney. Check in before 12:30 p.m. at 532 Oak Street (page viewed September 2026).

Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County’s seat is Martinez, home to the A.F. Bray Courthouse and the county’s primary booking jail. The Probation Department’s pretrial unit tells people on pretrial release that they will receive court date reminders.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa. The Court Public Portal states that no registration is required.
• Warrants: The court’s criminal division page offers no online warrant search or warrant instructions.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Felony Bail Schedule (Effective 7/8/26), an Excel file, took effect July 8, 2026. A 2026 misdemeanor schedule with the same effective date is listed on the court’s criminal division page. No zero-bail protocol was found.
• Custody: Martinez Detention Facility, 901 Court Street, Martinez, which the Sheriff calls “the primary point of intake for all arrestees booked in Contra Costa County” (Sheriff’s facility page). Use the Sheriff’s in-custody locator.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services unit in Martinez uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), a risk-scoring tool. Its reporting instructions tell people they “will be receiving court date reminders for you to appear at court.”
• Local note: A PSA validation study done for Probation in March 2025 followed 990 people released between 2020 and 2023 and found that 27.4 percent failed to appear in court and 9.0 percent had new criminal activity.

Del Norte County

Crescent City is the county seat. The Superior Court’s 2026 bail schedule says people charged with misdemeanors are generally entitled to release on their own recognizance.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Del Norte, 450 H Street, Room 209, Crescent City, (707) 464-8115. The court links a Case Portal; it could not be opened, so its access requirements were not confirmed.
• Warrants: The court does not publish an online warrant search or warrant instructions.
• Bail schedule: Superior Court of California, County of Del Norte Bail and Penalty Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, covering felonies and misdemeanors. It says a defendant charged with misdemeanors is “entitled to release on his or her own recognizance unless release will compromise public safety,” or will not reasonably ensure a return to court. No pre-arraignment release protocol appears in the schedule. One order on the court’s standing orders page, SO 26-002, is a scanned image and could not be reviewed.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Office, at 650 Fifth Street in Crescent City, runs the Del Norte County Jail (Sheriff’s page). The Sheriff publishes call and arrest logs.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) as Del Norte’s risk tool.

El Dorado County

El Dorado County’s seat is Placerville. The Superior Court has courthouses in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe, and the Sheriff runs a jail in each city.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado. The court’s case index page says searching is free, but “You will need to create an account to search for court case information.”
• Warrants: Neither the court nor the Sheriff posts an online warrant search on the pages reviewed.
• Bail schedule: The 2025 Felony/Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, Rev. 01/21/2025, is listed as current on the court’s fees and bail schedules page. No 2026 edition was posted as of September 10, 2026.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Custody Division runs the Placerville jail (capacity 303 plus 8 outpatient medical beds) and the South Lake Tahoe jail (capacity 158). The Sheriff links a current inmates list.
• Pretrial services: El Dorado County Probation, Pretrial Services. Its lowest supervision tier includes a “Court Date reminder for every court date.”
• Local note: On October 2, 2024 the Placerville jail held about 196 people against a maximum of 303, and on October 9, 2024 the South Lake Tahoe jail held 96 against 158, according to the 2024-25 Civil Grand Jury report dated February 11, 2025.

Fresno County

Fresno County’s seat is Fresno, where the Superior Court hears felony and misdemeanor cases at 1100 Van Ness Avenue. The court has developed a financial questionnaire so judges can consider what bail a person can afford.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Fresno. The court’s case information page links to its public portal, which offers optional registration and states no search fee.
• Warrants: No online warrant search appears on the court’s criminal FAQ or the Sheriff’s inmate search page.
• Bail schedule: The court publishes Criminal Bail Schedules 2026 as a web page organized by code section. The page shows no effective date.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s jail page lists the Main Jail at 1225 M Street, plus the North Annex (1265 M Street) and West Annex (2208 Merced Street), all in Fresno. Start at the Sheriff’s inmate search page.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Release Program. Its pretrial services brochure (October 2023) lists court reminders and bus passes for upcoming hearings.
• Local note: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report says the Fresno court’s financial questionnaire is included in the pretrial risk report to help judges consider “affordable bail options.”

Glenn County

Willows is the county seat. Glenn’s 2026 jail bail schedule bars own-recognizance release for people charged with serious or violent felonies.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Glenn, 526 West Sycamore Street, Willows; criminal clerk (530) 934-6446, option 2. The court’s case index page links an online case index and register of actions.
• Warrants: The court’s criminal page warns that if you miss a court date on a misdemeanor or felony, “a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest.” The court does not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: Glenn County Superior Court Jail Bail Schedule for Offenses Committed Within the County of Glenn, effective January 1, 2026. It sets separate amounts for misdemeanor and felony probation violations and has no zero-bail protocol.
• Custody: The Glenn County Sheriff’s Office in Willows runs the county jail; the office phone is 530-934-6441.
• Pretrial services: Glenn County Probation runs pretrial services and uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) tool.
• Local note: The 2026 schedule says “no ORs shall be granted to persons charged with serious felonies” under Penal Code section 1192.7(c) “or violent felonies” (2026 schedule). OR means own-recognizance release. Families should ask the court how it applies this rule after the California Supreme Court’s 2026 decision in In re Kowalczyk on pretrial release.

Humboldt County

Eureka is the county seat. In June 2026 the Superior Court posted a notice explaining the state Supreme Court’s new ruling on bail and pretrial release.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt, 825 5th Street, Eureka; criminal division (707) 445-7256, option 1. The court’s Online Case Access system searches case data from its case management system and offers registration and login.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant search. The court’s criminal page says: “To clear a warrant you may go to any law enforcement office.”
• Bail schedule: Humboldt County Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, covering felonies and misdemeanors. It says a person charged with misdemeanors is “entitled to release on his or her own recognizance unless release will compromise public safety,” or will not reasonably ensure a return to court. It has no zero-bail protocol.
• Custody: The court’s criminal page says you can find out whether someone is in custody by calling the Humboldt County Correctional Facility at (707) 441-5159.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) as Humboldt’s risk tool.
• Local note: On June 2, 2026, the court posted a notice on In re Kowalczyk and pretrial release. It states that if money bail is imposed, “it must be in an amount that the defendant can reasonably afford.” It announces no new local procedures.

Imperial County

Imperial County’s seat is El Centro, home to the criminal courthouse and the jail where every new arrestee is first housed.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Imperial, El Centro Criminal Courthouse, 650 Wake Ave. The court’s case lookup page links a public case search. Document access through the Public Portal requires an account and identity verification.
• Warrants: The court does not publish an online warrant search. The criminal division page lists the criminal clerk’s phone number.
• Bail schedule: Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, 2026 edition (no specific effective date appears in the text).
• Custody: Regional Adult Detention Facility (RADF), 1328 Sperber Road, El Centro. All incarcerated persons are first housed there for screening and classification (Sheriff’s jail page). There is no Sheriff-hosted inmate search; the Sheriff’s home page points to the statewide VINE service or the jail information line.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department lists pretrial services among its duties. The court offers an opt-in Hearing Reminder Service by email or text, two weeks or two days before a hearing; the page does not say which case types it covers.
• Local note: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report, covering July 2024 to June 2025, says Imperial’s pretrial agency travels to remote locations so people can meet check-in requirements.

Inyo County

Inyo County’s seat is Independence, where the county jail sits; the court has courthouses in Bishop and Independence. The court’s posted bail schedule dates from 2017, and there is no online case or warrant search.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Inyo. There is no online criminal case search. Records searches are in person or by mail only, $15 per name for 10 years, per the court’s website.
• Warrants: No online check. The court says: “To clear a warrant you must contact your attorney.” A person without a lawyer can contact the Criminal Division to set up a warrant surrender, or go to any law enforcement office to sign a cite and release.
• Bail schedule: Felony & Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, which the court’s forms page lists as last updated July 2017.
• Custody: Inyo County Jail, 550 South Clay Street, Independence, open 24 hours (jail page). No online inmate locator was found; the jail page lists a phone number.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Adult Division prepares pretrial risk assessments for the court and supervises people ordered to pretrial supervision.

Kern County

Kern County’s seat is Bakersfield. The court’s 2026 bail schedule includes a pre-arraignment release protocol.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Kern. The case information search page offers a public search and a separate portal for registered users. The criminal page says a warrant stays active until an arrest, a court appearance, or posting bail.
• Warrants: The court’s pages do not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Felony Bail Schedule, effective December 29, 2025, with misdemeanor entries. Its Pre-Arraignment Release Protocol sets $0 bail for cite-and-release misdemeanors and book-and-release felonies, uses a risk assessment for magistrate review cases, and bars release before arraignment for arraignment review offenses. After arraignment, the judge sets release terms, and a bench warrant for a missed court date may carry its own bail amount.
• Custody: Justice Inmate Reception Center, 17801 Industrial Farm Road, Bakersfield, which the Sheriff calls “the main hub for booking and releasing new arrests” (Sheriff’s page). Use the Sheriff’s inmate search.
• Pretrial services: Kern County Probation Pre-Trial Units assess people awaiting felony arraignment and monitor those released. Release conditions can range from court reminder phone calls to GPS tracking.
• Local note: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report, covering July 2024 to June 2025, says the Kern court limited GPS units for the pretrial population to 20.

Kings County

Kings County’s seat is Hanford, where the Superior Court, the Sheriff, and Probation are all based. The Sheriff’s Records Division serves as the county’s warrant repository.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Kings, 1640 Kings County Drive, Hanford. The court’s public portal covers criminal, civil, traffic, and family cases, and “requires users to create/register for an account.” No fee is stated.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The court’s criminal page says to clear a warrant “you must contact your attorney or you may contact the Criminal Division.” The Sheriff’s Records Division is “the warrant repository for the county.”
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule for Kings County and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule 2026. Neither shows an effective date beyond the year.
• Custody: Kings County Jail, Hanford, run by the Sheriff (booking and inmate information). Search the inmate locator, which the county says is updated hourly.
• Pretrial services: Kings County Probation, Pretrial Monitoring Services, at the Day Reporting Center, 1520 Kings County Drive, Hanford.

Lake County

Lakeport is the county seat, with a branch court in Clearlake. The Hill Road Correctional Facility in Lakeport is the central booking point for every arrest in the county.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Lake, Lakeport Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes Street, Room 417, (707) 263-2374. The court’s online case information page links a public portal for case and calendar searches; no registration or fee is mentioned.
• Warrants: The court’s pages do not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: Lake County Superior Court Uniform Bail Schedule, 2026 edition, covering felonies and misdemeanors. It lists $20,000 for felony failure to appear after release on OR (own recognizance) or bail, and “no bail” for any felony violation of probation, parole, post-release community supervision or mandatory supervision.
• Custody: Hill Road Correctional Facility, 4913 Helbush Drive, Lakeport, rated to hold 297 people (county jail page). Use the county’s In-Custody lookup; jail phone 707-262-4240.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) as Lake’s risk tool; the court lists Probation at 707-262-4285. The court offers opt-in email or text reminders for upcoming public hearings through its online services page.
• Local note: “Over 4,000 people, on average, are brought into and booked at the facility annually,” according to the county jail page (viewed September 2026).

Lassen County

Susanville is the county seat and home to the Hall of Justice. The Superior Court holds a clear-warrant calendar twice a week for people with bench warrants.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Lassen, Hall of Justice, 2610 Riverside Drive, Susanville, (530) 251-8205. The Case Index and Calendar Portal covers criminal and other cases filed after 1994, with no registration or fee mentioned. The criminal page notes that bail “may also be raised or lowered during arraignment.”
• Warrants: There is no public online warrant search. The court’s eWarrants page is password protected for justice partners.
• Bail schedule: Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules 2026 Edition, effective January 1, 2026, including a felony bail schedule section. No zero-bail protocol was posted.
• Custody: The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, 1415 Sheriff Cady Lane, Susanville, operates a 24-hour Adult Detention Facility.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) as Lassen’s risk tool.
• Local note: The criminal division page says that if a bench warrant is issued, you need to report to court “on a Monday or Friday for the clear warrant calendar,” turn yourself in to local law enforcement, or contact an attorney (viewed September 2026).

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County’s seat is Los Angeles. Its court runs a zero-bail booking protocol that changes what happens in the first hours after an arrest, but not what happens after a judge revokes release.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. The court’s criminal calendar lookup shows upcoming court dates. A search for a case number by defendant name costs $4.75 per search, according to the court’s FAQ, which also says the court has no plans to put bail or bond status online. The criminal division lists felony bench warrant walk-ins as a same-day courthouse service.
• Warrants: There is no official online warrant search. The Sheriff’s records FAQ says to go to a local police department or sheriff’s station, which can run a check.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule and 2026 Misdemeanor Bail Schedule took effect January 1, 2026. Since October 1, 2023, the court’s Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols set $0 bail at booking for many offenses, with serious and violent offenses still carrying money bail. The protocols apply only before arraignment. The court’s own FAQ says release conditions “are then reconsidered at arraignment” by the judge.
• Custody: Men are booked at the Inmate Reception Center at 450 Bauchet Street, next to Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers; women are held at Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood (Sheriff’s custody page). Search the Inmate Information Center.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services Division gives judges background and release recommendations. The court runs an opt-in hearing reminder service by text or email that covers criminal cases.
• Local note: The county jail averaged 13,054 people a day in 2025, and about 54 percent had no case adjudicated yet, according to the Sheriff’s 2025 year-end population report.

Madera County

Madera County’s seat is Madera, where the Superior Court sits at 200 South G Street. The court adopted a new felony bail schedule effective January 2, 2026.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Madera. The court’s online case information page links a public portal. The criminal page says in-person record searches cost $15.00 per name, per index.
• Warrants: No online warrant search appears on the court’s criminal pages. The criminal page warns that if a defendant misses court, the court may order actions including bail forfeiture and a warrant.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule (Including Selected Misdemeanors), effective January 2, 2026, listed on the court’s fee and bail schedules page.
• Custody: Madera County Jail, Madera, run by the Sheriff’s Office (county jail page). The county’s pages do not link an online inmate locator.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists Madera as a funded pretrial county using the Public Safety Assessment (PSA), a risk scoring tool. County pages do not name the agency that runs it.

Marin County

Marin County’s seat is San Rafael, and all criminal cases are heard at the Hall of Justice there. Marin posts a public online warrant search that covers warrants issued by its Superior Court.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Marin, Hall of Justice, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. The court’s ePortal requires free registration, and staff review each account request (1 to 2 court days). The criminal page says: “Misdemeanors, felonies, and warrants all require a mandatory court appearance. Extensions will not be granted.”
• Warrants: The Sheriff’s warrants page links an online warrant search by last name, first name, and optional birth year. The Sheriff notes that recent status changes may not show.
• Bail schedule: Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules, January 2026 edition. The felony and misdemeanor sections are posted on the court’s bail schedules page.
• Custody: Marin County Jail, San Rafael, run by the Sheriff’s Detention Bureau. The public Booking Log lists people booked in the last 48 hours who are still in custody, plus everyone in custody when the search runs. Bail amounts shown may be approximate.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s pretrial supervision program (page updated January 9, 2026). On violations, Probation says: “Some people may wind up getting arrested and wait for a trial in jail.”

Mariposa County

Mariposa County’s seat is Mariposa. The Superior Court’s criminal division tells people with a warrant to contact their attorney or the court directly.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa. The court’s case information page links a public case portal and notes it “only shows information that can be viewed by the public.” No fee is stated.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal division page says: “To clear a warrant you must contact your attorney or you may contact the Criminal Division.”
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Mariposa Uniform Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, according to the court’s home page listing.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Adult Detention Facility, 5379 Highway 49 N, Mariposa, is staffed 24 hours. Staff “will not recommend or refer bail bond agents.” An online inmate locator could not be confirmed; call the facility at 209-966-3616.
• Pretrial services: Mariposa County Probation, Pre-Trial Investigation and Supervision assesses people held on new charges for monitoring if the court releases them before or after arraignment.

Mendocino County

Ukiah is the county seat, with a branch court in Fort Bragg. Mendocino’s current bail schedules, effective August 6, 2026, include a pre-arraignment release protocol with $0 bail for many lower-level offenses.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mendocino. The criminal clerk is at 100 North State Street, Room 107, Ukiah, (707) 463-4661, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The court’s case portal page links case information and documents; document copies carry a fee.
• Warrants: The court’s site does not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Felony Bail Schedule and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, both effective August 6, 2026. Their pre-arraignment release protocols set $0 bail for designated crimes, but not for serious or violent crimes. The protocols govern release before arraignment. After a revocation or a missed court date, the judge sets release terms, and a bench warrant may carry its own bail amount.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services Unit assesses people arrested for offenses the schedules mark for pretrial risk assessment. The court offers opt-in text message hearing reminders.
• Local note: Under the protocol in the August 6, 2026 felony schedule, a person with three or more failures to appear in the prior three years is referred to Pretrial Services rather than released automatically.

Merced County

Merced County’s seat is Merced. The Superior Court does not put criminal case information online, so families must search in person or through the clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Merced, Ogletree Jr. Courthouse, 2260 N Street, Merced. Its case records page says criminal cases are “NOT available online.” Public terminals are available in person, and clerk searches over 10 minutes cost $15 (records search).
• Warrants: No online warrant search appears on the court’s pages.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule and 2026 Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, both effective January 1, 2026.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s jail page lists the Main Jail at 700 W. 22nd St., Merced, and the John Latorraca Correctional Center in El Nido. The county’s inmate inquiry site has moved, and the new address could not be confirmed; call the Main Jail at (209) 385-7410.
• Pretrial services: Merced County Probation, Pretrial Services, which uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA). Probation says people download the Supervision Access app, “which will send them court reminders.”
• Local note: Per the same Probation page (undated, viewed September 2026), the pretrial unit is staffed by three probation assistants and two probation officers.

Modoc County

Alturas is the county seat, and the Superior Court sits at the Robert A. Barclay Justice Center. The court does not post a bail schedule online, so families need to call the clerk or the Sheriff.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Modoc, 205 South East Street, Alturas, 530-233-6516, Clerk@modoc.courts.ca.gov. The Public Case Portal shows recent filings, hearing schedules and parties, and offers registration. Court staff cannot look up criminal records by phone.
• Warrants: The court does not publish a warrant search. Its criminal page warns that “failure to appear may result in a warrant for your arrest.”
• Bail schedule: No bail schedule appears on the court’s forms, local rules, online services or news pages (checked September 2026).
• Custody: For custody questions, the court’s criminal page says to contact the Modoc County Sheriff’s Department at (530) 233-4416 or stop in at 102 S. Court Street, Alturas.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) as Modoc’s risk tool.

Mono County

Mono County’s seat is Bridgeport, home to the county jail and one of two courthouses. Criminal cases are heard Mondays in Mammoth Lakes and Tuesdays in Bridgeport.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mono. The court has no online name search; name searches cost $15 per name, per the court’s website.
• Warrants: No online check. The court says: “To clear a warrant you must contact your attorney, or you may contact the Criminal Division.”
• Bail schedule: 2026 Bail Schedule, listed on the court’s bail schedules page as updated June 29, 2026. Misdemeanors not listed in it are set at $0 bail, except unlisted wobblers charged as misdemeanors ($10,000).
• Custody: Mono County Jail, 25 Emigrant Street, Bridgeport (jail page). Cash bail must be the exact amount; cashier’s checks and money orders are accepted, personal checks are not.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report says Mono County’s pretrial services agency uses an automated phone and online check-in system.
• Local note: A new Mono County Jail is being built in Bridgeport with a $25,000,000 state Board of State and Community Corrections grant. Construction runs August 2025 to August 2027, with occupancy expected August to November 2027 (county project page).

Monterey County

Monterey County’s seat is Salinas, and the Superior Court also sits in Monterey, Marina, and King City. People who missed court can ask in person to be put back on calendar.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Monterey. The court’s case portal shows whether you must appear for a hearing.
• Warrants: There is no dedicated online warrant search. The court’s criminal FAQ says to ask in person at the Salinas Clerk’s Office (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) to be placed on calendar.
• Bail schedule: The Monterey County bail schedule, adopted and effective February 13, 2025. No 2026 criminal edition appears on the court’s bail and fee schedules page. It cites a 2004 jail own recognizance (OR) policy letting the Sheriff release some arrestees without bail.
• Custody: Monterey County Jail, 1414 Natividad Road, Salinas (Sheriff’s Office). The Sheriff’s In Custody Log was empty when checked in September 2026; call the jail at (831) 755-3782.
• Pretrial services: Monterey County Probation, Pretrial Release Program. The court’s pretrial services assessment form lists “Sign up for Court date reminders” as a Level 1 release condition.
• Local note: The same form requires Level 1 releasees to report in person to Probation at 20 East Alisal Street, Salinas, between 1 and 4 p.m. the next business day after release.

Napa County

Napa County’s seat is the city of Napa, where the Criminal Courthouse is at 1111 Third Street. The court sets short daily check-in windows for people clearing warrants and does not accept late arrivals.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Napa. The criminal page warns: “A failure to appear in court on the date shown will result in a warrant for your arrest.”
• Warrants: No online warrant lookup was found. Per the court’s website, felony walk-in check-in runs Monday to Friday 8:00 to 8:15 a.m. or 1:45 to 2:00 p.m. Misdemeanor check-in runs Monday and Friday 1:45 to 2:00 p.m., and Tuesday to Thursday 12:45 to 1:00 p.m. “Late Check-ins will not be accepted.”
• Bail schedule: Napa Bail Schedule, effective June 11, 2025. The court’s fines and fees page also lists an order revising the schedule, described as effective July 29, 2025; the order itself could not be opened. Ask the clerk which version applies.
• Custody: Napa is unusual: its jail is run by the county’s own Department of Corrections, not the Sheriff. The department operates the 332-bed Napa County Corrections and Rehabilitation Center, which replaced the county’s former jail, according to a county announcement dated July 28, 2026. The county posts a public in-custody report.

Nevada County

Nevada County’s seat is Nevada City, and the Superior Court also sits in Truckee. It is one of the few counties where the Sheriff posts an online list of active warrants.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Nevada. The court’s web portal page says a free account is required to search public case information.
• Warrants: The Sheriff’s Active Warrants list can be searched by the first letters of a last name.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Nevada County Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule for All Bailable Offenses, effective January 1, 2026. It lists “NO BAIL” for felony probation and supervision violations.
• Custody: The Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, 925 Maidu Ave, Nevada City, is an adult booking facility; the Truckee Jail books and briefly holds arrestees from Nevada, Sierra, and Placer counties (Corrections Division). Use the county’s incarcerated person search page.
• Pretrial services: Nevada County Probation. Its pretrial information page says the county uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) to inform release decisions.
• Local note: The court runs self-surrender calendars for people with warrants (undated page, viewed September 2026). In Nevada City, misdemeanors are heard Thursdays and felonies Fridays at 1:30 p.m., with check-in before 11 a.m.; Truckee hears both Mondays at 8:30 a.m.

Orange County

Orange County’s seat is Santa Ana, where the Sheriff’s Intake Release Center processes every booking into and release from the county jail system. The court’s 2026 schedule has no pre-arraignment zero-bail protocol like Los Angeles County’s.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Orange. The court’s criminal and traffic case access page links its case search, which requires accepting terms of use. The court says the results do not constitute the official record.
• Warrants: The Sheriff’s homepage lists an Arrest Warrants page, but it could not be opened, so no working official online warrant search was confirmed. The court’s Automated Information and Payment Center page lists a “Failure to Appear – Warrant Information” phone line, (657) 622-8459.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Uniform Bail Schedule, felony and misdemeanor, effective January 1, 2026. It sets $0 only for narrow categories and “No Bail” for capital cases and certain fugitive and escape arrests.
• Custody: Intake Release Center, 550 North Flower Street, Santa Ana, which processes “all individuals being booked into, and released from, the Orange County Jail system” (Sheriff’s IRC page). The Sheriff’s bail page says bail is accepted there 24 hours a day, and at Theo Lacy Facility in Orange from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (bonds until 2 p.m.). The Inmate Information System requires a free account and does not show charges.
• Pretrial services: OC Probation’s Adult Re-Entry Division includes a Pre-Trial Assessment team. The court’s My Court Portal sends automated hearing reminders to registered users for traffic and criminal cases.
• Local note: Per the Sheriff’s website, the Intake Release Center has more than 800 beds, most converted to acute mental health housing. Its lobby hosts Social Services, Probation, and Project Kinship, which keeps a 24/7 presence to help with transition from custody and reentry.

Placer County

Placer County’s seat is Auburn. The Sheriff runs two jails, in Auburn and Roseville, and the court’s felony and misdemeanor bail schedules date from January 2025.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Placer. The court’s online portal page says: “To search for public case information there is no account required.” Criminal cases are included.
• Warrants: Neither the court nor the Sheriff posts an online warrant check on the pages reviewed.
• Bail schedule: The court’s fee schedule page lists a Felony Bail Schedule and a Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, both effective January 9, 2025. No 2026 edition was listed as of September 10, 2026.
• Custody: The Auburn Jail, 2775 Richardson Drive, Auburn, and the South Placer Jail, 11801 Go For Broke Road, Roseville, which has an intake and booking unit. The Sheriff’s Corrections page posts an In-Custody Roster and a Daily Booking and Releasing Report as PDFs.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pre-Trial Division gives the court jail release recommendations based on a validated risk assessment; the validation study was completed in December 2022.
• Local note: Per the county’s jail pages (undated, viewed September 2026), the Auburn Jail has a capacity of 646 and the South Placer Jail a rated capacity of 420.

Plumas County

Plumas County’s seat is Quincy. The Superior Court sends people with warrant questions to the county jail rather than the clerk’s office.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Plumas, 520 Main Street, Quincy. There is no public online case index. The record searches page is a request form, with a $15 fee for searches over 10 minutes, and staff cannot give criminal record information by phone.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The court says to contact the Plumas County Correctional Facility at (530) 283-6267 to check the status of a warrant or clear one.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Criminal Incarceration Bail Schedule, effective February 10, 2026, according to the court’s bail and penalty schedules page. The PDF is a scanned image.
• Custody: Plumas County Correctional Facility, 50 Abernathy Lane, Quincy. There is no online inmate locator; staff will release only an inmate’s charges and bail amounts.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists Plumas as a funded pretrial county but does not name the local agency that runs the program.

Riverside County

Riverside County’s seat is Riverside. The court’s bail schedule sorts offenses into release categories, one of which is on hold until a data link is built.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Riverside. The Public Access portal requires an online account. Case number searches are free; name searches cost $1.00 each or $250 for 30 days, according to the court’s public access page.
• Warrants: No online warrant search was found on the court site. The criminal division page says: “To appear on a warrant you must report to the Criminal Division which ordered the warrant by 7:30 a.m.”
• Bail schedule: Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, effective October 20, 2025. No 2026 edition was posted as of September 2026. People arrested for Cite and Release or Book and Release offenses do not post bail and sign a promise to appear. For Arraignment Review offenses, bail is set at the scheduled amount and reviewed at arraignment. These categories apply at booking. After a revocation, the judge sets release terms.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Corrections page lists five jails: Robert Presley Detention Center (Riverside), Cois M. Byrd Detention Center (Murrieta), John J. Benoit Detention Center (Indio), Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility (Banning), and Blythe Jail (Blythe). The Sheriff’s homepage links an inmate locator.
• Pretrial services: Riverside County Probation provides pretrial assessments, and says its pretrial monitoring includes “oversight, resources when needed, court reminders and check-ins.”
• Local note: The October 20, 2025 schedule creates a Pre-Arraignment Review track, where a magistrate reviews release before arraignment for people who cannot pay. The schedule says this depends on a data link to the Public Safety Assessment, and until that is built, these offenses are handled as Arraignment Review cases (bail at the scheduled amount until arraignment).

Sacramento County

Sacramento County’s seat is Sacramento. The Superior Court launched a new criminal case portal on August 10, 2026, and the court’s FAQ sends people to the Sheriff’s Department to clear warrants.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento. The court’s new criminal case portal searches by party name or case number but shows only “limited case information,” and cases from before August 10, 2026 may lack digitized documents.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant lookup. The court’s criminal FAQ says the Sheriff’s Department at 4510 Orange Grove Avenue “clears warrants and may be able to give you another court date.” The Sheriff’s warrant services page says warrant information goes only to the subject, with identity verification. The Records and Warrants Bureau can issue new court dates for most misdemeanor warrants, but “Felony warrants must be processed at the Main Jail.”
• Bail schedule: The Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedules for Persons in Pretrial Custody, updated November 2025. The schedule applies only before a person sees a judge. After arraignment, it says, the court makes an individualized assessment under the In re Humphrey decision. This is not a blanket zero-bail protocol.
• Custody: The Main Jail, 651 I Street, Sacramento. Search the Sheriff’s inmate information lookup by name or X-ref number.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s pretrial unit. Probation says monitoring “can include court reminder telephone calls, office visits, community visits and GPS monitoring.”
• Local note: As of May 3, 2021, an average of 87.6 percent of people released to the pretrial program were successful, according to a Chief Probation Officers of California profile published April 18, 2022. Jail conditions are also governed by the Mays v. County of Sacramento consent decree, first approved January 13, 2020 and updated December 19, 2025 (Prison Law Office case page).

San Benito County

San Benito County’s seat is Hollister. Its jail is small, and there is no online inmate search.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Benito. The court’s public portal page says you must create a free account to search cases.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal division page says: “To clear a warrant you must contact your attorney.” People without a lawyer can call the Criminal Division.
• Bail schedule: The 2025 Felony Bail Schedule, which includes a misdemeanor section. Its effective-date line reads “January ____, 2025,” with the day left blank. It says defendants in any DUI case “SHALL BE ELIGIBLE FOR SORP RELEASE” (a supervised own recognizance program).
• Custody: San Benito County Jail and the Curtis J. Hill Rehabilitation Center, 710 Flynn Road, Hollister (Sheriff’s corrections page). There is no online inmate search; call Corrections at (831) 636-4060.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department provides a pretrial services program as part of adult services.
• Local note: Per the Sheriff’s corrections page (undated, viewed September 2026), the 1992 main jail has a rated capacity of 124, the Curtis J. Hill center added 72 beds in 2020, and the population “averages about 100 persons at any given time.”

San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County’s seat is San Bernardino. The Sheriff books arrests at two main jails, one in Rancho Cucamonga and one in San Bernardino, and Probation’s pretrial unit says it reminds people of court dates.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino. The court’s case information page links its Court Access Portal. The criminal page warns: “If you don’t show up in court, a warrant may be issued for your arrest.”
• Warrants: No online warrant search was found on the court or Sheriff pages reviewed.
• Bail schedule: Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, revised June 4, 2026. It also says: “Pre-arraignment bail amounts are not binding on judicial officers at arraignment.” That means the judge who handles a revocation or warrant can set a different amount.
• Custody: West Valley Detention Center, 9500 Etiwanda Ave, Rancho Cucamonga, and Central Detention Center, 630 East Rialto Ave, San Bernardino, the primary booking site for east valley agencies. Use the Sheriff’s inmate locator.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pre-Trial Unit works to reduce failures to appear. Its Pretrial Services FAQ says officers encourage people to appear at each court date “via phone, web reminders, or face-to-face contact,” and that people must report to Probation within 48 business hours of release.
• Local note: Per the Sheriff’s corrections page (undated, viewed September 2026), the county has 7,400 jail beds with an average daily population of 5,000, and agencies book about 85,000 people a year.

San Diego County

San Diego County’s seat is San Diego. It is one of the few large California counties with an official online warrant search, run by the Sheriff and linked from the court’s own warrants page.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. The Court Index searches by name, case number, or district attorney number, but does not show charges or outcomes. Criminal case documents can be viewed only in person or ordered by mail, according to the court’s online case search page.
• Warrants: The court’s warrants page links the Sheriff’s online warrant search, by last and first name. The Sheriff notes that changes may not appear within the hour. The court lists consequences of missing court that include a mandatory appearance, added charges, a DMV license hold, and arrest.
• Bail schedule: Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, with misdemeanor and felony sections. No pre-arraignment release protocol appears in it.
• Custody: Men are booked at San Diego Central Jail, 1173 Front Street, San Diego. Women are booked at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility, 451 Riverview Parkway, Santee. Search Who’s In Jail; the Sheriff warns that listed release dates may not be accurate.
• Pretrial services: Split between two agencies. Sheriff’s Pretrial Services does assessments, court recommendations, and supervision. Probation supervises people released on Supervised Own Recognizance, under Probation Policy 418 (dated August 25, 2023).
• Local note: In July 2026 the county jails held an average of 3,973 people a day, and only 31 percent were sentenced. There were 4,750 bookings that month, according to the Sheriff’s July 2026 jail population statistics.

San Francisco County

San Francisco is a consolidated city and county. Criminal cases are heard at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street, and a nonprofit, not Probation, runs pretrial services, as state law allows here.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Criminal Case Query is open to the public after a check that the user is not an automated program.
• Warrants: The court has no online warrant lookup. Its criminal page refers people to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Central Warrants office, 850 Bryant St., 4th Floor, Room 460.
• Bail schedule: Felony & Misdemeanor Bail Index and Schedule, effective July 1, 2026, per the court’s bail schedules page. No zero-bail protocol is posted.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Intake and Release Center, 425 7th Street, San Francisco. People booked there are either released or transferred to a county jail.
• Pretrial services: The San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, a nonprofit. For its two own recognizance release groups, it says: “Both groups receive court date reminders.”
• Local note: In re Humphrey, the California Supreme Court’s leading bail case, began with a San Francisco arrest on May 23, 2017, when bail was set at $600,000. The court’s March 25, 2021 opinion held: “The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional.”

San Joaquin County

San Joaquin County’s seat is Stockton. Since August 15, 2025, the court’s bail schedule has given each offense a release category that controls whether someone can be released before seeing a judge.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin, 180 E. Weber Ave., Stockton. The court’s case search page describes a public portal searchable by case number.
• Warrants: No online warrant search appears on the court or Sheriff pages reviewed.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Uniform County Bail Schedule is marked “TENTATIVE Effective July 23, 2026” on its cover. It sorts offenses into Cite and Release, Book and Release, Magistrate Review (an on-call judge decides), and Arraignment Review Only; the first phase began August 15, 2025. These categories apply at arrest. After a revocation or a missed court date, the judge sets release terms, and a bench warrant may carry its own bail amount.
• Custody: The John Zunino Jail Complex, which includes Intake and the Main Jail, 7000 Michael Canlis Blvd, French Camp (Sheriff’s custody page). The county posts a public booking log.
• Pretrial services: The Sheriff’s Pre-Trial Services unit handles misdemeanor citation releases (bail procedures), and San Joaquin County Probation supervises people placed on pretrial programming.
• Local note: The Sheriff’s custody page (undated, viewed September 2026) says the Board of State and Community Corrections rated jail capacity at 1,550.

San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County’s seat is San Luis Obispo. The court’s 2026 schedule sets $0 presumptive bail before arraignment for misdemeanors not otherwise listed and $20,000 for felony failure to appear.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo. The court’s online case lookup requires registration for remote use.
• Warrants: There is no online lookup. The court’s warrants page says to contact the criminal clerk by email or phone with a name and case number, or a name and date of birth. Options are to post bail, turn yourself in, or calendar a court surrender.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Bail Schedule Felony & Misdemeanor, effective June 15, 2026. For misdemeanors not otherwise listed, “the pre-arraignment presumptive bail for misdemeanors shall be $0, up to the time of arraignment.” At arraignment, the judge sets terms.
• Custody: San Luis Obispo County Jail, 1585 Kansas Avenue, San Luis Obispo (jail information). Search Who’s in Custody by first and last name.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services (since April 2022) reports to the court and supervises people released. The court offers opt-in text message notifications about hearings, which it calls “a courtesy only.”
• Local note: The June 15, 2026 schedule sets bail at $20,000 for felony failure to appear after release on bail (Penal Code 1320.5) and $20,000 for felony failure to appear after OR release (Penal Code 1320).

San Mateo County

San Mateo County’s seat is Redwood City. Criminal cases are heard at the Hall of Justice in Redwood City and at the Northern Branch in South San Francisco. The court’s local felony bail schedule dates from May 2023.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. The Odyssey Public Portal needs no registration and shows the register of actions, not criminal documents (portal information).
• Warrants: There is no online lookup. The court’s active warrants page says that to have the case heard the same day, you must appear in person and check in at the criminal clerk’s office.
• Bail schedule: Felony Bail Schedule Effective May 1, 2023. A misdemeanor schedule with the same date is on the court’s local bail schedules page. No newer local edition was posted as of September 2026.
• Custody: The Sheriff runs two jails in Redwood City, Maguire Correctional Facility and Maple Street Correctional Center (Sheriff’s website). Search the Sheriff’s inmate locator.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services gives the court information for own recognizance (OR) decisions. People released with conditions must report to Probation within 24 business hours. The court offers free, opt-in court date text reminders for criminal, traffic, and family law cases.

Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County’s seat is Santa Barbara. The court’s 2026 felony schedule allows $0 bail release before arraignment after a risk assessment, with some offenses excluded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. The court’s case records page directs people to its Records Department for restricted documents.
• Warrants: No online warrant search was found. The criminal page says the judge will issue a warrant for a missed hearing, and “The warrant will be recalled only after you appear in court and the judge orders the warrant recalled.”
• Bail schedule: 2026 Felony Bail Schedule, for felony and specified misdemeanor arrests, effective June 2026. After reviewing a risk assessment report, a judicial officer may release an arrestee on $0 bail with the least restrictive conditions. Sex offenses, domestic violence, and certain DUIs, among others, are excluded. This applies before arraignment only.
• Custody: Santa Barbara County Main Jail, 4436 Calle Real, Santa Barbara. Northern Branch Jail, 2301 Black Road, Santa Maria, houses transferred inmates (Sheriff’s jail facilities page). Search Who Is in Custody by name or CID number.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department runs pretrial services, including a Pretrial Supervised Release Program.
• Local note: The Northern Branch Jail opened January 22, 2022, as a 376-bed facility with 32 special use beds for mental health and medical care, per the Sheriff’s website.

Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County’s seat is San Jose. Since November 2023, people with an arrest warrant can, through a lawyer, schedule an out-of-custody arraignment instead of waiting to be arrested.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, Hall of Justice, 190 W. Hedding Street. The court’s online case information page says its portal covers criminal cases, but documents are “not generally available online.”
• Warrants: There is no online lookup on the court site. The criminal FAQs say: “If you want to clear a warrant for your arrest, contact the Court that issued the warrant or the police agency that holds it.”
• Bail schedule: Criminal Bail Schedule, effective January 27, 2026. For misdemeanors not otherwise listed, “a defendant shall be released on OR” (own recognizance, a promise to appear), with exceptions. These rules govern release at arrest. After a revocation, the judge sets any new terms.
• Custody: Main Jail, 150 West Hedding Street, San Jose, which books about 30,000 people a year, per the Sheriff’s website. Use the Sheriff’s inmate search.
• Pretrial services: The County of Santa Clara Office of Pretrial Services, a stand-alone department created in 1969. As of 2024 it supervised more than 4,000 people. The court offers an opt-in Hearing Reminder Service by text or email; the page does not say whether criminal cases are covered.
• Local note: Effective November 17, 2023, a person who learns of an arrest warrant may, through counsel, calendar an out-of-custody arraignment, heard on the second or fourth Monday at the Hall of Justice. People without a lawyer can contact the Public Defender’s Pre-Arraignment Representation and Review (PARR) Unit (criminal FAQs).

Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County’s seat is Santa Cruz. The Sheriff posts an online search of warrants issued by the county’s Superior Court.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz. The court’s case lookup page links its online portal; criminal documents cannot be viewed online.
• Warrants: The Sheriff’s arrest warrant search covers Superior Court warrants, searched by last name, first name, and year of birth. The court’s criminal page says a person with an outstanding warrant “must appear at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department.”
• Bail schedule: Criminal Bail Schedules Felony & Misdemeanor, effective January 1, 2026 (bail schedules page). It states: “After a defendant’s first appearance in court, the amount of bail will lie within the sound discretion of the judicial officer.”
• Custody: The Sheriff runs four facilities, including the Main Jail at 259 Water Street, Santa Cruz. The Web Jail Viewer shows booking information and charges.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services Division uses the Public Safety Assessment. The court offers opt-in text reminders five days and one day before a hearing; subscribers sign up by texting the case number.
• Local note: Probation’s pretrial page reports an average of 368 people on pretrial monitoring each day in 2025, up from 327 in 2024, with 1,371 people monitored over the year.

Shasta County

Redding is the county seat and home to both the courthouse and the county jail. Shasta Probation runs a supervised release program meant partly to ease jail crowding and improve court appearance.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Shasta, 1515 Court Street, Redding; criminal division (530) 245-6789, Criminal@shasta.courts.ca.gov. The court’s case records page links a public portal; document access is limited.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant search. The criminal page says that if you fail to appear, “the court may order and issue a warrant for your arrest.”
• Bail schedule: 2026 Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, 2026 edition, posted on the court’s bail schedules page. The PDF is a scanned image, so its contents could not be reviewed.
• Custody: Shasta County Jail, 1655 West Street, Redding, (530) 245-6100. Search the Sheriff’s in-custody lookup. The court refers jail and inmate questions to the Sheriff.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Supervised Own Recognizance (SOR) program supervises selected people before sentencing, some on GPS. The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument (VPRAI) as Shasta’s tool.
• Local note: The jail’s rated capacity is 484 (404 male, 80 female), according to the Sheriff’s jail page, which also says in-person visiting resumes September 8, 2026 (viewed September 2026).

Sierra County

Sierra County’s seat is Downieville, where the Superior Court sits at 100 Courthouse Square. Sierra County arrestees may be booked or held in Nevada County facilities, according to the Sierra court and Nevada County.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sierra. The court’s online services page lists no case index; call the Criminal Division.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The court says to contact the Criminal Division at (530) 289-3698.
• Bail schedule: The court’s forms and filing page lists a 2025 Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule; its effective date could not be confirmed, and no 2026 edition was found.
• Custody: The court’s criminal page says to call the Wayne Brown Correctional Facility in Nevada City at (530) 265-1291 to find out whether someone is in custody. Nevada County’s Corrections Division page says Sierra County arrestees are booked at the Truckee Jail. Use Nevada County’s incarcerated person search page.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists Sierra as a funded pretrial county but does not name the local agency. The court lists a hearing reminder service by email or text.
• Local note: Sierra and Nevada counties ran a joint Nevada-Sierra project in the Judicial Council’s earlier Pretrial Pilot Program, per a January 2021 pilot report.

Siskiyou County

Yreka is the county seat and home to the courthouse and the county jail. Probation’s pretrial rules (2021 matrix) treat a missed court date as a severe violation.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Siskiyou, 411 Fourth Street, Yreka, (530) 842-0411. The court’s online services page links a Case Information Portal for case details and the court calendar.
• Warrants: The court’s site does not offer an online warrant search.
• Bail schedule: 2026 Local Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026 (announced January 13, 2026 in a court notice). No zero-bail protocol was posted.
• Custody: Siskiyou County Jail, 315 South Oregon Street, Yreka (Custody Division). Use the Sheriff’s custody information portal.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department runs pretrial services using the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument (VPRAI). Its supervision and violation matrix (file dated July 2021) lists “Court reminder” among basic supervision terms. It treats failure to appear as a severe violation that can lead to being detained and returned to court.
• Local note: The jail opened in 1988 with 68 beds and now has 104, holding approximately 101 people daily, per the Sheriff’s Custody Division page (viewed September 2026).

Solano County

Solano County’s seat is Fairfield, home to the Hall of Justice and the county jail; the court also hears cases in Vallejo. The court’s own figures show that a notable share of people on pretrial monitoring get bench warrants each quarter.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Solano. The court’s public portal requires users to register for an account to search case data.
• Warrants: There is no online lookup. The criminal page says: “You can appear at any law enforcement agency and advise the officer that you have an outstanding bench warrant.” People with misdemeanor cases may instead ask the Criminal Clerk’s Office for a new court date.
• Bail schedule: Solano County Bail Schedule Effective January 14, 2026. The court’s bail information page says a person charged with misdemeanors is entitled to own recognizance release unless release would compromise public safety.
• Custody: Solano County Jail, 500 Union Ave, Fairfield, per the court’s resources page. The county also runs a Sentenced Detention Facility on Clay Bank Road, Fairfield.
• Local note: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report, covering July 2024 to June 2025, says 12 to 19 percent of people monitored by Solano pretrial services got a bench warrant for failure to appear each quarter.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County’s seat is Santa Rosa. If someone released on a bail bond misses court, the court requires a letter from the bond company before it will act on the warrant.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma, Hall of Justice, 625 Administration Drive. The criminal page says case information is not provided online, but the case portal page links criminal search instructions for searching by case number or name.
• Warrants: The Sheriff’s warrant search page links an online warrant search for adult court warrants, by last name and birth year, updated daily. To clear a warrant, check in at the Criminal Division Clerk’s Office Monday to Friday before 8:30 a.m.
• Bail schedule: The court’s schedules page lists one Criminal Bail Schedule; its file name refers to a 2025 order. No 2026 local edition was posted as of September 2026.
• Custody: Main Adult Detention Facility, 2777 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, and North County Detention Facility, 2254 Ordinance Road, Santa Rosa (Sheriff’s directions page). Search incarcerated persons.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services, running since January 2015, uses the Public Safety Assessment. After a missed court date, new charge, or violation, the pretrial officer recommends whether to continue, change, or end release.
• Local note: The court’s criminal page says a person released on a bail bond who asks to clear a warrant must submit “a letter of reassumption of liability from the bonding agency.”

Stanislaus County

Stanislaus County’s seat is Modesto. The court gives out bench warrant information only in person at the clerk’s office.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus, 800 11th Street, Modesto. The court’s case search page links to a public case information portal.
• Warrants: The court’s criminal FAQ says: “Bench warrant information is not given over the telephone. You must come to the Clerk’s Office and review your file.”
• Bail schedule: The Stanislaus County Superior Court Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, covers felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions. It lists “No Bail” for parole, mandatory supervision, and postrelease community supervision violations.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s Detention Center East, 200 E. Hackett Road, Modesto, is the booking and releasing facility. Search the inmate list, which covers all facilities.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Services Unit. Probation says “all participants of the pretrial program receive reminders of their court hearings.”
• Local note: The Sheriff’s Office manages “over 1,400 pre-trial, sentenced, and out-of-custody incarcerated persons” at any time, according to its detention facilities page (undated, viewed September 2026).

Sutter County

Sutter County’s seat is Yuba City. The court tells people with a bench warrant to surrender to law enforcement, and its 2026 schedule sets no bail for felony probation or parole violations.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sutter. The court’s online case access page describes a free records portal, with no registration, covering current cases and completed cases back to 2008.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The court says: “Once a bench warrant has been issued, you must surrender yourself to any law enforcement agency.” Questions go to Traffic/Criminal Processing at (530) 822-3303.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule and 2026 Misdemeanor Bail Schedule, both approved December 1, 2025.
• Custody: Sutter County Main Jail, 1077 Civic Center Boulevard, Yuba City (corrections section). The Sheriff’s website links an online inmate search.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists Sutter as a funded pretrial county but does not name the local agency, and the county Probation page does not mention pretrial services.
• Local note: In the 2026 felony schedule, a felony probation or parole violation is “NO BAIL (at arraignment on Judge’s order, as required by law).” Someone arrested on such a warrant should expect no scheduled bail before seeing a judge.

Tehama County

Red Bluff is the county seat. Its 2026 jail bail schedule bars officers from raising bail at booking.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tehama, 1740 Walnut Street, Red Bluff, (530) 527-3563. There is no online criminal case search. The court says staff “cannot look up any criminal records over the telephone”; write to or visit the clerk’s office.
• Warrants: The court does not publish a warrant search. Its criminal page warns that “failure to appear may result in a warrant for your arrest.”
• Bail schedule: Jail Bail Schedule for Offenses Committed Within the County of Tehama, effective January 1, 2026. Bail is “not to be increased by Police Officers at time of booking,” and can be raised only on a motion to a judge with proof of a qualifying prior. Felony probation violations are “No Bail.”
• Custody: Tehama County Main Jail, 502 Oak Street, Red Bluff, (530) 529-7910 (Custody Division). The Sheriff’s current inmates page links a roster showing booking date, charges and bail amount.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Ohio Risk Assessment System (ORAS) as Tehama’s risk tool.
• Local note: The Main Jail has capacity for 227 people and houses both sentenced and pre-sentenced inmates, per the Sheriff’s Custody Division page (viewed September 2026).

Trinity County

Weaverville is the county seat. Trinity’s court posts no online case search, so the clerk’s office is the main source of case and warrant information.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Trinity, 11 Court Street, Weaverville, (530) 623-1208, courtclerks@trinitycounty.org. The court’s online services include court calendars but no case search.
• Warrants: The court does not publish a warrant search or warrant instructions; contact the clerk’s office.
• Bail schedule: Order Setting a Uniform Bail Schedule for the County of Trinity for 2026, dated January 5, 2026, covering felonies, misdemeanors and infractions. No zero-bail protocol was posted.
• Custody: Trinity County Correctional Facility, 701 Tom Bell Road, Weaverville, 530-623-8124. The Sheriff’s Office page has no online inmate search and says to contact the facility.
• Pretrial services: The Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report lists the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) as Trinity’s risk tool.

Tulare County

Tulare County’s seat is Visalia, with a second criminal courthouse in Porterville. A county study found bench warrants for failure to appear in 27.8 percent of pretrial observations from July 2018 to December 2021.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. The court’s online services page links a public portal case database. The criminal page warns that missing court may lead to a bench warrant, arrest, jail, or a fine.
• Warrants: No online warrant search appears on the court’s pages.
• Bail schedule: The Tulare County Superior Court Bail Schedule, November 6, 2025, covering felonies and misdemeanors. No 2026 edition was found.
• Custody: The Sheriff runs the Adult Pre-Trial Facility, the Bob Wiley Detention Facility, and the South County Detention Facility (detentions operations). The court’s Pretrial Facility page lists in-custody hearings at 36650 Road 112, Visalia, now held remotely. Search the Sheriff’s inmate search.
• Pretrial services: Tulare County Probation’s pretrial unit uses the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) at arraignment. Supervised own recognizance release may include GPS.
• Local note: A July 2022 PSA validation study covering July 3, 2018 to December 31, 2021 found bench warrants for failure to appear in 27.8 percent of pretrial observations and new arrests in 33.5 percent.

Tuolumne County

Tuolumne County’s seat is Sonora. The court is unusually strict about bench warrants: the clerk cannot reset a court date, and the person must surrender at the jail.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tuolumne, 12855 Justice Center Drive, Sonora. The court’s online services page lists calendars and payments but no case index.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal page says: “If a bench warrant has been issued, the clerk’s office CANNOT schedule another appearance date.” The person “must surrender to the county jail for processing.”
• Bail schedule: No felony or misdemeanor bail schedule is posted online. The court’s local rules effective August 27, 2026 cover property and personal surety bonds but include no schedule. Ask the court or jail for amounts.
• Custody: The Sheriff’s J.H. Dambacher Detention Facility, 28 N Lower Sunset Drive, Sonora, opened in 2021 and holds up to 230. The Sheriff links an inmate search.
• Pretrial services: Tuolumne County Probation. Its pretrial pilot started June 30, 2020.
• Local note: In fiscal year 2018-19, before the pilot, 233 people stayed in the community during the pretrial phase and 78 percent attended all hearings and stayed arrest-free, according to a June 26, 2020 county press release.

Ventura County

Ventura County’s seat is Ventura (officially San Buenaventura). Arrestees from every police agency in the county are booked at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility in Ventura or the East Valley booking facility, and the court’s posted local bail schedule is its 2024 edition.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Ventura. The court’s case inquiry page says a criminal case search requires a first and last name or a case number. Since June 21, 2021, searches by date of birth or driver’s license are not allowed.
• Warrants: The court’s criminal page and FAQ offer no online warrant search or warrant instructions.
• Bail schedule: 2024 Bail Schedule, covering felonies and misdemeanors, with no effective date printed. No 2025 or 2026 local schedule was posted on the court’s bail schedules page as of September 2026.
• Custody: The Pre-Trial Detention Facility, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, can house about 890 people and, with the East Valley booking facility, processes over 23,000 bookings and releases a year, per the Sheriff’s website. Bail may be posted there (posting bail page). Use the Sheriff’s inmate search by name or booking number.

Yolo County

Yolo County’s seat is Woodland. The court posts no felony or misdemeanor bail schedule online, and the Sheriff has no online inmate search.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Yolo. The court links a public portal with case summaries and upcoming hearings.
• Warrants: There is no online warrant check. The criminal division page says to call the Criminal Division (530-406-6705) to find out if a warrant exists. For a misdemeanor warrant, you can ask once for a surrender date or turn yourself in.
• Bail schedule: The court’s fee and bail schedules page posts only the Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule 2026, which covers traffic offenses. For bail information, the court says to call the Sheriff at 530-668-5245.
• Custody: The Monroe Detention Center, 140A Tony Diaz Drive, Woodland, is the “primary intake point for all individuals booked in Yolo County” (Sheriff’s jail page, undated). The custody FAQ says to call 530-668-5245 to confirm custody, charges, bail, and court date.
• Pretrial services: The Probation Department’s Pretrial Release Program. Separately, the court offers an opt-in text hearing reminder sign-up on its online services page.
• Local note: For fiscal year 2024-25, the Yolo court reported that 0 to 5 percent of monitored people missed their arraignment each quarter, according to the Judicial Council’s April 2026 pretrial report.

Yuba County

Yuba County’s seat is Marysville, where the county jail sits inside the north side of the courthouse. The court gives warrant information only in person.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Yuba. The court’s online case access page describes a free portal with “No registration required,” covering cases back to 1999.
• Warrants: “Warrant information cannot be provided over the telephone,” the court says; ask in person at the Criminal Division. To clear a warrant, you can report to local law enforcement or the county jail.
• Bail schedule: The 2026 Felony Bail Schedule, adopted December 23, 2025 and effective January 2, 2026, also sets misdemeanor bail.
• Custody: Yuba County Jail, Marysville, capacity 428. The county links an inmate locator map. The Sheriff takes bail only for the entire amount (posting bail).
• Pretrial services: Yuba County Probation, Pre-Trial Services. Probation says supervision “may include court appearance reminders, home visits, referrals for applicable services, and drug testing.”
• Local note: Under the 2026 schedule, a probation or parole violation carries no bail on a felony and $15,000 on a misdemeanor. For listed serious and violent offenses, a noticed hearing in open court is required before bail is set at any other amount.

What Families Should Do in the First 48 Hours

1. Find out where they are. Use the county’s inmate locator in the section above, or our guide to finding out if someone is in jail.
2. Find out what actually happened. Call the criminal clerk with the case number and ask three questions. Is there a bench warrant? Was bail forfeited, and on what date? Is there a new court date? The forfeiture date starts the 180-day clock.
3. If a court date was missed, act now. Many courts let people clear a warrant by appearing voluntarily at set check-in times (see the county sections). A voluntary appearance inside the window requires the court to vacate the forfeiture (PC 1305(c)(1)), as the 2018 Alameda County case shows.
4. If they are locked up somewhere else, say so immediately. An arrest in another county, or a hold placed while they are in custody on other charges, can be the basis to set aside a forfeiture (PC 1305(c)(3), (i)). Tell the bail company and the defense lawyer the same day.
5. Collect proof. Hospital admission records, a discharge summary, a doctor’s note, a custody record, or a letter from an employer. An excuse without paperwork rarely works.
6. Call the defense lawyer or public defender. They can ask the court to recall the warrant, set a hearing, and argue for release terms under Humphrey and Kowalczyk.
7. If you cosigned, read your agreement. Know what you owe and when. You are entitled to a copy (10 CCR 2084), and no one can make you waive your rights (10 CCR 2087).
8. Prevent the next one. Put every court date in two phones. Sign up for the court’s text reminders where they are offered. Line up rides and childcare early. Call the bail company the moment anything changes.

How Bail Hotline Can Help

Everything above this section is written to be useful whether or not you ever call us. This is the one place we talk about ourselves.

Bail Hotline is a family-owned California bail bond company, licensed through our parent company, DMCG, Inc., with the California Department of Insurance (license #1845394). Our agents answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (888) 958-1228.

Missed a court date? This is where we do our best work

Most missed court dates are honest mistakes. A date gets written down wrong. A shift runs late, a child gets sick, a ride falls through, or a notice goes to an old address. The research earlier in this guide backs that up. That moment, when a good person has slipped and is scared of what comes next, is where a bail company should shine brightest, and it is where we work hardest.

When a client misses court for a real reason, our goal is to get them back into good standing with the court as fast as possible, so one missed date does not turn into a new arrest, a lost bond, or a bill for the cosigner.

• We move the same day. Call us the moment you realize a date was missed. If the court has reason to believe there was a good excuse, it can hold off on forfeiting the bail (PC 1305.1), and the sooner we know, the more options there are.
• We help get the case back on calendar. Depending on the county, that can mean a voluntary appearance at the court’s warrant check-in, a new court date arranged through the defense lawyer, or a request to recall the warrant. We walk clients through clearing a warrant step by step, and the county sections above show how each court handles it.
• We work to keep the same bond in place. When the defendant comes back to court inside the forfeiture window, California law requires the court to set the forfeiture aside, and a judge can reinstate the same bond (PC 1305(c)). In many cases that means no new bond to buy and no forfeiture for anyone to pay.
• We help document what happened. A hospital record, a work schedule, a custody record from another county. We know what courts look for, and an excuse with paperwork is taken far more seriously than one without.
• We protect the cosigner. A cosigner only ends up owing the bail amount if a forfeiture is never set aside. Getting the defendant back in front of the judge inside the window protects the person who vouched for them.

Every case is different, and the judge makes the final decision. We cannot promise a result, and a deliberate no-show is treated very differently from an honest mistake. But a missed court date that is handled quickly, honestly, and with the right paperwork is very often fixable. Fixing it is part of what we do every day.

Before and during the case

• Before you sign. We walk every cosigner through the agreement, so nobody finds out what they promised after something goes wrong.
• While the case is open. Clients get text reminders of their court dates, because the research above shows reminders keep people out of warrant trouble.

If a bond is revoked or a client goes missing

• Call us first. A new arrest, an arrest in another county, or a hospital stay is often fixable inside the 180-day window.
• If a client does go missing, we work with American Locator and Recovery, a trusted partner we have worked with for a long time, to help bring them back to court within the window, which protects the cosigner too.
• After a revocation, a new bond is a new decision, and a large, complicated, or out-of-county bond is not an automatic no.

Find the office closest to the court handling the case:

Questions about how bail works before you call? Our bail FAQ answers the common ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean when your bond is revoked?

It means the release the bond secured has ended, and the person is ordered back into custody. In California, that usually happens in one of three ways. A judge remands the person after a violation or new arrest. A judge declares bail forfeited after a missed court date and issues a bench warrant. Or the bail company surrenders the person. Each has different consequences for the money, as explained above.

If your bond is revoked, can you get another one?

Usually, yes. Under the California Constitution and the Supreme Court’s 2026 decision in In re Kowalczyk, judges may deny bail outright only in capital cases and certain violent, sexual assault, or threat felonies after specific findings. Otherwise, bail must be set in an amount the person can reasonably pay. Expect the judge to weigh the missed court date or violation, which often means higher bail or tighter conditions. A bail company also has to agree to write the new bond.

If a bond is revoked, do you still have to pay?

Generally, yes, for the premium. The Department of Insurance says premiums are nonrefundable even if charges are dropped. The exceptions are surrenders. If the bail company surrenders someone who has not missed court or violated a court order, and the judge finds no good cause, the judge may order the premium returned (PC 1300(b)). State rules also require a refund on an early surrender, less certain expenses if the company can show the risk increased substantially (10 CCR 2090). A cosigner’s separate promise to cover a forfeiture only comes into play if the bond is forfeited and not set aside within the legal window.

How long do you stay in jail after a bond is revoked?

The law requires an arrested person to be brought before a judge within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays (PC 825), and a surrendered person within 48 hours of the surrender (PC 1300). What happens after that depends on the judge’s decision at the hearing and on whether new bail is posted. No one can honestly promise a release time.

What happens at a bond revocation hearing in California?

The judge hears why the person missed court or what happened with the release condition. The prosecutor may argue for higher bail or detention. The defense can present an explanation and proof, and propose conditions. The judge then decides: reinstate the same bail, set new bail or conditions, grant own-recognizance release, or, in the limited cases the Constitution allows, order detention. Under Humphrey, detention requires clear and convincing evidence that no less restrictive alternative will work.

What is a motion to revoke bond?

It is a written request, usually by the prosecutor, asking a judge to end someone’s release. The term comes mainly from federal court (18 U.S.C. 3148) and Texas practice. In California state court, the same result usually comes through a request to increase bail or remand after good cause (PC 1289), a bench warrant and forfeiture after a missed court date (PC 1305), or a new-arrest bail hearing.

What is the difference between bond revocation and bond forfeiture?

Revocation is about the person: release ends and they go back into custody. Forfeiture is about the money: after a missed court date without a sufficient excuse, the court declares the bail lost. It then becomes a judgment against the surety if not set aside within about 180 days. A person can be remanded without any forfeiture (for example, after a surrender), and a forfeiture can be vacated if the person comes back to court in time.

Can a bail bondsman revoke your bond?

A California bail company can surrender a client to custody before any forfeiture (PC 1300) and can arrest the client for that purpose, with delivery within 48 hours (PC 1301). But surrender has consequences for the company. Without good cause, a judge can order the premium returned, and state rules treat a cosigner’s request alone as not enough reason to keep it. Missing premium payments is a contract dispute between you and the company. For your rights, see bond surrender.

Can a revoked bond be reinstated?

Yes, in the right circumstances. If the defendant comes back to court inside the forfeiture window, the court can reinstate the same bail and release the person on the same bond. This requires that the bail company had prior notice and did not surrender the defendant (PC 1305(c)(4)). Otherwise the court vacates the forfeiture and exonerates the bond. See what a reinstatement is.

What happens to the cosigner if the bond is revoked?

A revocation alone does not make the cosigner pay the bail amount. The cosigner’s exposure comes from a forfeiture that is not set aside. That is why cosigners have a strong interest in helping get the defendant back to court within the 180-day window. Cosigners are entitled to a written copy of the agreement (10 CCR 2084), and collateral must be returned once the bond is exonerated (10 CCR 2088.2).

What if you miss court but go back the next day?

Go back as soon as possible, and call the bail company first. If the court already declared a forfeiture, appearing within the window requires the court to vacate it (PC 1305(c)(1)). If the court held off because it had reason to believe there was an excuse, you may avoid a forfeiture entirely (PC 1305.1). Bring proof of why you missed.

Can a judge revoke release for a failed drug test or a missed check-in?

Yes. Release conditions are court orders, and violating them can lead to a remand or new conditions. In federal court, technical violations like failed drug tests are the most common violation. California courts generally respond first with tighter conditions, but repeated violations, and anything involving a protected person, are treated seriously.

Does bail money come back if the case is dismissed?

Cash bail posted with the court comes back after the bail is exonerated. A family member who posted it claims it with the receipt (PC 1297). A bail bond premium generally does not come back. See what happens to bail money if charges drop.

Why We Publish This

Bail Hotline has helped families since 2004, and the calls after a revocation are some of the hardest we get. Most of what families find online about revoked bonds is written for Texas or federal court, gets California law wrong, or treats “revoked” and “forfeited” as the same thing. We wrote this guide to be the page we wish every family had: the actual California rules, the real deadlines, and where to go in your own county. It is general information, not legal advice. For advice about a specific case, talk to a criminal defense lawyer or your public defender.

Sources and Further Reading

California law – California Constitution, article I, section 12 and section 28 – Penal Code sections 825, 978.5, 1269c, 1270.1, 1275, 1289, 1297, 1300, 1301, 1305, 1305.1, 1305.4, 1306, 1318, 1319, 1319.5, 1320, 1320.5, 12022.1 – California Code of Regulations, title 10, sections 2084, 2087, 2088, 2088.2, 2089, 2090 – California Department of Insurance, bail bonds consumer information

Court decisions – In re Kowalczyk (Cal. Supreme Court, April 30, 2026) – In re Humphrey (2021) 11 Cal.5th 135 – In re Alberto (2002) 102 Cal.App.4th 421 – People v. Safety National Casualty Corp. (2016) 62 Cal.4th 703 – People v. North River Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App., May 28, 2025) – People v. Bankers Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App., June 10, 2021) – People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co. (Cal. Ct. App., August 30, 2018) – People v. Amwest Surety Ins. Co. (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 915 – People v. International Fidelity Ins. Co. (2007) – BBBB Bonding Corp. v. Caldwell (2021) 73 Cal.App.5th 349

Research and data – Judicial Council of California, Pretrial Services Program Year 4 report (April 24, 2026) and Pretrial Pilot Program Final Report (July 2023) – Chohlas-Wood et al., text reminder experiment, Santa Clara County, Science Advances (October 2025) – Fishbane, Ouss and Shah, behavioral nudges and failure to appear, Science (2020) – Crime and Justice Institute, What Really Prevents Court Appearance? (February 2025) – California Policy Lab, Pretrial Electronic Monitoring in San Francisco (November 2022) – Bureau of Justice Statistics, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 (December 2013) and Pretrial Release and Misconduct in Federal District Courts, FY 2011 to 2018 (March 2022) – Dobbie, Goldin and Yang, The Effects of Pretrial Detention, American Economic Review (2018) – Heaton, Mayson and Stevenson, The Downstream Consequences of Misdemeanor Pretrial Detention, Stanford Law Review (2017)

Reporting – Human Rights Watch, “Not in it for Justice” (April 2017) – KQED, co-signer lawsuits (March 2022) and Kenneth Humphrey’s release (May 2018) – CalMatters, bail case at the California Supreme Court (May 2024) – Davis Vanguard, Yolo County domestic violence release hearing (May 2026)

Outside California – 18 U.S.C. 3148, 18 U.S.C. 3146, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 46 – Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 17.40 – Idaho Code 19-2915, 19-2919, and Idaho Criminal Rule 46

TL;DR: If you or your teen vape in California, the law is stricter than most people realize, especially under age 21. You need to understand where vaping is illegal, what penalties apply, and how quickly a minor issue can turn into a legal problem.

There are various types of bail bonds available in California. One common type of bond is the “PR” bond. Here’s a look at what PR bonds are and who can get one.  

If you’re placed in custody following an arrest, you might have the chance to post bail. Or, the judge might release you on your “own recognizance”. But what does this mean, and how do you secure a quick release? Below, we consider what an “O.R. release is” and how to get released on your own recognizance.

Summary:

Catfishing itself is not a crime in California, but it can lead to criminal charges if it involves fraud, harassment, or impersonation.

Using fake identities for financial gain, stalking, or solicitation can result in legal consequences. If arrested for related crimes, bail options are available through Bail Hotline.

If the court grants a defendant bail, it’s important that they follow the bail conditions properly. Otherwise, they risk having their bail revoked – and their bail money forfeited. 

It’s possible, however, to have a bail bond reinstated in California under certain circumstances. But what does it mean when a bond is reinstated, and how does the reinstatement process work? Let’s take a look. 

The police can arrest people at any time of the day or night – whether it’s the weekend or not. But if you’re arrested on a Saturday or Sunday, can someone bail you out of jail? Here’s whether you can bail someone out of jail on a weekend and how to post bail. 

What Is Bail?

Bail is essentially an agreement between a defendant and the court. In exchange for being released on bail pending their court date, the defendant agrees to follow certain rules (bail conditions). 

Bail costs money – it’s not free. The judge sets a bail amount before the defendant can be released. And if the defendant breaches their bail conditions, they can be arrested.

In California, bail amounts are determined by various factors – including the crime committed. Below, we go over how bail is calculated in California, and what defendants might pay depending on the crime.

What Is Bail?

Bail is a sum of money defendants can pay to be released from jail pending trial. In exchange for release, though, the defendant must adhere to certain bail conditions. 

If the defendant violates their bail conditions, the judge can issue a bench warrant for their arrest. The bail paid will be forfeited unless it’s reinstated – contact us immediately if you need help with bail bonds reinstatement.