Bail Bond Industry

Updated September 2026. Written for California families, cosigners, and anyone who posted bail, with a section for every one of the state’s 58 counties. The law here is checked against the Penal Code, the state’s bail regulations in Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations, and published California court opinions through 2025. If the case is in federal court, Texas, or Idaho, jump to the out-of-state section.

Quick answer: “Bond exonerated” (or “bail exonerated”) means the court has ended the bail obligation. The bail company is released from its promise to pay the full bail amount, and any cash or property posted with the court becomes returnable. It does not mean the person was found innocent, and it does not by itself mean anyone was released from jail. In California, bail is normally exonerated when the case ends: at sentencing or a grant of probation, when the case is dismissed (after a 15-day hold), or when the person is taken into custody after a verdict. It can also happen mid-case, for example when the bail company surrenders the defendant or when a person who missed court comes back within the 180-day window. What happens to the money depends on what was paid. Cash posted by a family member comes back to the person named on the receipt. Cash the defendant posted can go to fines and restitution first. The premium paid to a bail company is not refunded. Collateral must be returned once the bond is exonerated, as long as the premium was paid.

Bond Exonerated 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 it means | When bail is exonerated | What does not exonerate a bond | Motion to exonerate | Getting your money back | How to confirm it | Real cases | The numbers | In their words | Outside California | All 58 counties | When the case ends | How Bail Hotline can help | FAQ

What “Bond Exonerated” Means

To exonerate something is to release it from a duty. When a California court exonerates bail, it releases the bail from its job. The Fresno County Superior Court’s glossary gives the clearest definition we have found. Bail exoneration is “the refund of a bail deposit to the depositor or release of liability to a surety company.” A surety company is the insurance company behind a bail bond. Madera County’s court glossary puts it this way: bail “which is ordered exonerated, is ordered returned to the party who posted it either on his own behalf, or on behalf of another.”

The Penal Code uses the word the same way. When a case is dismissed, “his bail is exonerated, or money deposited instead of bail must be refunded” (PC 1384). In another section, the law describes the same result as the bail being “released of all obligations under the bond” (PC 1305(a)(2)).

So there are really two kinds of exoneration, depending on how bail was posted:

• A bail bond is exonerated. The bail company and its insurer no longer owe the court anything if the defendant fails to appear. For the family, that also ends the cosigner’s risk of having to cover a forfeiture.
• Cash bail is exonerated. The money deposited with the court is no longer needed to guarantee court appearances, so it can be refunded (or applied to what the law allows, covered below).

What the words on court papers mean

Families usually meet the word on a docket, a minute order (the clerk’s written record of what happened at a hearing), or an online case summary. Here is how to read the common entries.

What exonerated bail does not mean

Three misunderstandings cause most of the confusion.

• It does not mean the person was found innocent. A bond is exonerated after a guilty plea and sentencing just as it is after a dismissal. Bail exoneration says nothing about guilt.
• It does not mean the person was released. Often it is the reverse. When a judge takes a defendant into custody after a guilty verdict, the law says “their bail is exonerated” (PC 1166(c)). The bond ends because the jail, not the bond, is now what guarantees the defendant’s presence.
• It does not always mean the case is over. Bail is exonerated at the end of most cases, but it can also be exonerated in the middle of one, for example after a surrender or when a forfeiture is set aside. The case keeps going.

The other “exonerated”: wrongful convictions

Some people searching this phrase are thinking of a different kind of exoneration: a person cleared of a crime they did not commit. That is a separate process with its own law. In California, a court can find a person “factually innocent” when it throws out a conviction (PC 1485.55), and the state pays compensation of “one hundred forty dollars ($140) per day of incarceration,” a rate that took effect July 1, 2024 and is updated each year for inflation (PC 4904). One example: Miguel Solorio was arrested in 1998 for a fatal drive-by shooting in Whittier that he did not commit, was sentenced to life without parole, and lost 25 years before he was freed. The Northern California Innocence Project reports that on December 13, 2023, “the Los Angeles County Superior Court found Solorio factually innocent.” None of that has anything to do with a bail bond. A bond is exonerated in every kind of case, guilty or not.

When Is Bail Exonerated in California?

California does not have one rule that says “the bond ends here.” Different sections of the Penal Code end the bail at different moments. Here is every path we found, in the order families usually meet them.

At the end of the case

• Sentencing or probation. This is the normal ending. If the defendant “does appear for judgment and judgment is pronounced upon him or probation is granted to him, then the bail shall be exonerated” (PC 1195). The bond itself promises that the defendant, if convicted, “will appear for pronouncement of judgment or grant of probation” (PC 1278). So the bond usually runs all the way to sentencing.
• A guilty verdict followed by custody. After a jury convicts, the defendant is generally taken into custody unless the judge decides, after weighing public safety and “the probability of the defendant failing to appear,” that the person can “remain out on bail” (PC 1166). If the person is taken into custody, the bail is exonerated. If the judge lets the person stay out, the bail keeps going until sentencing.
• Dismissal. When a judge dismisses the case, the bail is exonerated and a cash deposit “must be refunded” (PC 1384). There is a catch that surprises many families. “The bail shall not be exonerated until a period of 15 days has elapsed since the entry of the order of dismissal” (PC 1303). If, within those 15 days, the defendant is arrested and charged with an offense “arising out of the same act or omission,” the bail “shall be applied” to the new charge, and the clerk must mail notice to the bail company and its agent.
• No charges filed. If “no complaint is filed within 15 days from the date of arraignment,” the court cannot forfeit the bail, and the bail is “released of all obligations under the bond” (PC 1305(a)(2)). The court can stretch that period to as long as 90 days from the original arraignment date if the prosecutor or the defendant asks for more time.
• A not-guilty verdict. An acquittal ends the case, and with it the need for bail. Ask the clerk for the minute order showing the bail was exonerated.

If the case is dismissed and charges are dropped, see our separate article on what happens to bail money if the charges are dropped.

Before the case ends

• The bail company surrenders the defendant. A bail company, a person who deposited cash, or the defendant can surrender the defendant to custody. The court then “may, upon notice of five days to the district attorney,” order the bail exonerated. If the defendant is released on their own recognizance or on another bond before the judge rules, the court “shall” exonerate it (PC 1300(a)(4)). A person who deposited cash can get the deposit back the same way, with the officer’s certificate showing the surrender (PC 1302). More on this in our guide to bond surrender.
• Cash replaces a bond. If the full amount is deposited in cash in place of an existing bail bond before any forfeiture, “upon the deposit being made the bail is exonerated” (PC 1296).
• The two-year rule. A bail bond “shall be exonerated two years from the effective date of the initial bond, provided that the court is informed in writing at least 60 days prior” (PC 1304). This mostly matters to bail companies on very long cases, and the court can decline and state its reasons.

After a missed court date

A missed court date does not end the bond. It starts a clock. The court declares the bail forfeited, and the law then gives the defendant, the family, and the bail company 180 days to fix it (when the clerk mails a forfeiture notice, 180 days from the mailing date plus 5 days). Our article on what happens when a bond is revoked covers that window in detail. Here are the ways it ends in exoneration:

• The defendant comes back to court in time. If the defendant appears “either voluntarily or in custody after surrender or arrest” within the window, the court “shall, on its own motion at the time the defendant first appears,” vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond (PC 1305(c)(1)). The same applies when the person is surrendered or arrested in the county and released before the court date (1305(c)(2)).
• The defendant is surrendered or arrested in another county. The court “shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bail” (1305(c)(3)), but the California Supreme Court has held that someone must file a motion within the 180 days to get that relief (see Indiana Lumbermens below). Since 2013, a late motion can still be filed, with good cause, within 20 days after the court mails notice that it entered judgment on the forfeiture (PC 1305.6(b)).
• The judge reinstates the bond instead. “In lieu of exonerating the bond, the court may order the bail reinstated and the defendant released on the same bond,” if the bail company had notice and has not surrendered the defendant (1305(c)(4)). See our guide to bail reinstatement.
• The defendant died or cannot ever appear. The bond is exonerated if the defendant “is deceased or otherwise permanently unable to appear in the court due to illness, insanity, or detention by military or civil authorities,” and the absence is “without the connivance of the bail” (1305(d)). A temporary illness or detention does not end the bond, but it pauses the clock (1305(e)).
• The defendant is in custody elsewhere and the prosecutor will not bring them back. If the defendant is held in another jurisdiction and “the prosecuting agency elects not to seek extradition,” the court “shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond on terms that are just” (1305(f)). A similar rule applies when a bail agent finds and temporarily detains the defendant outside California, with a local officer present who identifies the person, and the prosecutor declines to extradite (1305(g)).
• A late appearance after continuous custody. If the defendant was arrested in the county within the window but did not reach court until after it, and stayed “in continuous custody from the time of his or her arrest until the court appearance,” the court “may, in its discretion, vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond” (PC 1305.6).

When the court misses its own deadlines

The rules bind the court too. If the clerk fails to mail a required forfeiture notice within 30 days, or mails it to the wrong address, “the surety or depositor shall be released of all obligations under the bond” (PC 1305(b)(3)). And once the window closes, the court has 90 days to enter judgment against the bail company. If it does not, “the right to do so expires and the bail is exonerated” (PC 1306(c)). That is exactly what happened in a 2021 appeal involving a bond our company wrote, described below.

What Does Not Exonerate a Bond

These events feel like they should end the bond. They do not.

• A guilty plea. Pleading guilty does not exonerate bail when sentencing is set for a later date. The California Supreme Court held that the rule for jury verdicts “does not apply in this context” and that nothing in it “abrogates Seneca’s contractual obligation,” meaning the bail company’s promise continued to sentencing (People v. Seneca Ins. Co. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 954). In that case, the defendant pleaded guilty in Tulare County, then missed sentencing, and the bail was forfeited.
• A dismissal after a missed court date. “A dismissal of the complaint, indictment, or information after the default of the defendant shall not release or affect the obligation of the bail bond” (PC 1306(d)). If the forfeiture came first, the dismissal does not wipe it out.
• Being in jail somewhere else, by itself. Custody in another county or state can be grounds to exonerate the bond, but only if someone asks the court on time. The bond is not ended just because the person is locked up elsewhere.
• A bail increase. A judge can raise bail mid-case “upon good cause shown” and order the defendant into custody unless the higher amount is posted (PC 1289). How the old bond is closed out when a new one is posted is handled case by case, so ask the clerk.
• A transfer or diversion. We found no California statute that automatically exonerates bail when a case is transferred or a defendant enters a diversion program. Ask the clerk or the defense lawyer how the court handled the bail in that case.

Is Exoneration Automatic, or Do You Need a Motion?

Searchers often ask what a “motion to exonerate bond” is and whether they need to file one. For most families, the answer is no. The court usually handles it.

Usually automatic. At sentencing, probation, dismissal, or remand, the judge or clerk ends the bail as part of closing the case (PC 1195, 1166, 1384). After a missed court date, if the defendant comes back to court within the window, the court acts “on its own motion” (1305(c)(1) and (c)(2)). When the court misses its 90-day deadline, the bail is exonerated by law (PC 1306(c)). When a cash deposit replaces a bond, the bond ends when the deposit is made (PC 1296).

Usually needs a motion. Other paths need a written request, called a motion, filed with the court:

• surrender or arrest in another county (1305(c)(3));
• death or permanent disability (1305(d));
• custody elsewhere with no extradition (1305(f) and (g));
• an extension of the 180-day window (PC 1305.4);
• the late-appearance rule (PC 1305.6);
• the two-year rule (PC 1304, written notice at least 60 days ahead).

Who files, and how. A motion to vacate a forfeiture “may be made by the surety insurer, the bail agent, the surety, or the depositor of money or property” (PC 1305(j)). In practice, the bail company files it for a bond, and the family or their lawyer files it for a cash deposit. The moving party must give the prosecutor written notice “at least 10 court days before” the hearing on most of these motions (1305(k)). A motion filed within the 180 days can be heard up to 30 days after the window closes (1305(j)). When relief is granted, the court generally charges the bail company a payment to cover the cost of returning the defendant to custody (PC 1306(b)). Local courts add their own rules. In Los Angeles, for example, motions to reinstate and exonerate bail must be “in writing and supported by appropriate declarations and points and authorities” when the defendant is not surrendered in open court (Local Rule 8.3(f)).

What an “order exonerating bond” is. It is the court’s written order, usually a line in the minute order, saying the bail is exonerated. The bail company uses it to close the bond and release collateral. A family can use it to confirm the cosigner’s risk is over. If a docket reads “exonerate bond ordered,” the judge has granted it.

Getting Your Money Back: Cash Bail, Premium, and Collateral

“Do you get bail money back?” depends on which money you mean. There are three kinds, and the rules for each are different.

Cash bail posted with the court

This is money deposited for the full bail amount, usually at the jail or the court clerk’s window. California’s rule is in Penal Code 1297:

• The receipt matters. “When money has been deposited, a receipt shall be issued in the name of the depositor.” Keep it. It is how the refund is traced and claimed.
• If a family member or friend posted it, “the deposit after judgment shall be returned to that person within 10 days after the person claims it by submitting the receipt.” And “if a claim is not made within 10 days of the exoneration of bail, the clerk shall immediately notify the depositor of the exoneration of bail.”
• If the defendant posted it, the clerk applies it to what the defendant owes first. After “satisfying restitution to the victim or the Restitution Fund, fines, and costs,” the clerk “shall refund the surplus, if any, to the defendant.”
• A third party can agree to let it pay a fine. The Los Angeles court’s cash bail FAQ says bail can be applied to a fine only if “the depositor is the defendant or a third party who signed the bail receipt giving the Court permission to do so at the time of deposit.” Orange County’s court says the same on its traffic division page. Read the bail receipt before signing it.

So the answer to “do you get bail money back if guilty?” is yes for a family member who posted cash, once the bail is exonerated at sentencing. For a defendant who posted their own cash, a guilty result usually means fines, fees, and restitution come out first.

How long it takes. No state law sets a refund deadline for the court itself, and most courts do not post one. The ones that do:

The county guide below lists what each of the 58 courts says, including Madera, Tuolumne, and Yuba, which also post six-to-eight-week estimates.

Property bonds

Some families post real estate as bail through the court. Once the bail is exonerated, Santa Clara’s court explains, “the Court will release any claim to the property that was posted as bond” (criminal FAQs). Releasing the lien on the property is a clerk process that varies by county, so ask the clerk what document you need to record with the county recorder. For liens held by a bail company rather than the court, see how to remove a bail bond lien on property.

The premium paid to a bail company

The premium is the fee paid to a bail company for posting a bond. It pays for the company’s promise to cover the full bail if the defendant does not appear. The company takes on that risk the day the defendant is released, which is why the premium is not returned when the bond is later exonerated. The California Department of Insurance tells consumers: “Premiums are nonrefundable even if charges are dropped.”

There are two narrow exceptions, both involving a surrender:

• A court order. If a bail company surrenders a defendant who “has not failed to appear or has not violated any order of the court” and the judge finds no good cause, the judge “may, in its discretion,” order the premium returned in whole or in part (PC 1300(b)).
• An early surrender. A bail company that surrenders the defendant before the next required court date must return “all premium paid,” unless it can show the risk was substantially increased (for example, by information the defendant hid), in which case it may keep certain out-of-pocket expenses (10 CCR 2090). The Department of Insurance summarizes this as “the bail fee is refundable minus administrative costs.”

A bill that would have allowed partial premium refunds when charges are dismissed soon after a bond is posted, SB 562, was “held in committee” on August 13, 2026, and is not law (LegiScan). For more on how the premium works, see how bail bondsmen make money.

If bail is exonerated, do I still have to pay? Yes, if there is an unpaid balance. Exoneration ends the bond, not the contract with the bail company. A premium that was financed and paid in installments is still owed after the case ends. What exoneration does end is the cosigner’s exposure to a forfeiture. Once the bond is exonerated, no one can be asked to pay the full bail amount.

Collateral

Collateral is property or money a family gives a bail company to secure the bond: a car title, a deed of trust on a house, cash. California’s bail regulations treat it strictly.

• It is held “in a fiduciary capacity,” kept “separate and apart from any other funds or assets” (10 CCR 2088).
• It “shall be returned immediately upon the entry of any order by an authorized official by virtue of which liability under the bond is terminated” (10 CCR 2088.2). An order exonerating the bond is that kind of order.
• The bail company has a duty “to determine promptly whether such obligation has been discharged upon request for return of the collateral.” If it fails to seek the order ending its liability, it must return the collateral immediately once it had the right to get that order.
• The one exception: collateral that also secures premium or charges that “remained unpaid at the time of exoneration.” After a demand for payment, the company may pursue that collateral “in the manner provided by law.”
• The company must keep records showing when collateral was received and, “If the collateral was returned, the date of its return and the name of the person to whom it was returned” (10 CCR 2100).

The Department of Insurance sums it up: “Collateral or liens are not released until after the bail has been paid and the case is settled with the bond being exonerated” (CDI). If you put up a car, see using a car title for bail.

Unclaimed bail money

Refund checks get lost, and people move. Money a superior court holds that “remains unclaimed for three years shall become the property of the superior court” after the court publishes notice (Government Code 68084.1). Money held by a county treasury follows a similar three-year rule (Government Code 50050). Courts publish these notices one at a time, often without saying which items are bail. Sierra County’s court published a 2023 notice of intent to escheat covering its “court bail trust” account. The county guide below lists the current notices we found. If you posted cash years ago and never got it back, call the court’s finance or accounting office with the case number and your receipt.

For the broader question of getting money back from a bail company, see our guide to money back from bail bonds.

How to Confirm a Bond Was Exonerated

Families often assume the bond ended and then find out months later that it did not, or the reverse. Here is how to check.

1. Get the case number. It is on the bail receipt, the bail bond paperwork, and any court notice. If you do not have it, our guide to bail bond records explains how to find it.
2. Look up the case online. Many California courts have a free online case index or portal (the county guide below lists each one). Look for the last hearing and its result: “sentenced,” “probation granted,” “dismissed,” or a line reading “bail exonerated.” Many portals do not show bail status at all. Los Angeles says it has “no plans to provide bail/bond status online” (court FAQ).
3. Ask the clerk for the minute order. The minute order for the final hearing should show what happened to the bail. The criminal clerk can tell you, and most courts sell copies for a small per-page fee, with a higher fee for a certified copy.
4. Check the calendar if the case was dismissed. Bail is held for 15 days after a dismissal (PC 1303). If the defendant was arrested and charged again for the same act within that time, the old bail may have moved to the new charge.
5. Ask the bail company. If a bond was posted, the bail company keeps its own record of the exoneration and uses it to return collateral. Ask for a copy of the order or minute order, and for a written record of when collateral was returned.
6. If you posted cash, watch the mail. Most courts mail the refund to the name and address on the receipt. If you have moved, tell the clerk in writing and include the case number and receipt number.

For the records side of this, including what bail information is public, see are bail bonds public records.

How This Plays Out: Real California Cases

These published appeals show how exoneration works in real cases. We describe the facts in plain English and leave the defendants unnamed.

Our own case: when the court missed its deadline. In August 2018, Bail Hotline Bail Bonds, as agent for Bankers Insurance Company, posted a $100,000 bond in San Mateo County. The defendant missed a court date in September 2018, and the bail was forfeited. He was later found in custody in the Alameda County Jail on federal charges. The trial court denied the bail company’s motion to set aside the forfeiture in April 2019, but it never entered judgment against the bail company within the next 90 days. The Court of Appeal held that “This time limit is jurisdictional” and that because summary judgment was not entered by July 15, 2019, the trial court’s “right to [enter summary judgment] expire[d] and the bail is exonerated.” Its instruction to the trial court: “The trial court is directed to enter an order exonerating the bond” (People v. Bankers Ins. Co., June 10, 2021, A157633). The lesson for families: the court’s deadlines are as strict as yours.

He walked into court to fix it. An Alameda County defendant on a $50,000 bond missed court in February 2016, and the bail was forfeited. In August, still inside the 180-day window, he came to court on his own one morning to clear his bench warrant. The bail agent was not there, so the judge put the matter over to the afternoon, and he did not come back. The Court of Appeal held that his voluntary morning appearance required the judge to vacate the forfeiture right then. “The judgment is reversed. The forfeiture is vacated, and the bail bond is exonerated” (People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., Aug. 30, 2018, A150209). The court noted that “The law traditionally disfavors forfeitures and this disfavor extends to forfeiture of bail.”

In jail in another county, but nobody filed in time. A Los Angeles County defendant on a $35,000 bond missed court on driving charges, and the bail was forfeited. About 90 days later he was surrendered in San Bernardino County on other charges. The bail company never filed a motion to set aside the forfeiture within the 180 days. The California Supreme Court held that the motion had to be filed in time, explaining that “The surety’s contractual obligation on its bond is the same whether the defendant eventually returns to custody in the county where bail was granted, or elsewhere” (People v. Indiana Lumbermens Mut. Ins. Co. (2010) 49 Cal.4th 301). The lesson: if your person is sitting in another county’s jail after missing court, tell the bail company that day. Custody alone does not end the bond. The paperwork does.

The court must follow the statute. A Stanislaus County defendant on $40,000 bail was later arrested and held in another county. The trial court refused to exonerate the bail until the question of transportation costs was settled. The Court of Appeal reversed: “Once the conditions for setting aside a forfeiture and exonerating bail are met under section 1305, the court must act in line with that statute” (People v. North River Ins. Co., May 28, 2025, F088076).

The court moved the hearing without telling anyone. In a San Mateo County case, the defendant was out on $300,000 bail after a jury verdict, waiting to be sentenced at 10:00 a.m. The court moved the hearing an hour earlier on its own and declared the bail forfeited at 9:18 a.m. The Court of Appeal found “there is no indication in the record that appellant, as guarantor of defendant’s appearance, had any reason to know the hearing would be held an hour earlier,” and ordered the bond exonerated (People v. International Fidelity Ins. Co., Feb. 8, 2018, A145993). The case also shows that bail can continue after a guilty verdict when a judge allows it.

A guilty plea does not end the bond. In the Tulare County case behind People v. Seneca Ins. Co. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 954, the defendant pleaded guilty and then failed to appear for sentencing, and $70,000 in bail was forfeited. The California Supreme Court held that the bail company’s obligation continued after the plea. The practical point for families: until sentencing, the bond, and the cosigner’s promise, are still live.

What the Numbers Show (and What California Does Not Publish)

Hard numbers on bail exoneration are scarce. Here is what exists, with its limits stated plainly.

• Most bonds never reach forfeiture, according to the one county estimate we found. In an October 4, 2016 memo to the Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara County’s Acting County Counsel wrote, without citing a data source: “Typically less than 20% of all bonds filed go into forfeiture proceedings and less than 1% of all surety bonds filed are ultimately forfeited” (County Counsel memo, via San Jose Inside). The same memo said the county had “not been able to obtain information about the percentage of forfeited surety bonds that are actually collected by the court.”
• Premiums are real money that never comes back. A UCLA study of Los Angeles Police Department arrests from 2012 through 2016 estimated “$193,786,349 in nonrefundable bail bond deposits to bail bond agents” (UCLA Million Dollar Hoods, “The Price for Freedom”). In San Joaquin County, over five months of 2016, the ACLU and Color of Change estimated that “nearly 200 people” paid bail companies in cases “where no case was even filed and the charges were dropped,” and that the companies “would likely have charged these families around $400,000” (Color of Change and the ACLU, May 2017).
• Many people jailed on felonies are never convicted. Human Rights Watch found that from 2011 through 2015, California police “arrested and jailed 1,451,441 people for felonies, nearly half a million of whom spent time in jail though they were ultimately found not guilty, their cases were dismissed” or no charges were filed (Human Rights Watch, April 11, 2017). Those are exactly the cases in which families learn the premium is not refunded.
• Most people in California jails have not been sentenced. The Public Policy Institute of California reported in January 2026 that “More than 79% of people in jail are awaiting either arraignment, trial, or sentencing” (PPIC, California’s County Jails), using June 2025 data.
• Bail is one of several ways out. In the Judicial Council’s latest statewide pretrial report, covering July 2024 through June 2025 and 57 courts (Los Angeles is excluded), “release on bail accounts for 70,038 releases” within two days of booking, compared with 20,408 own-recognizance releases by a judge and 8,819 releases to pretrial monitoring (Judicial Council, April 24, 2026).

What California does not publish. There is no statewide count of bonds exonerated versus forfeited, no statewide total of forfeiture money collected, no statewide figure for premiums paid in cases that end in dismissal, and no statewide total of unclaimed cash bail. No law sets how fast a court must refund cash bail, and we found no audit of actual refund times. The Judicial Council’s latest report gives court appearance results for only two counties, Solano and Yolo. The most recent bail outcome numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics are from 2009 and cover felony defendants in the nation’s 75 largest counties, where “17% of released defendants missed a scheduled court appearance” (BJS, December 2013).

In Their Words

The end of a bail bond looks different from every seat in the system.

The cosigner. Sherrie Lewis-Sonza, who lives in San Francisco on a fixed income from disability and Social Security, cosigned a bail bond. “I don’t recall how much the bail bond was, but it was huge, and they knew that I couldn’t afford it. But they still did it,” she told KQED. A legal clinic, working with other pro bono lawyers, later got more than $23,000 of her debt eliminated (KQED, March 25, 2022). Yaman Salahi, a partner at Edelson PC, a law firm that has filed class-action suits against bail bond companies, told KQED, “They tend to go after the co-signers because they view those people as more creditworthy and able to pay.”

The family whose case was dropped. Human Rights Watch described a Sonoma County woman whose charges were dropped after her family paid a bondsman: “The prosecutor dropped the charges, but she still pays $350 per month to the bondsman.” In Alameda County, it reported, one woman “twice borrowed money from her grandmother to pay non-refundable bail bond fees totaling $3,500, even though the prosecutor did not file charges against her either time” (Human Rights Watch, April 2017).

The court. Santa Clara’s court tells people who posted cash exactly when to expect it: “The bail refund will be mailed within 30 business days after the disposition of the case, or 30 business days after the order of exoneration” (criminal FAQs). And the appellate courts keep repeating a principle that favors families: “The law traditionally disfavors forfeitures and this disfavor extends to forfeiture of bail” (Accredited Surety, 2018).

The state’s top lawyer. When Attorney General Rob Bonta and Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara filed a court brief in 2021 defending Californians who cosign bail premium financing agreements, Bonta said, “Ignoring consumer protection laws, bail bond agents take advantage of Californians when they are at their most vulnerable” (Attorney General press release, August 25, 2021).

The bail industry. Bail agents see the bond as a promise about one thing: showing up. “We write bonds for appearance. We do not write bonds for performance,” E. Thom Rumberger, a representative of Accredited Surety and Casualty Co., told Congress in 1998, as quoted by the Marshall Project. Scott Hall, then president of a national bail agents’ association, put the agent’s side bluntly: “Every time I sign my name [to a bail bond] I’ve got to bring a body or bring a check” (The Marshall Project, February 23, 2015). That is why exoneration matters so much to the company too. It is the moment that promise is finally released.

Outside California: Federal Court, Texas, and Idaho

Some of the search traffic for these questions comes from outside California, and the rules differ in ways that matter to a family’s money. The short version, current as of September 2026:

Federal court. “The court must exonerate the surety and release any bail when a bond condition has been satisfied or when the court has set aside or remitted the forfeiture” (Fed. R. Crim. P. 46(g)). Federal courts require a judge’s order to release the money. The Northern District of California’s finance office says, “A court order to return the funds or to exonerate the bond is required to release the criminal bond” (N.D. Cal. finance FAQ). Money that belongs to the defendant must be held and applied to “any assessment, fine, restitution, or penalty” on the prosecutor’s motion, but “This section shall not apply to any third party surety” (28 U.S.C. 2044).

Texas. Cash posted as a bond is refunded on the court’s order to the person named on the receipt, less a clerk’s fee of “five percent of the withdrawal but that may not exceed $50,” a fee that does not apply when the defendant is found not guilty or the charges are dismissed without a guilty plea (Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.02; Local Gov’t Code 117.055). Texas statutes usually say a bond is “discharged” rather than exonerated. A surety can end its liability before a forfeiture by surrendering the defendant to the sheriff or by filing an affidavit that the defendant is already in jail. On the affidavit route, “the bond is discharged and the surety is absolved of liability” once the jailing is verified (art. 17.16). After a forfeiture, only the listed causes “will exonerate the defendant and his sureties” (art. 22.13).

Idaho. Idaho spells out when “The court shall order the bail exonerated,” including when the defendant “has appeared for all court proceedings as ordered and all charges for which the bail has been posted have been resolved by acquittal, dismissal or sentencing” (Idaho Code 19-2922). Idaho differs from California in one way families should know: when bail was posted in cash, the clerk “shall” apply it to “fines, fees, costs and restitution imposed in the case,” and even to amounts owed in the defendant’s other cases, before refunding what is left to the person who posted it (Idaho Code 19-2908). A parent who posts cash in Idaho can lose some or all of it to the defendant’s debts. For property bonds, “the order exonerating the bond must release the lien” (Idaho Criminal Rule 46).

Elsewhere. In Florida, the clerk “shall withhold” unpaid court costs and fees from a cash bond posted by anyone other than a licensed bail agent (Fla. Stat. 903.286). A New York court FAQ for New York City criminal cases says that “Except in the instance where a court case results in a dismissal or acquittal, 3% will be deducted from posted bail upon its refund” (NY Courts). Illinois ended cash bail on September 18, 2023 (Illinois State Bar Association).

If your case is in another state, the California rules above do not apply. Read your bail receipt and talk to the clerk or your lawyer.

County-by-County Guide: Confirming Exoneration and Getting Cash Bail Back

California has one set of bail laws but 58 superior courts, and each one handles the paperwork a little differently. Once a case ends, the practical questions are local. How do you confirm the bail was exonerated? Where was the cash posted, and who sends the refund? Does the court say how long it takes? Is there unclaimed money waiting?

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 say, we say so rather than guess, and the answer is the same everywhere: call or visit the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. The statewide rules in Penal Code 1297 apply in every county whether or not the court posts them. Websites and procedures change, so confirm details with the clerk. To find someone in custody first, see how to find out if someone is in jail and our California inmate locator guide.

Only a handful of courts post their refund process at all. Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Clara, Madera, Tuolumne, and Yuba state a refund time in writing, and San Diego’s Sheriff does. Most of the rest say nothing online.

Alameda County

Alameda County’s seat is Oakland. The court posts no cash bail refund process online, so ask the criminal clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alameda. The Criminal Case Portal searches by name or case number, free and without registration.
• Confirm the exoneration: Online access “does not include access to documents,” and the court does not say whether the portal shows bail status. Request the minute order through the Public Records Web Portal (account required). Copies are $0.50 per page (posted charges).
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Santa Rita Jail in Dublin: (925) 551-6500 (Sheriff’s facility page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court posts Unclaimed Funds Instructions and Forms (no date printed). Claims go to escheat@alameda.courts.ca.gov or the Finance Division, (510) 891-6014; claims over $1,000 must be notarized. The packet does not mention bail, and no current list or deadline was found.
• Local note: Local Rule 4.110 says bail schedules will be revised “annually or at such other time the committee determines it is necessary,” but as of September 2026 the newest posted schedule was dated March 20, 2024 (2024 bail schedule).

Alpine County

Alpine County’s seat is Markleeville. The court has no online records, so everything goes through the clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Alpine.
• Confirm the exoneration: Call the clerk at (530) 694-2113, or mail the records request form to PO Box 518, Markleeville, CA 96120.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Alpine has no jail; the court refers families to El Dorado County Jail.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Amador County

Amador County’s seat is Jackson. Its free online portal shows charges and dispositions.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Amador. The free Online Portal needs a logon account and covers cases from 2002.
• Confirm the exoneration: For the minute order, use the record search request form: $0.50 per side, $40 to certify.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Sheriff: (209) 223-6500.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Butte County

Butte County’s seat is Oroville. The jail takes cash bail, and the Sheriff says cashier’s checks and money orders should be made out to the specific court the person is bailing out of.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Butte. The court’s case information page links a free case portal. No account is needed.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. For a copy of the minute order, call the Criminal Division at (530) 532-7011. Copy fees are not posted.
• Where cash bail is posted: Butte County Jail, 7 Gillick Way, Oroville, (530) 552-1600. The Sheriff’s Corrections Division page says: “We accept only cash, money orders, cashier’s checks, or a bond from a licensed Bail Bondsman.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online for criminal cases. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. The court’s only refund statement is on its traffic page and covers traffic cases only.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The court’s 2026 Jail Bail Schedule took effect January 1, 2026, under Annual Order BCSC 2026-AO-02.

Calaveras County

Calaveras County’s seat is San Andreas, and anyone can read a case’s register of actions online.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Calaveras. The free public portal needs no account.
• Confirm the exoneration: We could not confirm that the register lists bail exoneration, so ask the clerk for the minute order.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s Pay Bail or Work Release Fees Online page could not be read.
• Getting cash bail back: The court posts refund steps for traffic trials only. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Colusa County

Colusa is the county seat. The court’s online calendar portal is “temporarily unavailable until further notice,” so families must phone or visit the court to confirm an exoneration.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Colusa. Its online calendar portal is down.
• Confirm the exoneration: Call (530) 458-5149, option 4, for “limited case information, including fines owed, warrant status, and court dates.” For the minute order, write or visit 532 Oak Street, Colusa, CA 95932, with a self-addressed stamped envelope and a check payable to Colusa Superior Court. The criminal page lists “$.50 per page,” $40.00 per certification, and a $15.00 search fee per name if you do not know the case number.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s Department is at 929 Bridge Street, Colusa, (530) 458-0200 (state Attorney General listing).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Contra Costa County

Contra Costa County’s seat is Martinez. The court posts no cash bail refund process, and its February 2026 unclaimed funds notice covered uncashed court refund checks.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Contra Costa. The free Court Public Portal needs no registration. On September 10, 2026, it showed an error “PREVENTING CASE DATA FROM LOADING.”
• Confirm the exoneration: The court’s records page says “Minutes, Case Documents and Orders are not available online.” Request the minute order with form CR-114 (50 cents per page, $40.00 to certify).
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Martinez Detention Facility: (925) 335-4600 (Sheriff’s facility page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Its general information page says only: “If you posted a bail bond, contact the bail company.” For cash bail, call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: The court’s February 2, 2026 notice proposed escheating $1,163,437.51 held more than three years. Its press release says: “These are uncashed refund checks the Court had issued for overpayments.” Claims were due April 3, 2026; bail is not mentioned. Escheatment Desk: 925-608-2605.
• Bail bond notes: The court’s Local Rules effective January 1, 2025 include Rule 4.6, on relief from bail forfeiture (effective January 1, 2018).

Del Norte County

Del Norte County’s seat is Crescent City. There is no online criminal index, so everything goes through the court’s records office.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Del Norte, 450 H Street, Room 209, Crescent City, (707) 464-8115.
• Confirm the exoneration: Request the minute order with the records request form, in person, by mail, or at records@delnorte.courts.ca.gov. Allow up to 14 business days.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

El Dorado County

El Dorado County’s seat is Placerville. The court posts a local form, CR-023, that the person who posted cash bail signs to get the money back or to put part of it toward a fine.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado. The public portal is free but requires an account.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. Order the minute order on Local Form M-55: $0.50 per page, $40.00 per certified document plus copies. Phone: (530) 621-5047.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk.
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s Local Forms page lists CR-023, Release of Cash Bail Monies Posted (Eff. 01/01/05). The person who posted the bail signs to have it all returned, or to use part “to pay fine” with the balance mailed back. The form does not say where to file it or how long a refund takes, so ask the criminal clerk.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The local rules, revised January 1, 2026, include Rule 5.10.02, “Bail Forfeitures.”

Fresno County

Fresno County’s seat is Fresno. The court’s glossary defines bail exoneration as “the refund of a bail deposit to the depositor or release of liability to a surety company,” but the court posts no refund steps.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Fresno. The case information page links the public portal, with optional registration and no stated fee.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status or minute orders. For a copy of the minute order, contact the Criminal Division, 1100 Van Ness Ave., Room 401, (559) 457-1801. A 2020 court fee notice, addressed to out-of-state and federal agencies, lists “$.50 per page copy fee” and “$40.00 certified copy fee.”
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s Booking & Classification page says only that inmates can use phones “to arrange bail through friends, family, or bail agents.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297). The court’s glossary confirms the refund goes “to the depositor,” meaning the person who posted it.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Glenn County

Willows is the county seat. The court has a free online case index, but neither the court nor the Sheriff posts how cash bail is taken or refunded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Glenn, 526 West Sycamore Street, Willows. The case index page links a free portal. “An account is not required to search for public cases or hearings.”
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. The court records page says to use the online index or view the file in person at the courthouse. Fees are not posted. Criminal clerk: (530) 934-6446, option 2.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s jail page covers visiting and inmate account deposits only. Jail: (530) 934-6428.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The court’s 2026 Jail Bail Schedule took effect January 1, 2026.

Humboldt County

Humboldt County’s seat is Eureka. The Sheriff says cash bail is made out to “Humboldt Superior Court,” so the court holds the money and refund questions go to its Criminal Division.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt. Online Case Access needs an account and shows “disposition status,” but not documents.
• Confirm the exoneration: Request the minute order by letter or in person at 421 I Street, Eureka; the clerk quotes the cost. Criminal Division: 707-445-7256 option 1, criminaldept@humboldtcourt.ca.gov.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, per the Sheriff’s Bail page. Anyone may post it in cash, traveler’s checks, money orders, or certified checks for the exact amount, made out to “Humboldt Superior Court.” No personal or business checks.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the Criminal Division with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The Sheriff’s Bail page warns that the jail “will never contact you to collect a bail payment.”

Imperial County

Imperial County’s seat is El Centro. The court posts no refund process, but its local form CR-04 lets the person who posted cash bail authorize the court to use it to pay the defendant’s fine.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Imperial, El Centro Criminal Courthouse, 650 Wake Ave. The free public case search works by case number.
• Confirm the exoneration: The court does not say whether the case search shows bail status. For the minute order, email crimrecords@imperial.courts.ca.gov or call (760) 482-2245.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail information: (442) 265-2266 (Sheriff’s jail page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297). Local form CR-04, Bail Authorization (revised January 1, 2024) lets a depositor authorize the court to apply bail “as payment of the fine in the case,” and shows any refund due. Sign it only if you agree to have that money go toward the fine.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Inyo County

Inyo County’s seat is Independence. The court posts refund rules for traffic bail only; for criminal cash bail, contact the Criminal Division.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Inyo. There is no online case search. Criminal Division: (760) 872-3038.
• Confirm the exoneration: Records requests are “in-person or by mail only” (Records Search Requests). Mail the request form to PO Box 1508, Bishop, CA 93515.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Kern County

Kern County’s seat is Bakersfield. Since May 2023, the court no longer mails exoneration slips; it tells people to check bond status on its website instead.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Kern. The case information search page links the portal, which requires an account. No fee is stated.
• Confirm the exoneration: A court memo dated May 5, 2023 says the court “will no longer issue exoneration slips nor provide mailings for exoneration or discharge of bonds.” It sends people to the website to check bond status; whether the public can see cash bail status is not confirmed. For the minute order, use the Judicial Records Request form: copies are 50 cents per page and certified documents $40.00 (fee sheet).
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s Justice IRC page says to call (661) 391-7500 or use Inmate Search “for bail information, court dates.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court posts Unclaimed Funds Instructions and Forms (Rev. 01.2026). Claims over $1,000 must be notarized. The packet does not mention bail or give a deadline, and no current escheat notice was found.
• Bail bond notes: The case information search page posts an Exonerated Bond Report “intended for Bond Agencies to receive bi-weekly Bond Reports.”

Kings County

Kings County’s seat is Hanford. The court tells defendants to bring “Bond receipts, cash bail receipts, etc.” to court, but it posts nothing on how cash bail is refunded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Kings. The public portal requires an account and states no fee.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. Criminal Division: (559) 582-1010. For the minute order, send the Request for Record Search and Copies: $0.50 per page and $40.00 for certification, paid in advance.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s booking and inmate information page has no bail information.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The criminal page says that if you posted a bail bond for a set court date, or were ordered to come back, you cannot change the date.

Lake County

Lake County’s seat is Lakeport. The Sheriff takes bail “by paying the entire amount in cash,” but no official site explains how that money comes back.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Lake. The free public portal searches cases and calendars; the court notes it is not the official record.
• Confirm the exoneration: Order the minute order with the research and copy request form: $0.50 per page, $40.00 to certify. Criminal Division: 707-263-2374.
• Where cash bail is posted: Ask the Sheriff’s Office (707-262-4200). Per the Sheriff’s Bail Information page: the full amount in cash, or a bail bond. Bail for out of county cases is posted the same way. The payee is not stated.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. The Sheriff’s Unclaimed Money page covers money held by the Sheriff’s Office and does not mention bail.

Lassen County

Lassen County’s seat is Susanville. Its free online case index shows each case’s register of actions.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Lassen, (530) 251-8205. The free Case Index and Calendar Portal covers cases filed after about 1994.
• Confirm the exoneration: The portal lists “documents filed, hearings held and scheduled.” For the minute order, use the request e-form, 50 cents per page.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail: (530) 251-5245.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County’s seat is Los Angeles. It is one of the few courts that states a refund time in writing: allow four to six weeks for the depositor to receive the refund.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Finding a case number by name costs $4.75 per search on the court’s name index. With the number, the free Criminal Case Summary shows the case and its dispositions.
• Confirm the exoneration: The court’s FAQ says it has “no plans to provide bail/bond status online.” Ask the clerk’s office at the courthouse that handled the case for the minute order, or mail a prepaid copy request to the Certification Unit, 111 N. Hill Street, Room 112C, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
• Where cash bail is posted: At Sheriff custody facilities, including the Inmate Reception Center at 450 Bauchet Street and Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood (Sheriff’s custody page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s cash bail FAQ says to “allow 4-6 weeks processing time for the depositor to receive the refund.” The check comes from the county Auditor-Controller’s Office. If it has not arrived after six weeks, contact the clerk’s office with the defendant’s name, the bail amount, the case number, and the receipt number. Bail goes toward a fine only if the defendant posted it, or if the person who posted it signed permission on the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: On January 6, 2026, the court announced a webpage for claiming unclaimed funds it holds in trust, with a claim deadline of February 20, 2026 (now passed), under Government Code 68084.1. The notice does not say whether bail refunds were among the funds.
• Bail bond notes: Local Rule 8.3(f) requires motions to reinstate and exonerate bail to be “in writing and supported by appropriate declarations and points and authorities” when the defendant is not surrendered in open court (Chapter 8 of the local rules, effective January 1, 2022).

Madera County

Madera County’s seat is Madera. It is one of the few courts that states a refund time in writing: about 6 to 8 weeks from the court order, with no form needed.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Madera. The public portal takes a free account. The county’s Inmate Inquiry lists each charge with its bond type, bond amount, and case number.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. Ask the Criminal Division in person, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Copies are $.50 per page, and mail requests need a money order or cashier’s check payable to “Madera Superior Court.”
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The jail is at 195 Tozer St., Madera, (559) 675-7951 (corrections page).
• Getting cash bail back: The criminal page says “Refunds on cash bail are processed automatically upon court order.” It adds that the refund takes about 6 to 8 weeks from the date of the order. If you have moved, call the Criminal Division (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: The court’s 2025 Notice of Intent to Escheat listed $132,044.87, with a claim deadline of March 31, 2026 (now passed). It does not mention bail, but a May 2, 2023 notice described funds “from uncashed court checks.” Ask at maderacourt.finance@madera.courts.ca.gov.

Marin County

Marin County’s seat is San Rafael. The Sheriff’s jail takes bail around the clock, and money orders for bail are made out to the Clerk of the Court, but the court posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Marin. The ePortal needs free registration that staff approve “within 1 to 2 court days.”
• Confirm the exoneration: Ask the criminal clerk, (415) 444-7070 or criminal@marin.courts.ca.gov. For a copy of the minute order, use the Court Records Request Form ($15.00 search fee per case, $.50 per page), which can take “up to 6 months.”
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Marin County Jail. The Sheriff’s Custody Division page says: “The Jail accepts bail 24 hours a day for inmates in our custody.” It takes cash, a postal or bank money order “made out to the Clerk of the Court,” or a card through GovPay, but no personal checks.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online, and nothing says whether card bail goes back to the card. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court posts claim form ADM027 (4/21), which does not mention bail. Claims go to administration@marin.courts.ca.gov. No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Mariposa County

Mariposa County’s seat is Mariposa. The court’s free portal needs no login, but nothing online covers cash bail refunds.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mariposa. The free public portal needs no account.
• Confirm the exoneration: Ask the Criminal Division, 5088 Bullion Street, (209) 966-2005, for the minute order in person or by mail. Fees are not posted online.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail: 209-966-3616.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Mendocino County

Mendocino County’s seat is Ukiah. The Sheriff says checks and money orders for bail “must be made out to the Court of Jurisdiction,” so refund questions go to the court that heard the case.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mendocino. Through re:SearchCA, “Criminal records cannot be viewed online by the public”; use the kiosks at the Ukiah and Fort Bragg courthouses.
• Confirm the exoneration: Order the minute order with Form MMC-900: $0.50 per page, $40.00 to certify, and allow 30 days. Criminal clerk: 100 North State Street, Room 107, Ukiah, (707) 463-4661.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail, per the Sheriff’s Corrections page: cash for the full amount, a certified check, or a money order. No personal checks, and the court’s local rules bar coins (Rule 1.23).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court’s Unclaimed Funds page covered unclaimed and stale dated checks under Government Code 68084.1, due by October 31, 2025. No entry was labeled bail, and the deadline has passed.

Merced County

Merced County’s seat is Merced. Criminal cases are “NOT available online,” so confirming an exoneration means using the courthouse computer or asking the clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Merced. A criminal case lookup runs only on the public computer in the Criminal Division (case records page).
• Confirm the exoneration: Call or visit the Criminal Division at (209) 725-4113, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. For the minute order, use the Record/Search/Copy Request form: $0.50 per page, $40 certified, and $15 for searches over 10 minutes.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s jail page has no bail information. Main Jail: (209) 385-7410.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The court’s local rules, effective July 1, 2026, cover bail in Rule 16(E), “Felony Bail Schedule,” and Rule 16(I), on motions for own recognizance release or bail modification. There is no exoneration rule.

Modoc County

Modoc County’s seat is Alturas. Staff will not look up criminal records by phone, so write to or visit the clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Modoc, 530-233-6516. The Public Case Portal requires registration.
• Confirm the exoneration: Request the minute order in person or by mail with a check payable to “Modoc Superior Court,” the case number, and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Sheriff: (530) 233-4416.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Mono County

Mono County’s seat is Bridgeport, where the county jail takes cash bail.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Mono. There is no online case search (name search page).
• Confirm the exoneration: Contact the Criminal Division at (760) 924-5444 or criminal@mono.courts.ca.gov. A name search is $15.
• Where cash bail is posted: The Mono County Jail, 25 Emigrant Street (jail page): exact cash, cashier’s check, or money order, no personal checks. Cash over $10,000 requires ID and your original Social Security card.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Monterey County

Monterey County’s seat is Salinas. The Sheriff takes bail payments online, but neither the court nor the Sheriff posts how cash bail is refunded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Monterey. The free public portal needs no registration and covers “criminal court indexes, court calendars and registers of action” (criminal records page).
• Confirm the exoneration: The register of actions may list bail entries, but this is not confirmed. For the minute order, go to 240 Church Street, Salinas, or mail Form CR-109: $0.50 per page, $40.00 certified. “Please allow 10 days to process your request.”
• Where cash bail is posted: Monterey County Jail, 1414 Natividad Road, Salinas. The Sheriff’s jail information page links online payment through GovPayNow with Pay Location Code #6519.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. If you paid online, keep the payment confirmation too.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The court’s criminal page warns that if the defendant misses court, the bond can be forfeited and the agency “must pay the entire amount of the bail to the Court.”

Napa County

Napa County’s seat is the city of Napa. A March 12, 2026 court notice listed unclaimed trust money; its file name refers to cash bail, though its text does not.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Napa, (707) 299-1180. Case Lookup opens the Case Information Access Portal after you accept the terms of use.
• Confirm the exoneration: The court does not say whether the portal shows bail status. For the minute order, send the Criminal Records Request Form ($.50 per page, $40.00 to certify); “A Visa or Mastercard and expiration date is required on each form.”
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The county’s Department of Corrections runs the jail, 707-253-4401 (county Bail Bonds page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court’s March 12, 2026 notice covered money not refunded within three years after a case closed, with claims due “no later than May 12, 2026” (now passed). As of September 2026, the Unclaimed Funds page says “None at this time.” Contact Accounting@napa.courts.ca.gov.

Nevada County

Nevada County’s seat is Nevada City. The jail takes cash bail around the clock, but the court posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Nevada. The free web portal needs an account and does not show orders.
• Confirm the exoneration: Order the minute order through the case records requests page, online or by mail form. Payment is due in advance.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail. The Sheriff’s release procedures page says “Bail bond or cash bail is accepted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” The payee is not stated. Sheriff’s Office: 530-265-1471.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. The county’s Unclaimed Money page covers stale county warrants and does not mention bail.

Orange County

Orange County’s seat is Santa Ana. A court page filed under its Traffic division, which the court’s criminal self-help page links to, says a cash bail refund takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks from the court order, and the check comes from the county Auditor.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Orange. The free case access site searches by name or case number after you accept its terms (case access page).
• Confirm the exoneration: Case access shows “specific hearing date information and dispositions.” For the minute order, ask the clerk’s office where the case was filed, or mail Form L-3009 (copy page).
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Sheriff’s Intake Release Center Jail Cashiering office, 550 North Flower Street, Santa Ana, 24 hours a day, (714) 647-6085. Theo Lacy Facility accepts bail from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Sheriff’s bail page lists cash, cashier’s checks, money orders, traveler’s checks, and some personal checks, but not business checks.
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s bail refunds page points to its fines, bail and bonds page, which sits under the Traffic division. The undated page says that if a portion of the cash bail is to be refunded, it “will take approximately 6 to 8 weeks from the date of the court order,” and “The Orange County Auditor’s office will process the refund check to the depositor or authorized designee.” Cash bail goes toward a fine only if the defendant posted it, or if the person who posted it signed an authorization.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. An older Overage Trust list had a May 11, 2018 deadline and no bail category.

Placer County

Placer County’s seat is Auburn. Both county jails take cash bail around the clock, and checks and money orders are made payable to the Placer Trial Court or the clerk of the court issuing the warrant.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Placer. The online portal page says “there is no account required.” Searches need a filing date range plus a case number or name.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status or minute orders. The Case Records and Copy Request page says “Phone, email, or fax copy requests will not be accepted.”
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Auburn Jail (530-745-8500) or the South Placer Jail in Roseville. The Sheriff’s Posting Bail page takes cash in the “Exact amount,” and checks or money orders “Made payable to the Placer Trial Court, or the Clerk of the Court issuing the warrant.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The Sheriff’s Posting Bail page says “Bail Bonds must be delivered by a Licensed Bail Agent.” The court’s local rules, effective January 1, 2026, include Rule 40.6 on real property bonds.

Plumas County

Plumas County’s seat is Quincy. There is no online case index, and the court posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Plumas. Clerk: (530) 283-6232.
• Confirm the exoneration: Request the minute order with the online request form. Copies are 50 cents per page.
• Where cash bail is posted: The Sheriff’s Bail Bonds page accepts only cash, money orders, and cashier’s checks. Jail: (530) 283-6267.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: A February 24, 2026 court escheat notice set an April 24, 2026 deadline, now passed. It does not say whether any funds were bail.

Riverside County

Riverside County’s seat is Riverside. The court says cash bail refunds are processed automatically when the court orders them and take about six to eight weeks to arrive.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Riverside. The Public Access portal needs an account. Case number searches are free; name searches cost $1.00 each (public access page).
• Confirm the exoneration: The portal shows registers of actions, where the exoneration should appear, plus documents for a per-page fee capped at $50. Certified copies use form RI-MC011, at $40.00 per certified document.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s Corrections page lists five jails, including Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s criminal page says: “Refunds on cash bail are processed automatically upon court order.” It allows about six to eight weeks from the date of the order, and “The Riverside Superior Court will mail the refund check payable to the depositor named on the bail receipt.” No form is needed. The page does not cover address changes, so tell the clerk if the depositor has moved.
• Unclaimed money: The court’s 2026 escheat notice listed $411,525.04 in trust fund checks left uncashed for at least three years, with claims due “no later than May 29, 2026” (now passed). It does not say whether bail refund checks were included. Cash a refund check promptly so it does not end up on a list like this.

Sacramento County

Sacramento County’s seat is Sacramento. The court posts no bail refund page, but its unclaimed funds page says money stays in trust for at least three years and six months before the court keeps it.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento. The new criminal case portal, launched August 10, 2026, searches by name or case number and shows “limited case information.”
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. For the minute order, the Criminal Records page charges $0.50 per page, $40 per certification plus $1 per certified page. “You must already have your case number to order a file(s) over the phone.” To search by name by mail, use form CR-278A.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Sheriff’s FAQ says Main Jail staff at 916-874-6752 “will also provide bail amount.” Per the Sheriff’s Inmate Information FAQ, a person with no-bail charges, warrants, or holds cannot be bailed out until those are cleared or the court sets bail.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: The court’s Unclaimed Funds page says “Unclaimed funds will remain in trust to be claimed for at least three years and six months.” Claim with the Unclaimed Funds Packet, with photo ID for each claimant. Send it to UnclaimedFunds@saccourt.ca.gov or Accounting Unit, 500 G Street, Room 200, Sacramento, CA 95814. Neither the page nor the packet mentions bail (Government Code 68084.1).

San Benito County

San Benito County’s seat is Hollister. The jail takes bail by cashier’s check, certified check, money order, or bail bond; cash and personal checks are not on its list.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Benito. The public portal needs a free account.
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the portal shows bail status. Criminal Division: (831) 636-4057. For the minute order, visit 450 Fourth Street, Hollister, or mail the Research and Copy Request Form: $0.50 per page, $40 certified, paid with the request.
• Where cash bail is posted: San Benito County Jail, 710 Flynn Rd, Hollister. The Sheriff’s Bail and Deposits page says “Bail may be posted at the San Benito County Jail” by cashier’s check, certified check, money order, or bail bond. Corrections: (831) 636-4060.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The court’s 2025 bail schedule leaves the day blank in its effective date line (“January ____, 2025”).

San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County’s seat is San Bernardino. Cash bail is accepted 24 hours a day at any county jail, but neither the court nor the Sheriff posts how refunds are made.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino. The Court Access Portal needs a login and search credits for a name search (case search guide).
• Confirm the exoneration: The court does not say whether the portal shows bail status. For a copy of the minute order, mail the Copy Request Form with a self-addressed stamped envelope ($0.50 per page; $40.00 to certify).
• Where cash bail is posted: At any jail. The Sheriff’s corrections page says “Bail bond or cash bail are accepted 24 hours a day, at any jail facility.” Bring the full bail amount for each charge. For a cashier’s check, call (909) 350-2476 to learn who to make it out to (inmate information page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The court’s 2026 bail schedule, effective January 1, 2026 and revised June 4, 2026, says “Pre-arraignment bail amounts are not binding on judicial officers at arraignment.”

San Diego County

San Diego County’s seat is San Diego. The Sheriff says cash bail is refunded within 4-6 weeks after the court confirms the bail was exonerated, to the name and address on the bail receipt.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. The free Court Index searches by name or case number, but it does “not provide information on the charges and disposition of cases.”
• Confirm the exoneration: The index will not show an exoneration. Get the minute order in person or by mail through Obtain a Copy of a File ($40 to certify). For bonds, the monthly Bail Bond Reports list each bond by case number with any exoneration or forfeiture date.
• Where cash bail is posted: At Sheriff detention facilities. The Sheriff’s FAQ says cash bail paid at a jail “is forwarded to and managed by the San Diego Superior Court.”
• Getting cash bail back: The same FAQ says the court’s accounting office refunds the payment within 4-6 weeks after it gets confirmation that the case is resolved and bail has been exonerated. “It will be sent to the name and address indicated on the bail payment receipt.” Questions: the court’s accounting office, 619-450-7034, weekdays 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. A Sheriff training manual (revised March 2022) says bail deposited may be used to pay a fine.
• Unclaimed money: The court has a Notice of Unclaimed Money page, but it returned an access-denied error when we tried to open it in September 2026, so its date and deadline are unknown.
• Local note: The Central Division bail bond ledger for fiscal year 2025-26 shows “Records as of 9/8/2026” (ledger PDF).

San Francisco County

San Francisco is a consolidated city and county. The Sheriff says the court returns cash bail when the case is finished if the defendant made every appearance, and the court posts a monthly report showing which bonds were exonerated.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The Criminal Case Query is open to the public after a check that you are a person.
• Confirm the exoneration: Order the minute order through the GovQA portal at $0.50 per page and $40 to certify, or call Criminal Records at (415) 551-0651. For bonds, the monthly Bail Bonds Report lists each bond and whether it was exonerated or forfeited. The court’s Bond Desk is (415) 551-0691 (criminal page).
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Sheriff’s office, Room 460, 850 Bryant St. Call (415) 553-1430 (Sheriff’s bail page).
• Getting cash bail back: The Sheriff’s page says: “If you show up to every appearance, the court will return your cash, bond, or property when your case is finished.” No form, timeline, or payee rule is posted. Call the Bond Desk or the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: After a September 2019 federal ruling in the Buffin case against the Sheriff’s use of the court’s bail schedule, a new bail policy took effect at “midnight February 20, 2020” (Sheriff’s bail page).

San Joaquin County

San Joaquin County’s seat is Stockton. Cashier’s checks for bail at the jail are made out to the San Joaquin County Superior Court, so the court holds the money, but it posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Joaquin, 180 E. Weber Ave., Stockton. The case search page links the free eCourt portal, which needs an account and allows 45 searches a day.
• Confirm the exoneration: We could not confirm that the portal shows bail status. Order the minute order with the Records Request form; fees follow the fee schedule.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail, 7000 Michael Canlis Blvd, French Camp, per the Sheriff’s Bail Procedures page: “United States currency or a Cashier’s check,” payable to the Superior Court. Bail can also be posted at the courthouse “under certain circumstances.” Jail: (209) 468-4562.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. The county Auditor-Controller’s Unclaimed Warrants page covers uncashed county warrants and does not mention bail.
• Local note: The court moved to eCourt in August 2026, taking all case types offline August 21 to 24 (notice dated August 17, 2026). Older lookup links may not work.

San Luis Obispo County

San Luis Obispo County’s seat is San Luis Obispo. Cash bail can be posted at the courthouse, and the court has a form that lets the person who posted it put the money toward the fine.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo. The online case lookup sends people to re:SearchCA (registration needed remotely, not at courthouse kiosks).
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether re:SearchCA shows bail status. Request the minute order on the court’s request form; allow “up to 30 days to process.” Criminal clerk: slocrim@slo.courts.ca.gov or (805) 706-3600, Option 3.
• Where cash bail is posted: The warrants page says “Bail can be posted at the Court or at any law enforcement agency.” The court takes cash, cards, money orders, and checks; the jail does not take “Personal checks or credit cards” (jail FAQ).
• Getting cash bail back: The warrants page says the money “may be refunded at the conclusion of the case provided appearances are made as ordered by the court.” No processing time is stated. To apply bail to a fine, the depositor signs the Authorization to Apply Bail, and any balance is mailed to the address given. The form is undated; ask if it is current.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: Effective July 1, 2026, the court no longer gives case summaries to third parties; defendants, their attorneys, and victims still get them (case information requests page).

San Mateo County

San Mateo County’s seat is Redwood City. Cash bail is paid at the cashier’s window in the jail lobby, but the court posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo. The Odyssey Public Portal needs no registration and “Displays a register of actions” for criminal cases (portal page).
• Confirm the exoneration: The court does not say whether the register shows the exoneration. Request the minute order by mail from Records Management ($0.50 per side, $40 to certify); the court will “reply within 30 days.”
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail. The Sheriff’s Inmate Bail FAQ says: “Simply bring the amount of bail to the cashiers window located in the lobby of the jail.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. For property bonds, the court posts a reconveyance procedure.
• Unclaimed money: As of September 2026, the Escheatment page says “There is no proposed escheatment at this time.” Questions: escheatclaim@sanmateocourt.org or 650-261-5049.
• Bail bond notes: A court-posted 2008 Grand Jury report, Bail Bond Forfeiture Procedures (county response dated June 10, 2008), says the surety has 185 days from the mailing of the forfeiture notice to seek relief.

Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County’s seat is Santa Barbara. There is no online criminal case index, so confirming an exoneration means visiting the Records window or ordering the minute order.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara. The Court Records page says: “An online Criminal index is not available at this time.”
• Confirm the exoneration: Visit the Records window during business hours, or send the Copy Request Form for the minute order. South County: southcountyrecords@sbcourts.org, (805) 882-4778. North County: northcountyrecords@sbcourts.org, (805) 614-6414. Copies are $0.50 per page; certification is $40.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Call the Main Jail at (805) 681-4260 or the Northern Branch Jail at (805) 554-3100 (Sheriff’s jail facilities page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The court’s 2013 local rules, Rule 501, accepted credit cards for any “bail deposit if tendered in the appropriate manner.” That is an old edition; ask the court whether it still applies.

Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County’s seat is San Jose. The court states its refund rule in writing: the refund is mailed to the depositor within 30 business days after the case ends or the bail is exonerated.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara. The criminal case index covers cases “filed in 2004 or later” and needs the defendant’s name plus date of birth, or name plus the month and year filed (Criminal Case Records).
• Confirm the exoneration: Documents are “not generally available online.” Ask for the minute order by letter to the Clerk’s Office with the case number, full name, and date of birth.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Main Jail: (408) 808-2804 (Sheriff’s Main Jail page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s Criminal FAQs say: “The bail refund will be mailed to the depositor (the person who deposited the money with the Court).” It is mailed within 30 business days after the disposition of the case or the order of exoneration. The depositor is whoever signed the check or money order, and no request form is needed. If you move, tell the judge, deputy, or clerk at court, or send the court a letter with your new address.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: The court’s Criminal Rules (effective January 1, 2023) bar filing a motion to set aside a bail forfeiture electronically (Rule 7(A)(2)), and Rule 18 requires form CR-6014 for property bonds.

Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County’s seat is Santa Cruz. Cash bail is posted at the Main Jail, but cashier’s checks are made payable to the Superior Court, so the court, not the jail, holds the money.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Cruz. The online portal searches by name or case number; criminal documents are not online.
• Confirm the exoneration: Use the Records Department or the public kiosks in Santa Cruz and Watsonville, or send the Research and Copy Request Form (SUPAD 981) ($0.50 per page, $40 to certify), or call (831) 420-2200.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Main Jail, 259 Water Street, (831) 454-7800. The Sheriff’s Corrections FAQ says bail may be paid “in the form of either cash or cashier’s check (Payable to Santa Cruz County Superior Court).”
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Shasta County

Shasta County’s seat is Redding. Cash bail is made out to the Superior Court, whose Finance Division describes a general refund path through the County Auditor.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Shasta. The free public portal is up, but “document access is currently unavailable.”
• Confirm the exoneration: Dispositions are not given by phone. Write to the Records Department at Criminal@shasta.courts.ca.gov.
• Where cash bail is posted: The Main Jail reception, 1655 West Street, Redding (jail page). Cashier’s checks, money orders, and verifiable personal checks up to $1,000 are made out to Shasta County Superior Court.
• Getting cash bail back: No bail-specific process is posted. The Finance Division page says refunds can follow “a case being dismissed,” money paid by check has a 30-day hold, and the court sends a claim to the County Auditor to release funds. Contact the Finance Division; its page lists (530) 605-2793 as a fax number.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. A county notice of August 13, 2026 lists jail and other county funds, due September 28, 2026, but not bail.
• Bail bond notes: When a forfeiture is set aside, Local Rule 6.02 (local rules, amended January 1, 2015) charges $75 or $125 “as a condition to exoneration of bail.”

Sierra County

Sierra County’s seat is Downieville. In 2023 the court moved to escheat unclaimed bail trust money, so claim refunds promptly.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sierra. No online case search.
• Confirm the exoneration: Call the Criminal Division at (530) 289-3698 or mail the request form to PO Box 476, Downieville.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Arrestees are booked at Nevada County’s Truckee Jail.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court’s escheat notice covered $21,112.45 unclaimed “for at least three years,” due September 15, 2023.

Siskiyou County

Siskiyou County’s seat is Yreka. The court posts nothing online about cash bail or refunds, so call the clerk.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Siskiyou, (530) 842-0411. The Case Information Portal shows case details.
• Confirm the exoneration: For the minute order, the portal says to “visit the court and request the specific documents in person or do so in writing.”
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail: (530) 842-8157.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Solano County

Solano County’s seat is Fairfield. The court’s latest unclaimed funds list, covering checks from December 2008 through December 2022, had a claim deadline of May 18, 2026.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Solano. The public portal requires an account with photo ID verification and searches by case number or name.
• Confirm the exoneration: Request the minute order with form 4021. The Records, Fees & Forms page lists a “Certificate of Discharge of Bail Bond” at $40.00. Fairfield clerk: (707) 207-7380.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The Solano County Jail is at 500 Union Ave, Fairfield (court resources page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online; its Bail Information page covers only bail schedules. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The Unclaimed Funds page posts a list of checks dated 12/01/2008 to 12/31/2022, by payee. Claims were due “no later than May 18, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. PST.” The list does not mention bail. Contact fiscal@solano.courts.ca.gov.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County’s seat is Santa Rosa. The court’s portal shows case dispositions, but neither the court nor the Sheriff posts where cash bail is paid or how it is refunded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma. The portal, reached through a disclaimer page, returns “Case, Party, Charge, Disposition, and Hearings Information” (criminal search instructions).
• Confirm the exoneration: The portal shows dispositions; the court does not say whether it shows bail status. Mail form CR-01 for the minute order: $0.50 per page and $40 to certify. Call (707) 521-6620.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail: (707) 565-1400 (Sheriff’s directions page).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: To clear a warrant for someone released on a bail bond, the court requires “a letter of reassumption of liability from the bonding agency” (criminal page).

Stanislaus County

Stanislaus County’s seat is Modesto. The court charges a fee for a motion to vacate and exonerate bail, but posts nothing online about how cash bail is refunded.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus, 800 11th Street, Modesto. The case search page links a free public portal.
• Confirm the exoneration: We could not confirm that the portal shows bail status. Order the minute order with the Criminal Research Request Form: $15 research, $0.50 per page, $40 to certify. Criminal Division: (209) 530-3100 option 4.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Bookings and releases go through the Sheriff’s Detention Center East, 200 E. Hackett Road, Modesto.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site. The county Treasurer’s undated unclaimed money notice does not mention bail.
• Bail bond notes: The court’s Criminal FAQ says motions to vacate and exonerate bail carry a fee (amount not stated). The Local Rules effective July 1, 2026 include Rule 4.13, a motion to determine the source of bail under Penal Code 1275.1.

Sutter County

Sutter County’s seat is Yuba City. Cash bail is posted at the jail, and checks must be made out to “Sutter County Consolidated Courts.”

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Sutter. The public portal needs no registration and covers current cases and completed cases back to 2008 (online case access page).
• Confirm the exoneration: The portal shows case information and hearings and sells document copies; whether it shows bail status is not confirmed. Mail requests through the records request page take 7 to 10 working days.
• Where cash bail is posted: Sutter County Main Jail, 1077 Civic Center Boulevard, Yuba City. The Sheriff’s Release Procedures page takes the full bail in U.S. currency, cashier check, or money order. “No personal checks will be accepted.” Sheriff’s Office: (530) 822-7307.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call Traffic/Criminal Processing at (530) 822-3303 with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: The court’s Notice of Intent to Escheat Unclaimed Funds covered “$8,869.32” in trust fund money unclaimed for at least three years, with claims due “no later than January 28, 2026” (now passed). It does not say whether bail was included. Contact AccountingDivision@suttercourts.com.

Tehama County

Red Bluff is the county seat. There is no online criminal case search, and court staff will not look up records by phone, so confirming an exoneration takes a written or in-person request.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tehama, 1740 Walnut Street, Red Bluff, (530) 527-3563.
• Confirm the exoneration: “Court staff cannot look up any criminal records over the telephone.” Write or visit the clerk. Include the defendant’s name, the documents you want, payment, and a stamped self-addressed envelope. Certified copies are $40 plus $0.50 per page.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. The court’s criminal page defines bail as release “upon the posting of a bond, cash deposit, or other security.” Main Jail, 502 Oak Street, Red Bluff, (530) 529-7910 (Custody Division).
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt (state law: Penal Code 1297).
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The 2026 Jail Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, says bail is “not to be increased by Police Officers at time of booking.”

Trinity County

Trinity County’s seat is Weaverville. There is no online case search, so start with the clerk’s office.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Trinity, 11 Court Street, Weaverville. Online services offer court calendars only.
• Confirm the exoneration: Call the clerk at (530) 623-1208 or email courtclerks@trinitycounty.org for the minute order.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Jail: 530-623-8124.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: A March 26, 2026 court escheat notice covered $812.05, with a May 31, 2026 deadline, now passed. It does not mention bail.

Tulare County

Tulare County’s seat is Visalia. The only official word on posting cash bail is a 2014 Sheriff scam alert, and the court posts a refund rule for traffic cases only.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tulare. The court’s Case Index Search offers “case summaries, filings, party information, and more.”
• Confirm the exoneration: It is not confirmed whether the index shows bail status. Criminal clerk: Visalia (559) 730-5000, South County (559) 782-3700. Order the minute order with the online request form; processing takes 15 business days after payment.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail. A Sheriff scam alert dated February 19, 2014 listed the jail lobby kiosk (full bail), a cashier’s check payable to the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, cash at the jail, or a bail bond company. Confirm current methods with the jail.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online for criminal cases. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. The traffic page promises a bail refund by mail within 60 days after a not guilty finding, but that is for traffic cases.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Local note: The same 2014 alert warned “DO NOT RELY ON YOUR CALLER ID” and gave a Sheriff scam line, 800-808-0488.

Tuolumne County

Tuolumne County’s seat is Sonora. It is the only Mother Lode or Eastern Sierra court that posts a clear cash bail refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Tuolumne, 12855 Justice Center Drive, Sonora. The online services page has calendars and payments, but no case search.
• Confirm the exoneration: Call the Criminal Division at (209) 533-5563, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., or request the minute order at the window or by mail. Certified copies are $40 plus $0.50 per page.
• Where cash bail is posted: Not stated on official sites; ask the jail or the criminal clerk. Sheriff: (209) 533-5855.
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s criminal page says refunds “are processed automatically upon order of the Court” and take “approximately six to eight weeks from the date of the court order.” The check is mailed “payable to the depositor named, and the address provided, on the cash bail receipt.” No form is needed. If you have moved, call the Criminal Division.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Ventura County

Ventura County’s seat is Ventura. Cash bail is posted at the Pre-Trial Detention Facility, and cashier’s checks are made payable to the Ventura County Superior Court, but the court posts no refund process.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Ventura. Online Public Access searches by first and last name or case number, with no fee posted.
• Confirm the exoneration: The court does not say whether the search shows bail status. For the minute order, visit Hall of Justice Records, Room 218, or mail form VSC-REC-002 ($40 to certify); mail requests “may take several weeks.”
• Where cash bail is posted: At the Pre-Trial Detention Facility, 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura (Sheriff’s posting bail page). Bring the exact amount in cash, or a cashier’s check made payable to the Ventura County Superior Court. Card payments go through GovPayNet online or by phone at 1 (888) 604-7888, PLC # 6404.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online, and its FAQ does not mention bail refunds. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.
• Bail bond notes: For property bonds, local form VN195 (revised July 2016) says that after exoneration, “An entry is made indicating that the bail has been exonerated and that the promissory note and deed of trust have been released.”

Yolo County

Yolo County’s seat is Woodland. It is one of the easiest counties for confirming an exoneration: the court portal shows minute orders with no registration.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Yolo. The public portal says “Registration is not needed for public case search and to access court minute orders.”
• Confirm the exoneration: Look up the case and open the minute order from the hearing where bail was exonerated. In person, copies are $0.50 per page plus $40 per certified packet. By mail, add a $15 research fee and send a check to “Yolo Superior Court,” 1000 Main Street, Attn: Research RM#1511, Woodland, CA 95695. Phone: (530) 406-6705.
• Where cash bail is posted: The court’s criminal division page says: “For information about posting bail, please contact the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department at (530) 668-5245.” Accepted payment types are not stated.
• Getting cash bail back: The court does not post a refund process online. Call the criminal clerk with the case number, the defendant’s name, and the bail receipt. The criminal division page tells defendants to bring their “Cash bail receipt” to court.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

Yuba County

Yuba County’s seat is Marysville. The court states that cash bail refunds are automatic once the court orders them and take about 6 to 8 weeks.

• Court: Superior Court of California, County of Yuba. The free public portal needs no registration and shows a “register of actions for current cases and completed cases dating back to 1999.”
• Confirm the exoneration: Whether the register of actions shows the exoneration is not confirmed. Written requests go to the Criminal Division, 215 Fifth Street, Suite 200, Marysville, CA 95901: $15 search per name, $0.50 per page, $40 certified plus copies. Phone: (530) 740-1800, option 4.
• Where cash bail is posted: At the jail lobby, through the control room deputy. The Sheriff’s Inmate Funds and Posting Bail page takes U.S. currency, cashier checks, or money orders, payable to “Yuba County Jail.” “The Sheriff’s Department only takes bail for the entire amount.”
• Getting cash bail back: The court’s criminal page says “Refunds on cash bail are processed automatically upon court order.” It puts the wait at about 6 to 8 weeks from the date of the order. No form is needed. If you have moved, call the Criminal Division.
• Unclaimed money: No current unclaimed funds notice found on the court’s site.

What Families Should Do When the Case Ends

1. Get the final result in writing. Ask the clerk for the minute order from the last hearing, or check the court’s online case index (see your county above). Look for “bail exonerated.”
2. If the case was dismissed, wait out the 15 days. Bail is held for 15 days after a dismissal in case the defendant is arrested and charged again for the same act (PC 1303). Mark the date.
3. If you posted cash, keep the receipt and update your address. The refund goes to the person named on the receipt. If you have moved, tell the clerk in writing with the case number and receipt number. If the refund has not arrived after the court’s stated time (four to eight weeks in the courts that post one), call the clerk or the court’s accounting office.
4. Decide about fines before you sign anything. A family member’s cash can go toward the defendant’s fine only with that person’s written permission. Do not sign an authorization on a bail receipt unless you mean it.
5. If a bail bond was posted, call the bail company. Ask it to confirm the exoneration, to return any collateral, and to give you the paperwork to clear any lien on a car or house. The regulations say collateral goes back “immediately” once the order ending the bond is entered, unless premium is still owed (10 CCR 2088.2).
6. Keep paying any premium balance. Exoneration ends the bond, not a payment plan. A missed installment can still be pursued.
7. If the case ended in a guilty plea, remember the bond is still live. Until sentencing, a missed court date can still forfeit the bail and put the cosigner at risk.
8. If there was ever a forfeiture on the case, confirm it was set aside. Ask the clerk whether the forfeiture was vacated and the bond exonerated, and get it in writing.
9. Old refund you never received? Ask the court’s finance office whether the money went to an unclaimed funds list. Courts must publish notice before unclaimed money becomes theirs (Gov. Code 68084.1).

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.

Case over? This is where we make sure the bond ends cleanly

For most families, the day the case ends should be the day the worry ends too. Too often it is not. A cosigner does not know whether the bond was really exonerated. A car title or a house lien is still sitting with someone. A forfeiture from a missed court date months ago is still on the record. That loose end, when the case is over but the bond is not quite finished, is where a bail company should shine brightest, and it is where we want every client to feel the difference.

• We follow the case to the finish. Our goal is to confirm the exoneration in the court record, so the cosigner knows for certain that their promise is over.
• We return collateral the way the law requires. Once the order ending the bond is entered, collateral goes back (10 CCR 2088.2). We walk families through what is needed to clear a lien on a car or a house.
• We work to turn a forfeiture into an exoneration. If a court date was missed along the way, the law gives everyone 180 days to fix it, and a defendant who comes back in time is entitled to have the forfeiture vacated and the bond exonerated (PC 1305(c)). We move the same day to help get the case back on calendar.
• We know the court’s deadlines as well as yours. In the 2021 appeal described above, a bond we wrote was ordered exonerated because the court missed its own deadline. Deadlines protect families too, and we watch them.
• We protect the cosigner. The person who vouched for the defendant should never be surprised by a forfeiture they did not know about. When the bond is exonerated, the risk of owing the full bail amount is gone, and we want the cosigner to hear that from us.

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 bond that is watched to the end, with the paperwork done right, very rarely leaves a family with a surprise.

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 a missed date is the most common reason a bond does not end cleanly.

If something goes wrong before the case ends

• Call us first. A new arrest, an arrest in another county, or a hospital stay is often fixable inside the 180-day window. We walk clients through clearing a warrant step by step.
• 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.
• If a new bond is needed, 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 bond exonerated mean?

It means the court has ended the bail obligation. For a bail bond, the bail company and its insurer are released from their promise to pay the full bail if the defendant does not appear. For cash bail, the deposit becomes returnable. In California this usually happens at sentencing, at a grant of probation, after a dismissal, or when the defendant is taken into custody after a verdict.

Does exonerated bail mean the person was found innocent or released?

No to both. Bail is exonerated after a guilty plea and sentencing just as it is after a dismissal. And bail is often exonerated because the defendant was taken into custody, as when a judge remands someone after a guilty verdict (PC 1166). A person cleared of a crime is “exonerated” in a completely different sense, with its own legal process.

What happens when bail is exonerated?

The bond ends. The cosigner can no longer be asked to cover a forfeiture. Cash posted by a family member is returned to the person on the receipt, and cash the defendant posted is applied to restitution, fines, and costs first (PC 1297). Collateral held by a bail company must be returned once the order ending the bond is entered, unless premium is still owed (10 CCR 2088.2).

If bail is exonerated, do I still have to pay the bail bond company?

If you still owe part of the premium, yes. Exoneration ends the bond, not the payment agreement with the bail company. What it does end is any risk of owing the full bail amount because of a forfeiture.

Do you get bail money back if you are found guilty?

If a family member or friend posted cash, yes. It is returned to the person named on the receipt once the bail is exonerated at sentencing, unless that person agreed in writing to let it pay a fine. If the defendant posted their own cash, the court applies it to restitution, fines, and costs first and refunds whatever is left. The premium paid to a bail company is not refunded in either case.

Do you get bail money back if the charges are dropped in California?

Cash posted with the court is refunded after the case is dismissed, once the 15-day hold in PC 1303 passes without a new arrest and charge for the same act. The premium paid to a bail company is not refunded. The Department of Insurance says, “Premiums are nonrefundable even if charges are dropped.” See our article on what happens to bail money if the charges are dropped.

If my case was dismissed, do I still have to pay the bail bond?

Yes, any unpaid premium is still owed after a dismissal, because the premium paid for the bail company’s promise to cover the bail, and that promise took effect when the defendant was released. Once the bond is exonerated, though, nobody can be asked to pay the full bail amount.

When do you get your bail money back?

It depends on the court. Los Angeles says to allow four to six weeks. Orange, Riverside, Madera, Tuolumne, and Yuba say about six to eight weeks from the court order. Santa Clara says within 30 business days. Most California courts do not post a time at all, so ask the clerk. A family member who posted cash can also claim it by presenting the receipt, and the law says it must be returned within 10 days of that claim (PC 1297).

What is a motion to exonerate bond?

It is a written request asking a judge to end a bail bond, most often after a missed court date. It is needed when the defendant was surrendered or arrested in another county, died or became permanently unable to appear, or is held elsewhere and the prosecutor will not bring them back (PC 1305). The bail company or the person who deposited the money usually files it, with at least 10 court days’ written notice to the prosecutor. At the normal end of a case, no motion is needed.

What does “exonerate bond ordered” mean?

It means the judge granted an order ending the bond. It usually appears on the docket or minute order after sentencing, dismissal, a surrender, or the setting aside of a forfeiture.

What is the difference between bail exoneration and bail forfeiture?

They are opposites. Forfeiture happens when the defendant misses court without an excuse: the bail is declared lost, and a 180-day clock starts. Exoneration ends the bail with nothing owed. A forfeiture can turn into an exoneration if the defendant comes back to court within the window (PC 1305(c)).

When do I get my collateral back after the bond is exonerated?

Under California’s bail regulations, collateral securing a bond “shall be returned immediately” once an order ending the bond is entered (10 CCR 2088.2). The exception is collateral that also secures unpaid premium or charges. If you are waiting, ask the bail company for the exoneration date and for a record of when your collateral was returned.

Is bail exonerated when someone pleads guilty?

Not when sentencing is set for a later date. The bond normally continues until sentencing, and the California Supreme Court has held that the bail company’s obligation continues after a guilty plea (Seneca, 2003). A missed sentencing date can still forfeit the bail.

Why We Publish This

Bail Hotline has helped California families since 2004, and one of the most common calls we get is from someone holding a court printout that says “bail exonerated” and wondering what it means for them. Most of what they find online is written for other states, mixes up the three kinds of bail money, or gets California law wrong. We wrote this guide to be the page we wish every family had: what exoneration really means, when it happens, what comes back and what does not, 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
– Penal Code sections 1166, 1195, 1278, 1289, 1296, 1297, 1300, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1305, 1305.4, 1305.6, 1306, 1384, 1485.55, 4904
– Government Code sections 50050 and 68084.1
– California Code of Regulations, title 10, sections 2088, 2088.2, 2090, 2100
– California Department of Insurance, bail bonds consumer information
– SB 562 (2025 to 2026 session), status on LegiScan
– Superior court glossaries: Fresno, Madera, Stanislaus

Court decisions
– People v. Bankers Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App., June 10, 2021, A157633)
– People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co. (Cal. Ct. App., Aug. 30, 2018, A150209)
– People v. Indiana Lumbermens Mut. Ins. Co. (2010) 49 Cal.4th 301
– People v. North River Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App., May 28, 2025, F088076)
– People v. International Fidelity Ins. Co. (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 8, 2018, A145993)
– People v. Seneca Ins. Co. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 954

Research and data
– Judicial Council of California, Pretrial Services Program Year 4 report to the Legislature (April 24, 2026)
– Public Policy Institute of California, California’s County Jails (January 2026)
– Human Rights Watch, Not in It for Justice (April 11, 2017)
– UCLA Million Dollar Hoods, The Price for Freedom
– Color of Change and the ACLU, A California Snapshot to Selling Off Our Freedom (May 2017)
– Santa Clara County Counsel, bail forfeiture memo (October 4, 2016)
– U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2009 (December 2013)

Reporting and voices
– KQED, Bail bond companies failed to inform customers about full consequences of co-signing, lawsuits say (March 25, 2022)
– The Marshall Project, When Freedom Isn’t Free (February 23, 2015)
– California Attorney General, press release on cosigner protections (August 25, 2021)
– Northern California Innocence Project, Miguel Solorio

Outside California
– Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 46 and 28 U.S.C. 2044
– U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, finance unit FAQ
– Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 17.02, art. 17.16, art. 22.13; Local Government Code 117.055
– Idaho Code 19-2908 and 19-2922; Idaho Criminal Rule 46
– Florida Statutes 903.286; New York courts on cash bail refunds

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

Quick answer: Stalking can be a felony in California, and in some situations it has to be. Under Penal Code 646.9, stalking means willfully, maliciously and repeatedly following another person, or willfully and maliciously harassing them, while making a credible threat intended to put that person in reasonable fear for their safety or the safety of their immediate family. Basic stalking is a “wobbler.” It can be punished as a misdemeanor, with up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, or as a felony, with 16 months, two years or three years in state prison. Stalking is always a felony when a temporary restraining order, injunction or other court order prohibiting that behavior toward the same person was already in effect (two, three or four years in state prison), and when the person already has a felony stalking conviction (two, three or five years). A prior felony conviction for corporal injury on a partner, violating a protective order or criminal threats raises the prison range to two, three or five years, although the law still allows a county jail sentence of up to one year instead. After an arrest, Penal Code 1270.1 requires a hearing in open court before a judge can release the person on their own recognizance or on bail that differs from the county schedule. In 2026, the Los Angeles County felony bail schedule listed stalking at $150,000.

Updated September 2026. Written for people accused of stalking in California, for the family members trying to help them, and for anyone who wants to know where the legal line is. Checked on September 29, 2026 against the California Penal Code (including the change that took effect January 1, 2026), the California Constitution, the Judicial Council’s criminal jury instructions (CALCRIM), a published Court of Appeal decision, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on threats, and the 2026 bail schedules of the Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara county superior courts. General information, not legal advice.

This guide answers one question in depth: when stalking is a felony in California, and what follows from that answer for the person charged and the people helping them. If the case involves a spouse, partner, ex or co-parent, our guide to bail for domestic violence covers domestic violence release rules and county bail amounts, including stalking, in more detail. If the case started online with a fake or borrowed profile, see is catfishing illegal? If someone was just arrested and you do not know where they are held, start with how to find out if someone is in jail.

Stalking Charges in California at a Glance

A stalking conviction can also bring court-ordered counseling as a condition of probation, a no-contact order that can last up to 10 years, a firearm ban, and, after a felony conviction and a specific finding by the judge, sex offender registration. Each of these is explained below.

In this guide: What counts as stalking | Felony or misdemeanor | Related charges | After an arrest | Protective orders | Other consequences | How cases end | Examples | Outside California | The numbers | Checklist | How Bail Hotline can help | FAQ | Sources

What Counts as Stalking Under Penal Code 646.9?

California’s stalking law has two parts, and a prosecutor has to prove both of them. The Judicial Council’s jury instruction for stalking, CALCRIM No. 1301, lays them out this way:

1. The conduct. The person “willfully and maliciously harassed or willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly followed another person.”
2. The threat. The person “made a credible threat with the intent to place the other person in reasonable fear” for their safety, or for the safety of their immediate family.

That structure answers a lot of questions on its own. Stalking is not only physical following: harassment is a separate route to the first element, and harassment can happen by phone, text, social media or email. And repeated unwanted contact is not stalking unless there is also a credible threat made with the required intent. Without the threat, the same behavior may still be a different crime, such as repeated harassing calls or messages, or grounds for a civil restraining order, but it does not meet PC 646.9.

Key Terms, in Plain English

• Willfully. CALCRIM 1301 says a person acts willfully “when he or she does it willingly or on purpose.”
• Maliciously. A person acts maliciously “when he or she intentionally does a wrongful act or when he or she acts with the unlawful intent to disturb, annoy, or injure someone else.”
• Repeatedly. The instruction’s definition is short: “Repeatedly means more than once.”
• Harass. PC 646.9(e) defines it as engaging “in a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose.”
• Course of conduct. Under PC 646.9(f), this means “two or more acts occurring over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose.” Two acts on the same day can qualify. Constitutionally protected activity does not count.
• Credible threat. A threat made with the intent to place the target in reasonable fear for their safety or their family’s safety, and “made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat.” It can be verbal, written, electronic, implied by conduct, or a combination. The statute adds: “It is not necessary to prove that the defendant had the intent to actually carry out the threat.”
• Immediate family. PC 646.9(l) includes a spouse, parent, child, anyone related “by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree,” and anyone who regularly lives in the household or did within the prior six months.
• Electronic communication device. PC 646.9(h) says this “includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular phones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers.”

A Threat Can Be Implied by Conduct

Families are often surprised that a stalking charge can be filed when nobody ever said “I will hurt you.” The statute covers “a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a combination of verbal, written, or electronically communicated statements and conduct.” Showing up again and again at someone’s home or job, tracking their movements, or pairing unwanted messages with actions can together amount to a credible threat, if the other requirements are met. Being in jail is not a defense either. The statute says: “The present incarceration of a person making the threat shall not be a bar to prosecution under this section.”

The Court of Appeal applied this rule in People v. Uecker (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 583, discussed in the examples section below. Describing the evidence about one of the two women in that case, the court wrote: “From this evidence, a reasonable jury could have found that defendant made an implied threat to her safety in that he was going to do whatever he needed to get M. to go out with him and that she reasonably feared for her safety.”

New in 2026: Threats Involving Pets and Animals

California expanded the definition of a credible threat as of January 1, 2026. Senate Bill 221 (Ochoa Bogh), signed on October 10, 2025, as Chapter 576 of the 2025 statutes, added threats to animals. The current statute now covers a credible threat “including threats to a person’s pet, service animal, emotional support animal, or horse.” If the conduct in a case happened before 2026, ask the defense lawyer which version of the law applies.

What Stalking Is Not

The statute builds in limits that matter in real cases:

• A single act is not a course of conduct. Harassment requires two or more acts, and following must be repeated. A single threatening message can still be a crime, such as criminal threats under PC 422, but that charge has its own elements.
• Conduct with a legitimate purpose is not harassment. The definition of harass requires conduct that “serves no legitimate purpose.”
• Constitutionally protected activity is excluded. PC 646.9(f) and (g) both say constitutionally protected activity is not included, and PC 646.9(i) says the section “shall not apply to conduct that occurs during labor picketing.”
• The threat has to be made with intent to cause fear. In Counterman v. Colorado, decided June 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court held that in a true-threats prosecution, the First Amendment requires proof that “the defendant had some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements,” and that “a mental state of recklessness is sufficient.” California’s stalking law already asks for more than that minimum: the threat must be made “with the intent to place the person that is the target of the threat in reasonable fear.”

Is Stalking a Felony or a Misdemeanor in California?

It depends on which part of PC 646.9 applies, on the person’s prior record, and on choices made by the prosecutor and the judge. There are three tiers.

Basic Stalking Is a Wobbler

PC 646.9(a) says stalking is “punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison.” Because the statute does not list its own prison term, PC 18 supplies one: “16 months, or two or three years in the state prison.”

A charge that can be punished either way is often called a wobbler. PC 17(b) explains how it becomes a misdemeanor “for all purposes.” The main routes are:

• The prosecutor files the case as a misdemeanor (PC 17(b)(4)).
• The judge decides before trial that the offense is a misdemeanor (PC 17(b)(5)).
• The judge grants probation and declares the offense a misdemeanor, either at that time or later on application (PC 17(b)(3)).
• The judgment imposes a punishment other than state prison or county jail under PC 1170(h) (PC 17(b)(1)).

The statute does not list the factors a prosecutor must weigh when choosing between a misdemeanor and a felony filing, so two stalking cases with different facts or records can be filed very differently.

If a felony prison term is imposed, PC 1170(b) caps the prison term at the middle term unless there are aggravating circumstances whose underlying facts “have been stipulated to by the defendant or have been found true beyond a reasonable doubt at trial by the jury or by the judge in a court trial.”

When Stalking Must Be a Felony

Two situations take the misdemeanor option off the table:

• A court order was already in effect (PC 646.9(b)). Stalking “when there is a temporary restraining order, injunction, or any other court order in effect prohibiting the behavior described in subdivision (a) against the same party” is punished by two, three or four years in state prison. This is the most important line for families to understand. Once a criminal protective order, a domestic violence restraining order, a civil harassment order or an emergency protective order is in place, repeating the prohibited conduct toward the protected person can turn a wobbler into a straight felony, and the conduct can also be charged as a violation of the order itself.
• A prior felony stalking conviction (PC 646.9(c)(2)). A person previously “convicted of a felony under subdivision (a)” who stalks again faces two, three or five years in state prison.

When a Prior Conviction Raises the Range

PC 646.9(c)(1) applies to a person who, “after having been convicted of a felony under Section 273.5, 273.6, or 422,” commits stalking. The punishment is up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both, or two, three or five years in state prison. The prison range is higher than for basic stalking, but the county jail alternative remains. By its words, the subdivision is triggered by a prior felony conviction under one of those three sections, not by a misdemeanor conviction.

Common Misunderstandings

• “Stalking means physically following someone.” No. Harassment is a separate route, and threats can be electronic or implied by conduct.
• “The person has to mean it.” No. The prosecutor does not have to prove the person intended to carry out the threat, only that the threat was made with the intent to cause reasonable fear and with the apparent ability to carry it out.
• “Any prior record makes stalking an automatic felony.” Not by itself. The mandatory felony tiers are a court order in effect and a prior felony stalking conviction. The listed prior felony convictions under PC 273.5, 273.6 or 422 raise the prison range but leave the county jail option.
• “Aggravated stalking adds five years.” PC 646.9 does not use the term “aggravated stalking.” Instead, separate enhancement statutes can add time when their requirements are met: one additional year for personally using a deadly or dangerous weapon in a felony (PC 12022(b)(1)), three, four or ten years for personally using a firearm (PC 12022.5(a)), and three years for personally inflicting great bodily injury (PC 12022.7(a)).
• “One angry message is stalking.” Not under PC 646.9, which requires a course of conduct or repeated following. The message may still be a crime under another law.

Is Stalking a Serious or Violent Felony?

Stalking is not named on California’s list of serious felonies in PC 1192.7(c) or on the violent felony list in PC 667.5(c), which are the lists that drive California’s “strike” rules. A stalking case can still produce a strike in some situations. The serious felony list includes “any felony in which the defendant personally inflicts great bodily injury on any person, other than an accomplice, or any felony in which the defendant personally uses a firearm,” “any felony in which the defendant personally used a dangerous or deadly weapon,” and “criminal threats, in violation of Section 422.” A defense lawyer should check this question early whenever a weapon, an injury or a separate criminal threats count is part of the case.

Stalking Compared With Related California Charges

Other California offenses cover some of the same kinds of conduct, and they can be charged along with stalking or instead of it:

The practical difference is the threat. PC 653m can apply to repeated calls or messages sent “with intent to annoy or harass,” “whether or not conversation ensues.” PC 646.9 requires a credible threat made with the intent to cause reasonable fear. When the threat element is disputed, the related charges can matter a great deal to how a case is filed or resolved.

Is Cyberstalking a Crime in California?

PC 646.9 does not treat online stalking as a separate crime. The same statute covers it: a credible threat can be “performed through the use of an electronic communication device,” and harassment can happen entirely online. Depending on the facts, prosecutors may also look at PC 653m for repeated electronic contact, PC 653.2 for posting someone’s information to provoke others, and PC 637.7 for a hidden tracking device. Impersonating a real person online is covered in our guide to catfishing in California.

Online stalking can also cross into federal law. 18 U.S.C. 2261A reaches a person who, with intent “to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance,” uses “the mail, any interactive computer service or electronic communication service or electronic communication system of interstate commerce,” when the statute’s other requirements are met.

When Stalking Is Also Domestic Violence

When the person stalked is a spouse or former spouse, a current or former cohabitant, someone the accused dated or was engaged to, someone with whom the accused has had a child, a child of either party, or another person “related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree,” such as a parent, sibling or grandparent, the case falls under the definition of domestic violence in Family Code 6211. That brings extra rules. If probation is granted, PC 1203.097 requires, among other terms, “A minimum period of probation of 36 months,” a criminal court protective order “protecting the victim from further acts of violence, threats, stalking, sexual abuse, and harassment,” and completion of a batterer’s program “for a period not less than one year.” Our domestic violence bail guide explains the release side of those cases.

What Happens After a Stalking Arrest?

Stalking arrests follow California’s normal arrest process, with several extra rules that focus on the person named as the victim. Here is the usual sequence.

1. Booking and the first appearance. After booking, the person must be brought before a judge “without unnecessary delay, and, in any event, within 48 hours after his or her arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays” (PC 825). Our guide on how long it takes to see a judge explains how weekends and holidays affect that timeline.
2. The scheduled amount, or a hearing. Stalking is one of the charges listed in PC 1270.1. Before a person arrested for stalking “may be released on bail in an amount that is either more or less than the amount contained in the schedule of bail for the offense, or may be released on the person’s own recognizance, a hearing shall be held in open court before the magistrate or judge.” In practice, that means the county’s scheduled amount is usually the only bail available before that hearing.
3. Notice to both sides. The prosecutor and the defense get “a two-court-day written notice and an opportunity to be heard.” If the person does not have a lawyer, the court appoints one for the hearing.
4. What the judge weighs. At the hearing, the court considers “evidence of past court appearances of the detained person, the maximum potential sentence that could be imposed, and the danger that may be posed to other persons if the detained person is released.” For own-recognizance release, the court must consider “threats that have been made by the detained person and any past acts of violence,” along with evidence about the person’s “ties to the community and ability to post bond.” Under PC 1275, “The public safety shall be the primary consideration.”
5. The victim can speak. The stalking statutes add a rule of their own. Under PC 646.93(b), any request to lower bail is heard in open court, the prosecutor must make reasonable efforts to notify the victim, and “The victims may be present at the hearing and shall be permitted to address the court on the issue of bail.”
6. Bail can go up without a hearing. A judge can raise bail above the schedule on a bailable felony without a hearing if a sworn peace officer presents a declaration of facts under penalty of perjury (PC 1270.1(e)).
7. In some felony cases, bail can be denied. The California Constitution allows a court to deny bail in a felony case “when the facts are evident or the presumption great and the court finds based on clear and convincing evidence that the person has threatened another with great bodily harm and that there is a substantial likelihood that the person would carry out the threat if released” (Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 12). Stalking charges are built around threats, so this provision is worth knowing about in any felony stalking case. Our guide to being denied bail explains what happens next.

If the judge changes bail from the schedule, the judge must “state the reasons for that decision” and address any threats made against the victim or a witness in the record. Families preparing for this hearing can use our guide on how to prepare for a bail hearing in California.

Release Conditions the Judge Must Impose

When someone charged with stalking is released on bail, PC 646.93(c) says that “Unless good cause is shown not to impose the following conditions, the judge shall impose” them as conditions of release:

1. No initiating contact with the alleged victims “in person, by telephone, or any other means.”
2. Not knowingly going “within 100 yards of the alleged victims, their residence, or place of employment.”
3. Not possessing “any firearms or other deadly or dangerous weapons.”
4. Obeying all laws.
5. Giving the court, on request, a residence address, a business address and phone number if employed, and a residence phone number.

The consequence of breaking these conditions is spelled out in the same subdivision: “A showing by declaration that any of these conditions are violated shall, unless good cause is shown, result in the issuance of a no-bail warrant.” In other words, a sworn statement can send the person back into custody without bail. That also puts the bail bond at risk, which our guide to what happens if your bond is revoked explains.

2026 Bail Schedule Amounts for Stalking in Four Counties

Each county’s superior court publishes its own bail schedule, and the amounts differ widely. These are the stalking lines in four large counties’ 2026 schedules, read directly from the courts’ documents. They are the court’s full bail amounts, not the cost of a bail bond, and a judge can set a different amount after a hearing.

Orange County’s schedule repeats the PC 1270.1 rule in its general instructions, listing “136.1(c), 243(e)(1), 262, 273.5, 273.6, 422 (as a felony, and 646.9).” Santa Clara’s does the same for “felony 422 and 646.9.” For stalking amounts in other counties, see the county table in our domestic violence bail guide, and for other charges, our guide to bail amounts by crime in California.

Protective Orders in Stalking Cases

Protective orders deserve close attention in any stalking case, because an order can change the next charge from a wobbler to a straight felony. There are several kinds, and a person can be under more than one at the same time.

• Emergency protective order. Under PC 646.91, a judge, commissioner or referee can issue an emergency order at a peace officer’s request when there are reasonable grounds to believe a person “is in immediate and present danger of stalking.” It expires at the earlier of “The close of judicial business on the fifth court day following the day of its issuance” or “The seventh calendar day following the day of its issuance.” A person subject to one “shall not own, possess, purchase, or receive a firearm while the order is in effect.”
• Criminal protective order during the case. Once a criminal case is filed, a court can issue protective orders “Upon a good cause belief that harm to, or intimidation or dissuasion of, a victim or witness has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur” (PC 136.2).
• Civil harassment restraining order. The person being stalked can ask a civil court for an order under Code of Civil Procedure 527.6, where “Unlawful violence” includes “stalking as prohibited in Section 646.9 of the Penal Code.” The California Courts self-help page explains that this type of order is for someone “you are not closely related to or someone you have not had an intimate relationship with,” and that an order after a court date “can last up to 5 years.”
• Domestic violence restraining order. When the people involved are current or former partners or close family, a family court can order a person to stop “stalking, threatening” and other listed conduct under Family Code 6320. The California Courts DVRO page says those orders also “can last up to 5 years” after a court date.
• Order after conviction. At sentencing, PC 646.9(k) says the court “also shall consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from any contact with the victim, that may be valid for up to 10 years.” That order can be issued whether the sentence is prison, jail or probation.

Violating one of these orders is a separate problem. A willful and knowing violation of a criminal protective order issued under PC 136.2 is contempt of court, a misdemeanor, under PC 166(c)(1). An intentional and knowing violation of a domestic violence protective order or a civil harassment order is a misdemeanor under PC 273.6, and disobeying an emergency protective order issued under PC 646.91 is also punishable under PC 166. And repeating the stalking conduct toward the protected person while any qualifying order is in effect is exactly what PC 646.9(b) punishes with two, three or four years in state prison.

A stalking victim can also sue. Civil Code 1708.7 creates a civil claim, the “tort of stalking,” which requires a pattern of conduct intended “to follow, alarm, place under surveillance, or harass the plaintiff,” supported by “independent corroborating evidence,” along with the other elements that statute lists.

If You Are the One Being Stalked

This guide is written mostly for families of people who have been arrested, but the same laws protect people who are being stalked. Call 911 in an emergency; officers can ask a judicial officer for an emergency protective order under PC 646.91. The California Courts self-help pages explain the civil harassment and domestic violence restraining order processes. California’s Safe at Home program, run by the Secretary of State, “offers a substitute mailing address” for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and certain other crimes. After an arrest, the victim resource card must list a phone number to check “bail status” or whether the person has been released (PC 646.93(a)), and after a stalking conviction, a victim who asks can be notified at least 15 days before the person is released from state prison or county jail (PC 646.92).

Consequences Beyond Jail or Prison

The sentence is only part of what a stalking conviction can bring. These are the other consequences written into California law.

• Counseling on probation. If probation is granted, PC 646.9(j) says “it shall be a condition of probation that the person participate in counseling, as designated by the court,” unless the court finds good cause not to require it.
• A no-contact order of up to 10 years. The PC 646.9(k) order described above can outlast the sentence by years.
• Possible sex offender registration. Under PC 646.9(d), “the sentencing court may order a person convicted of a felony under this section to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290.006.” That is not automatic. PC 290.006 allows it only “if the court finds at the time of conviction or sentencing that the person committed the offense as a result of sexual compulsion or for purposes of sexual gratification,” and the court must state its reasons on the record. The person registers as a tier one offender unless the court finds a higher tier is warranted and says why.
• Firearms. A misdemeanor stalking conviction triggers a 10-year firearm ban: PC 29805 lists PC 646.9 among the misdemeanors after which possessing a firearm “within 10 years of the conviction” is a crime. A felony conviction brings the felony firearm ban in PC 29800. During the case, the PC 646.93(c) release conditions already bar firearms and other deadly weapons unless the judge finds good cause.
• Domestic violence terms. When the person stalked falls within Family Code 6211, the PC 1203.097 probation terms described earlier apply.
• Victim notice before release. Under PC 646.92, prison and jail officials must give notice to a victim, family member or witness who asks, “not less than 15 days prior to the release” of a person convicted of stalking.

Immigration Consequences

For anyone who is not a U.S. citizen, a stalking conviction carries serious federal risk. Federal law makes deportable a noncitizen who, after admission, “is convicted of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment” (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(E)(i)). The next paragraph of the same statute covers certain protective order violations. California’s PC 1016.3 requires defense counsel to “provide accurate and affirmative advice about the immigration consequences of a proposed disposition.” Immigration enforcement can also reach the county jail. Under the California Values Act, local agencies may not detain someone “on the basis of a hold request” from immigration authorities (Government Code 7284.6), and Government Code 7282.5 limits when officers may respond to immigration requests for a person’s release date. Its list of qualifying convictions includes “Stalking, as specified in, but not limited to, Section 646.9,” and it also allows that discretion after a magistrate finds probable cause on a felony punishable by state prison. Our guide to immigration bonds and bail bonds explains ICE holds, immigration bonds and how the two systems differ.

Diversion and Clearing the Record

• Misdemeanor diversion is not available. Judge-granted misdemeanor diversion under PC 1001.95 cannot be offered for “A violation of Section 646.9.”
• Mental health diversion may be. Stalking is not on the list of excluded offenses in PC 1001.36. Eligibility still depends on the statute’s other requirements and the court’s findings, including that the person “will not pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety” if treated in the community.
• Dismissal after probation. PC 1203.4 lets a court dismiss a case after probation is completed, and stalking is not among the offenses it excludes. The relief has limits that matter here. A PC 646.9(k) protective order stays “in full effect until expiration or until any further order by the court,” the dismissal “does not permit a person to own, possess, or have custody or control of a firearm,” and in a later case the prior conviction “may be pleaded and proved.”

How Stalking Cases Can End

No article can predict how a particular stalking case will end, and this one does not try. What the law does show is that there are several exits along the way, and a good defense lawyer or public defender will look at each of them.

• No filing, or a misdemeanor filing. The prosecutor can decline to file charges, or can file a PC 646.9(a) case as a misdemeanor under PC 17(b)(4).
• Reduction by the judge. A felony PC 646.9(a) or (c)(1) charge can be reduced to a misdemeanor by the judge under PC 17(b), before trial or when probation is granted. The mandatory felony tiers, PC 646.9(b) and (c)(2), have no misdemeanor option to reduce to.
• A different charge. Because the related offenses in the table above cover similar conduct with different elements, some cases are resolved on a charge other than stalking. Whether that is possible depends on the facts, the person’s record and the prosecutor.
• Mental health diversion. For people who qualify, PC 1001.36 diversion can end with a dismissal. Misdemeanor diversion under PC 1001.95 is not available for stalking.
• Trial. At trial, the prosecutor has to prove each element. Issues a defense lawyer may examine include whether there was a credible threat at all, whether the person intended to cause fear, whether the acts showed a continuity of purpose, whether the contact served a legitimate purpose or was constitutionally protected, who actually controlled the accounts or phone numbers involved, and, for a PC 646.9(b) charge, whether a qualifying court order was actually in effect.

If probation is granted and completed, PC 1203.4 dismissal may be available later, with the limits described above. For how a probation violation is handled if something goes wrong along the way, see our guide to probation violations in California.

How This Plays Out: A Real Case and Four Hypothetical Examples

A Real Case: People v. Uecker (2009)

In People v. Uecker, decided March 24, 2009, by California’s Third District Court of Appeal (No. C058061), the opinion begins: “A jury found defendant Danny Greg Uecker guilty of stalking two women. The trial court found he had four strike priors and sentenced him to 50 years to life in prison.” The 50-years-to-life term reflects the trial court’s findings on his four strike priors; the stalking statute’s own ranges are far lower.

The opinion describes a man who repeatedly showed up where the first woman worked and left her notes, and who called the second woman, a real estate agent, more than 30 times in three weeks despite her wish to cut off contact. The case did not depend on an explicit statement that he would hurt either woman. The court held that the jury could find credible threats implied by the pattern of conduct and the statements together, and it affirmed the convictions. The lesson for families is the one written into PC 646.9(g): a threat “implied by a pattern of conduct” counts.

Hypothetical 1: The Breakup, the Order, and the Felony Line

This example is hypothetical. After a breakup, Daniel sends his former girlfriend dozens of messages over two weeks and waits outside her apartment twice. One message says she will “regret” ignoring him. She reports it, and he is arrested. At arraignment, the judge issues a criminal protective order and releases him with the PC 646.93 conditions. Two weeks later, he messages her again from a new account. The first case may have been filed as a misdemeanor or a felony under PC 646.9(a). Any new stalking conduct toward her while the order is in effect is a different matter: PC 646.9(b) makes it a straight felony with two, three or four years in state prison, the new contact can be charged as a violation of the order, and a sworn declaration about the violation can lead to a no-bail warrant under PC 646.93(c).

Hypothetical 2: Many Calls, No Threat

This example is hypothetical. A man calls a former coworker 25 times in a week, asking why she stopped talking to him. He never threatens her, and nothing about his conduct implies a threat. That pattern may fit PC 653m, which covers repeated calls or electronic contacts made “with intent to annoy or harass.” It may also support a civil harassment restraining order. Without a credible threat, it does not meet PC 646.9. If the calls later include a threat, or he starts turning up at her home, the analysis can change quickly.

Hypothetical 3: A Tracker on the Car

This example is hypothetical. A woman hides a small tracking device in her estranged husband’s car, which is registered only to him, and uses it to appear at places he goes. Using an electronic tracking device to determine a person’s location or movement is a misdemeanor under PC 637.7 unless an exception applies, such as the registered owner, lessor or lessee of the vehicle consenting. If the appearances come with statements or conduct that amount to a credible threat, a stalking charge becomes possible too, and because the two are married, domestic violence rules such as the PC 1203.097 probation terms could also apply if probation is granted.

Hypothetical 4: An Old Felony Criminal Threats Conviction

This example is hypothetical. Years ago, Marcus was convicted of felony criminal threats under PC 422. He is now accused of stalking a neighbor. Because of that prior felony conviction, the stalking charge can be filed under PC 646.9(c)(1), with a prison range of two, three or five years. The county jail alternative of up to one year still exists under that subdivision. If his earlier PC 422 case had ended as a misdemeanor, subdivision (c)(1) would not apply by its terms, although his record could still matter to the bail decision and the sentence.

Stalking Laws Outside California

Other states and the federal government have their own stalking laws, and the details vary.

• Federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. 2261A, a person can be prosecuted for interstate stalking, or for using the mail or online services to stalk, when the statute’s intent and harm requirements are met. The penalties are set in 18 U.S.C. 2261(b).
• Idaho. Bail Hotline also has offices in Boise and Twin Falls. Idaho splits stalking into two degrees. Second-degree stalking under Idaho Code 18-7906 is punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. First-degree stalking under Idaho Code 18-7905 applies when second-degree stalking comes with an aggravating fact, such as violating “a temporary restraining order, protection order, no contact order or injunction,” a victim under 16, possessing “a deadly weapon or instrument,” or a prior stalking conviction within seven years. It “is a felony punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment in the state prison for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”
• Constitutional limits everywhere. The Counterman decision applies nationwide to prosecutions based on threatening statements, including stalking laws that punish threats.

If a loved one was arrested in another state, our guide to bailing someone out of jail in another state explains how that process works.

What the Numbers Show

National survey figures come from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report Stalking Victimization, 2019, published in February 2022. It found that “About 1.3% (3.4 million) of all persons age 16 or older were victims of stalking in 2019,” and that “Less than a third (29%) of all stalking victims reported the victimization to police in 2019.” The report also found that “An estimated 67% of victims of both traditional stalking and stalking with technology were fearful of being killed or physically harmed.”

Two limits matter when reading those numbers. First, they come from a national survey of people describing their own experiences, measured with the survey’s own definition, not from California’s PC 646.9 elements, so they are not a count of cases that would meet California’s legal test. Second, they are national. This guide does not cite a California count of stalking arrests or convictions because we did not find one in the sources reviewed for this update.

What Families Should Do

1. Find out where your loved one is held and what the booking charge is. Our inmate locator guide covers the county and state systems.
2. Write down the exact code section. PC 646.9(a), (b) and (c) carry different ranges, and the subdivision tells you whether the charge can still be a misdemeanor.
3. Expect the PC 1270.1 rule. Before a hearing in open court, release is usually only possible on the scheduled amount. If you want the judge to consider release on other terms, gather what PC 1270.1(c) says the court will consider from the defense side: evidence of “ties to the community and ability to post bond,” such as a job, a stable address and family nearby. Give it to the defense lawyer.
4. Do not carry messages to the person named as the victim. The release conditions bar the defendant from initiating contact “in person, by telephone, or any other means,” and a relayed message can create serious problems for the case and the bond.
5. Read every order, and keep a copy. Note the 100-yard distance, the protected places and whether the order covers social media and third parties. Ask the lawyer how to comply with the firearm restriction.
6. Get a defense lawyer or public defender involved early. Ask about a misdemeanor filing, PC 17(b) reduction, mental health diversion, the protective order terms, and, for noncitizens, immigration consequences before any plea.
7. If you will cosign, understand the agreement first. Our guide to your role as a bail bond co-signer explains what you take on.
8. Keep every court date. A missed date can lead to a warrant and a forfeited bond. See what happens with a failure to appear.
9. Keep records. Save bail paperwork, court notices and copies of every order in one place.
10. If a violation is alleged, act the same day. Call the defense lawyer and your bail agent right away. A declaration that a release condition was broken can lead to a no-bail warrant.

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 bail bond company that has served California families since 2004. We are licensed through our parent company, DMCG, Inc., with the California Department of Insurance (license #1845394). Reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (888) 958-1228.

Stalking Arrest? This Is Where We Help Most

A stalking arrest moves fast and comes with rules most families have never heard of. The charge is on the PC 1270.1 list, so the county’s scheduled amount is often the only way out before a hearing, and that amount can be large: $150,000 on the 2026 Los Angeles felony schedule, and up to $250,000 in Santa Clara County with a prior stalking conviction. Release, when it comes, usually comes with strict no-contact conditions. That is the moment we are built for.

• Jail information quickly, at no charge. Our agents gather inmate information for all jails quickly and at no charge, and every Bail Hotline office holds accounts with the jail systems. We can help you learn where your loved one is held, what the booking charge is, and whether bail has been set.
• Ready on the schedule or after the hearing. Our dedicated posting agents work 24/7, including nights, weekends and holidays. If your family decides to post the scheduled amount, or the judge sets bail at the PC 1270.1 hearing, we are ready to move when you are.
• Large bonds are not an automatic no. Stalking bail can run into six figures, and some cases involve arrests or orders in more than one county. A large, complicated or out-of-county bond is not an automatic no for us.
• Every cosigner is walked through the agreement. Before anyone signs, an agent explains what the cosigner is agreeing to and answers questions. In a stalking case, it helps for the cosigner to know that the release conditions are court orders, and that a declaration that one was broken can lead to a no-bail warrant.
• Warrant walk-throughs. If a warrant was issued in the stalking case, or you suspect an older one, we walk you through the steps to address it. See also our guide to posting bail on an outstanding warrant.

Every case is different. The court decides, through its bail schedule, a magistrate or a judge, whether, when and on what terms someone arrested for stalking is released, and we cannot promise approval, a release time or any result in the case. A bail bond does not change a protective order or any of the release conditions. If the court releases your loved one on their own recognizance, there may be nothing to post.

After Release: Keeping the Case on Track

• Text court-date reminders. We send text reminders of court dates, because a missed date in a stalking case adds a warrant to an already serious situation.
• Signing out of a bond. A cosigner may be able to sign out of a bond that is in good standing, meaning there are no past-due payments and the defendant has not missed court or daily online check-ins. We explain how it works case by case. See our guide to removing a cosigner’s name from a bail bond.

Find more offices in our locations directory, start online with online bail bonds, or read quick answers in our bail FAQ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is stalking a felony in California?

It can be. Basic stalking under PC 646.9(a) is a wobbler that can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. It must be a felony when a restraining order or other court order prohibiting the conduct toward the same person was already in effect, or when the person has a prior felony stalking conviction.

What is the punishment for stalking in California?

As a misdemeanor, up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. As a felony under PC 646.9(a), 16 months, two years or three years in state prison. Stalking with a court order in effect carries two, three or four years, and stalking after certain prior felony convictions carries up to five years. Enhancements, counseling, a no-contact order of up to 10 years and a firearm ban can be added.

What are the elements of stalking in California?

The prosecutor must prove that the person willfully and maliciously harassed someone, or willfully, maliciously and repeatedly followed them, and made a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for their safety or their immediate family’s safety. The threat can be spoken, written, electronic or implied by a pattern of conduct, and the prosecutor does not have to prove the person intended to carry it out.

Is cyberstalking a felony in California?

It can be, because PC 646.9 covers threats made “through the use of an electronic communication device” and harassment that happens online. The same felony rules apply as for any other stalking. Online conduct that does not meet PC 646.9 may still fall under other laws, such as PC 653m for repeated harassing messages or PC 653.2 for posting someone’s information to provoke others.

Is stalking a violent felony or a strike in California?

Stalking is not on California’s serious felony list (PC 1192.7(c)) or its violent felony list (PC 667.5(c)). A felony stalking case can still count as a strike if the defendant personally used a deadly weapon or firearm or personally inflicted great bodily injury, and a separate felony criminal threats conviction under PC 422 is a serious felony.

How much is bail for stalking in California?

It depends on the county and the subdivision charged, and a judge can change the amount after a hearing. On 2026 schedules, felony stalking under PC 646.9(a) was $150,000 in Los Angeles, $100,000 in San Diego, $50,000 in Santa Clara and $20,000 in Orange County, with higher amounts in several counties when a court order was in effect or there was a prior conviction. Under PC 1270.1, release on a different amount or on own recognizance requires a hearing in open court.

Can you get bail for stalking in California?

Usually, yes, but with extra steps. Stalking is a PC 1270.1 charge, so a judge holds a hearing before releasing someone on anything other than the scheduled amount, and the victim may speak at a bail reduction hearing. Release comes with conditions such as no contact and staying 100 yards away, and in some felony cases the California Constitution allows a judge to deny bail when there is clear and convincing evidence of a threat of great bodily harm that the person is likely to carry out.

What is the difference between stalking and harassment in California?

Harassment is part of the definition of stalking, but stalking also requires a credible threat made with the intent to cause reasonable fear. Repeated contact without that threat may be a misdemeanor under PC 653m or grounds for a civil harassment restraining order, but it is not stalking under PC 646.9.

Can a stalking charge be dropped or reduced?

Sometimes. The prosecutor can decline to file or file a misdemeanor, a judge can reduce a felony PC 646.9(a) or (c)(1) charge under PC 17(b), and a case can be resolved on a different charge. Stalking is excluded from misdemeanor diversion under PC 1001.95 but not from mental health diversion under PC 1001.36, if the person otherwise qualifies.

Does a stalking conviction require sex offender registration?

Not automatically. For a felony stalking conviction, PC 646.9(d) lets the judge order registration under PC 290.006, and that statute requires a finding that the offense was committed “as a result of sexual compulsion or for purposes of sexual gratification,” with the reasons stated on the record.

Why We Publish This

Many families first hear the word “stalking” from a booking record or a phone call from jail, and the first question is often whether it is a felony. The honest answer depends on details that are easy to miss, especially whether a court order was already in place. We publish this guide so families can read what the law actually says, understand the bail and protective order rules that come with the charge, and know which questions to bring to a lawyer. This guide is general information, not legal advice. For advice about a specific case, talk to a California criminal defense lawyer or the public defender.

Sources and Further Reading

California stalking statutes (official text)

• Penal Code 646.9 (stalking; amended by SB 221, effective January 1, 2026)
• Penal Code 646.91 (emergency protective orders for stalking)
• Penal Code 646.92 (victim notice before release)
• Penal Code 646.93 (bail hearings and mandatory release conditions)
• Senate Bill 221 (2025) (threats to pets and animals)

Sentencing, bail and related California law

• Penal Code 17, Penal Code 18 and Penal Code 1170 (wobblers, default felony terms, middle-term rule)
• Penal Code 12022, Penal Code 12022.5 and Penal Code 12022.7 (weapon, firearm and great bodily injury enhancements)
• Penal Code 1192.7 and Penal Code 667.5 (serious and violent felony lists)
• Penal Code 825, Penal Code 1270.1 and Penal Code 1275 (first appearance, bail hearings, public safety)
• California Constitution, article I, section 12 (bail and its exceptions)
• Penal Code 653m, Penal Code 653.2, Penal Code 422, Penal Code 273.6 and Penal Code 637.7 (related offenses)
• Penal Code 136.2 (criminal protective orders), Penal Code 166 (contempt, including violating a criminal protective order), Code of Civil Procedure 527.6 (civil harassment orders), Family Code 6320 and Family Code 6211 (domestic violence orders and definition)
• Civil Code 1708.7 (the civil tort of stalking)
• Penal Code 1203.097 (domestic violence probation terms)
• Penal Code 290.006 (court-ordered registration)
• Penal Code 29800 and Penal Code 29805 (firearm prohibitions)
• Penal Code 1001.95 and Penal Code 1001.36 (misdemeanor and mental health diversion)
• Penal Code 1203.4 (dismissal after probation)
• Penal Code 1016.3 (immigration advice), Government Code 7282.5 and Government Code 7284.6 (California Values Act)

Jury instructions and court decisions

• CALCRIM No. 1301, Stalking (Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instructions)
• People v. Uecker (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 583
• Counterman v. Colorado (2023) 600 U.S. 66

2026 county bail schedules

• Los Angeles Superior Court 2026 Felony Bail Schedule and 2026 Misdemeanor Bail Schedule
• Orange County Superior Court 2026 Bail Schedule
• San Diego Superior Court Bail Schedule, effective January 1, 2026
• Santa Clara Superior Court 2026 Criminal Bail Schedule

Help for people being stalked

• California Courts: civil harassment restraining orders
• California Courts: domestic violence restraining orders
• California Secretary of State: Safe at Home

Federal law, other states and data

• 18 U.S.C. 2261A (federal stalking)
• 8 U.S.C. 1227 (deportable offenses)
• Idaho Code 18-7905 and Idaho Code 18-7906 (Idaho stalking)
• Bureau of Justice Statistics, Stalking Victimization, 2019 (February 2022)

Updated September 2026. Written for California parents and for teens and young adults who want the real rules, not the rumors. The law here is checked against the current Penal Code, Health and Safety Code, Education Code, and Welfare and Institutions Code on the Legislature’s official site, and the numbers come from the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey and the 2024 California Youth Tobacco Survey. If your question is about Texas, Idaho, Florida, or federal law, jump to the out-of-state section.

Quick answer: In California, a teen who is caught with a nicotine vape has not committed a crime or an infraction just by having it or using it. That surprises most people, because you must be 21 to buy one. The age-21 law punishes the store or the person who sells or gives the vape, not the young person. California deleted its old penalty for minors (a $75 fine or 30 hours of community service) in 2016. The real consequences for a teen are elsewhere. At school, vaping is a ground for discipline, including suspension, although the state now tells schools to use suspension only as a last resort. Vaping in certain places is an infraction for anyone of any age, such as within 25 feet of a playground ($250). A THC (cannabis) vape is different: it is an infraction for anyone under 21, with drug education and community service for teens under 18. And a vape can lead to an arrest when something else is going on, like a fake ID, selling to classmates, or a warrant from a ticket that was ignored. At 18, 19, or 20, that arrest happens in the adult system.

Caught Vaping in California 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: Is it illegal? | Caught at school | Caught by police or in public | THC vapes | Can a teen be arrested? | Ages 18 to 20 | Adults and stores | The numbers | Real cases | In their words | Outside California | Local rules | What parents should do | How Bail Hotline can help | FAQ

Is It Illegal to Vape Under 18 in California?

Buying is illegal. Having and using, by themselves, are not. That is the single most misunderstood point about California’s vape laws, and it is where most articles online (including an older version of this one) get it wrong.

21 is a sales age, not a possession age

California raised its tobacco age from 18 to 21 in 2016. The bill that did it, SBX2-7, was signed on May 4, 2016 and took effect June 9, 2016. It did two things at once. It made it illegal to sell or give tobacco products to anyone under 21, and it deleted the old penalty on young people. The Legislative Counsel’s summary of the bill describes the old law, which made it “a crime, punishable by a fine of $75 or 30 hours of community service work, for a person under 18 years of age to purchase, receive, or possess certain tobacco products.” Then it says: “This bill would delete those provisions.”

What is left is Penal Code 308, which is aimed entirely at the supply side. It covers a person who “sells, gives, or in any way furnishes to another person who is under 21 years of age” any tobacco product. There is no longer any section of state law that fines a teen for holding a vape.

Public health groups track this. The Tobacco 21 campaign’s California grade card puts it plainly: “California does not have any laws to penalize youth for purchase, use, or possession (PUP) of tobacco products” (Tobacco 21).

That does not mean there are no consequences. It means the consequences come from three other places: school rules, place-based smoking laws that apply to everyone, and anything else the teen was doing at the time. The rest of this guide takes those one at a time.

How old do you have to be to buy a vape in California?

Twenty-one. There is one narrow state-law exception: PC 308 “does not apply to the sale, giving, or furnishing” of tobacco products “to active duty military personnel who are 18 years of age or older,” with a military ID as proof of age. That exception protects the seller, and it does not help much in practice, because the federal Tobacco 21 law has no military exception. The FDA says: “No, the law does not provide any exemptions from the new federal minimum age of 21 for the sale of tobacco products” (FDA).

Online sellers are covered too. Anyone shipping tobacco products to a California address must verify the buyer is 21 or older, ship in a box marked “CONTAINS TOBACCO PRODUCTS: SIGNATURE OF PERSON 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY,” and get the signature of a person 21 or older at delivery (B&P 22963).

What counts as a “vape” under California law

The state’s definition of “tobacco product” includes “an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette, cigar, pipe, or hookah,” plus any part or accessory (B&P 22950.5(d)). Two details matter for families:

• “Nicotine-free” devices still count. The words “or other vaporized liquids” mean the device itself is a tobacco product under this definition even if the liquid has no nicotine.
• Synthetic nicotine counts. The flavor law defines nicotine as “any form of the chemical nicotine,” whether “naturally or synthetically derived,” including “nicotine analogs” (Health and Safety Code 104559.5).

One more correction. You will see older articles say that Business and Professions Code 22950.5 lists the places where vaping is banned. It does not. That section is a list of definitions. The place rules live in other laws, covered below.

What the flavor ban does and does not do

California banned the retail sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored vapes and menthol, through SB 793 (2020). A tobacco-industry referendum put the law on hold until voters upheld it as Proposition 31 in November 2022, and stores had to comply by December 21, 2022 at the latest (CDTFA notice L-885). Two 2024 laws, AB 3218 and SB 1230, took effect January 1, 2025 (CDPH). They created an Attorney General’s Unflavored Tobacco List (anything not on the list is treated as flavored), raised penalties on stores, and let state inspectors seize flavored products.

The ban is written for sellers: “A tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer’s agents or employees, shall not sell, offer for sale, or possess with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product” (HSC 104559.5(b)(1)). It does not make it a crime or an infraction for a teen or an adult to have a flavored vape.

A bill to ban disposable vapes, AB 762, passed the Legislature in August 2026 and was presented to the Governor on September 3, 2026. As of this update it is not law. Under the state Constitution, the Governor has until September 30, 2026 to act on it. Like the flavor ban, it is aimed at manufacturers, importers, and sellers, not at people who use vapes.

Caught Vaping at School

For most teens, this is where “getting caught” actually happens, and it is where the real consequences are.

What the school can do

Every California school must ban tobacco and vaping on campus. The Education Code says “No school shall permit the smoking or use of a tobacco product by pupils” on campus or at school activities, and it uses the same definition that covers vapes (Ed Code 48901). A separate law makes all school district property tobacco-free for everyone, adults included: “The use of tobacco and nicotine products is prohibited at any time” in district buildings, on district property, and in district vehicles (Health and Safety Code 104559).

Vaping is one of the listed grounds for suspension. A student can be disciplined if they “Possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or nicotine products” (Ed Code 48900(h)(1)). The conduct has to be connected to school, which the law defines broadly: on school grounds, going to or coming from school, during lunch “whether on or off the campus,” and at school-sponsored activities (Ed Code 48900(s)).

Why suspension is supposed to be the last step

California law puts real limits on how schools use that power:

• Other options first. “Suspension, including supervised suspension as described in Section 48911.1, shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct” (Ed Code 48900.5). Those other means include parent conferences, counseling, and restorative programs.
• Alternatives are encouraged. Principals are “encouraged to provide alternatives to suspension or expulsion” that are “designed to address and correct the pupil’s specific misbehavior” (Ed Code 48900(v)).
• Asking for help is protected. Since January 1, 2025, “Pupils who voluntarily disclose their use of a tobacco product in order to seek help through services or supports shall not be suspended solely for that disclosure” (Ed Code 48900(h)(2), added by AB 2711). A teen who walks into the counselor’s office and says “I’m hooked and I want to stop” cannot be suspended for saying so.
• Expulsion for nicotine is a last resort. Tobacco and nicotine are not on the list of offenses where a principal must recommend expulsion (Ed Code 48915). A school board can expel for a tobacco or nicotine violation only if it finds that other means of correction are not feasible or have repeatedly failed, or that the student’s presence is a continuing danger to physical safety (Ed Code 48915(e)). That is rare.

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction has been direct about it. In a December 12, 2025 letter to every district, Tony Thurmond wrote: “Suspension should be considered only as a last resort within a tiered intervention approach.” The letter points schools to YVAPE, a free program run by UC San Diego that it describes as “a free, evidence-informed alternative to suspension that offers live phone and video coaching support to students who have been found using nicotine or marijuana on campus” (California Department of Education). Many districts also use Stanford’s Healthy Futures course, which the Stanford REACH Lab describes as “an educational opportunity in lieu of a suspension (alternative to suspension) for first time offenses” (Stanford Medicine).

What a family actually sees varies by district. A first offense often means the vape is taken, a parent gets a call, and the student is assigned YVAPE, Healthy Futures, or a counseling session. Repeat offenses are more likely to bring suspension. Ask for your district’s written tobacco policy; TUPE-funded districts are required to have one (Health and Safety Code 104420).

Can the school search a backpack or a phone?

Stopping and questioning. The California Supreme Court has held that school officials can call a student out of class and question them without a specific suspicion. The court held that “detentions of minor students on school grounds do not offend the Constitution, so long as they are not arbitrary, capricious, or for the purposes of harassment,” and that reasonable suspicion “need not be shown” (In re Randy G. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 556). That is why a vape detector alert can lead to a student being pulled from class.

Searching belongings. A search needs more. Public school officials must have “a reasonable suspicion that the student or students to be searched have engaged, or are engaging, in a proscribed activity,” and “There must be articulable facts supporting that reasonable suspicion” (In re William G. (1985) 40 Cal.3d 550). The same opinion says a search is unlawful “if predicated on mere curiosity, rumor, or hunch.” Because vaping breaks school rules, a staff member who saw a student vaping, or smelled it on them right after a detector alert in a bathroom they had just left, will usually meet that standard for a bag search. The U.S. Supreme Court set the same basic rule in a case that began with a student caught smoking in a school bathroom (New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)).

Strip searches are banned. School employees may not remove or arrange a student’s clothing to see their underclothing, or conduct body cavity searches (Ed Code 49050).

Phones are different. California’s electronic privacy law generally bars government entities from accessing the contents of a phone without a warrant, the specific consent of the person lawfully holding the phone (usually the student), or an emergency (PC 1546.1), and public school districts appear to fit the law’s definition of a government entity (a state agency or “a political subdivision thereof”). Holding a phone under a school phone policy is not the same as going through it. We found no published California appeals decision applying this law to a school phone search, so if it comes up, talk to a lawyer.

Does it go on a record?

A school suspension goes in the student’s school discipline record. It is not a criminal record, and a nicotine vape on its own does not create one, because it is not an offense. Things change only if a separate offense is involved, which the next sections cover.

Caught Vaping by Police or in Public

A police officer who finds a 16-year-old or a 19-year-old holding a nicotine vape has no state offense to write a ticket for, because possession and use by young people are not penalized. What an officer can cite is vaping in a place where state or local law bans it for everyone. These rules apply at any age:

For a minor, an infraction ticket goes to juvenile court or to a juvenile hearing officer, who can hear “any infraction” for minors ages 12 to 17 (WIC 256). For an 18 to 20 year old, it goes to the regular traffic and infraction court.

Two things turn a simple encounter into something bigger: when the vape turns out to hold THC, and when the officer finds or learns about something else. Both are covered next.

THC Vapes Are a Different Story

Parents often cannot tell a nicotine vape from a THC (cannabis) cartridge by looking. The law treats them very differently. Cannabis is legal only at 21 and older (HSC 11362.1), and under 21 possession of up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis (which is what a typical cartridge holds) is an infraction (HSC 11357(a)):

There is no fine for a teen under 18; the law requires education and service instead. Vaping cannabis in public, or anywhere tobacco smoking is banned, is a separate infraction (HSC 11362.3, 11362.4).

Three more differences matter:

• School discipline can be heavier. The Education Code’s expulsion list includes unlawful possession of a controlled substance, with an exception for a first offense of up to an ounce of marijuana “other than concentrated cannabis” (Ed Code 48915(a)(1)(C)). Read literally, a THC cartridge does not fall under that first-offense exception. A principal still does not have to recommend expulsion if an alternative would address the conduct, and many use YVAPE for cannabis too, but a THC vape at school is more serious than a nicotine one.
• No driver’s license suspension. You may read that a teen caught with cannabis loses their license for a year. Under the current Vehicle Code, the one-year suspension for drivers under 21 applies to alcohol and drug driving offenses such as DUI, not to a cannabis possession infraction (Vehicle Code 13202.5(d)).
• The records do not last. Court and agency records of these possession offenses “shall not be kept beyond two years” from the conviction (or arrest, if there was no conviction). For a minor’s school-grounds offense, the records are kept until age 18 and then destroyed (HSC 11361.5).

There is also a health reason to know what is in the device. During the 2019 to 2020 outbreak of vaping-related lung injury (EVALI), the CDC counted 2,807 hospitalized cases or deaths, including 68 deaths, as of February 18, 2020. It found that “Vitamin E acetate is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak,” and among patients who reported using THC products and said where they got them, 78% said they got them only from informal sources such as friends, dealers, or online (CDC). A cartridge from a friend or a stranger is not a regulated product.

Can a Teen Be Arrested for Vaping?

Not for a nicotine vape alone. Apart from a violation of a juvenile court order or a minor who needs medical care, police can take a minor into temporary custody only with “reasonable cause for believing” the minor is a person described in Section 601 (a status offense such as habitual truancy or running away) or 602 (breaking a criminal law) of the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC 625). Holding a nicotine vape is neither.

A teen can be taken into custody when the vape is connected to something else. Common examples:

• A fake ID. Knowingly possessing a fake government ID is a misdemeanor with a fine of $1,000 to $2,500, which a court may let the person work off with community service (PC 529.5(c)).
• Selling or supplying to other students. Giving or selling tobacco products to anyone under 21 is covered by PC 308, and selling cannabis to minors is far more serious. The Livermore case below shows how quickly this escalates.
• Taking a vape without paying. Shoplifting is theft, whatever the item is.
• A THC vape on campus or a larger amount of cannabis.
• An old warrant or a violation of probation.

What happens after a minor is detained

California’s juvenile system works very differently from adult jail, and it does not run on money bail.

1. The officer must advise the teen of their rights when taking them into custody on suspicion of a 601 or 602 offense, including the right to remain silent and the right to have a lawyer present during questioning (WIC 625).
2. The officer should choose the least restrictive option. Options include releasing the teen, referring them to a counseling or diversion program, writing a notice to appear before the probation officer, or taking them to probation. The law tells officers to prefer “the alternative which least restricts the minor’s freedom of movement” (WIC 626).
3. Probation must release the teen to a parent unless it can show one of the specific reasons for holding them, such as a need for protection or a risk that the teen will flee (WIC 628).
4. A 48-hour limit. A detained minor “shall be released within 48 hours after having been taken into custody, excluding nonjudicial days, unless within that period of time a petition to declare the minor a ward has been filed” (WIC 631).
5. Informal handling is common for minor matters. Instead of filing a petition, probation may, with the consent of the teen and a parent, refer the teen to services such as a health agency, community group, or school program (WIC 654).
6. Success can erase the case. When a teen satisfactorily completes court-supervised informal supervision or probation, the court “shall order the petition dismissed,” and the records are sealed (some serious offenses committed at 14 or older are excluded), so “the arrest and other proceedings in the case shall be deemed not to have occurred” (WIC 786).
7. Juvenile files are confidential. Only people listed in the statute, such as the court, the teen, parents, lawyers, and probation, may inspect a juvenile case file (WIC 827).

What about bail for a minor? Parents sometimes call a bail company when a teen is picked up. In California’s juvenile system, release decisions are made under these Welfare and Institutions Code sections, not through a bail bond. The California Supreme Court has said it would “decline to consider whether juveniles are constitutionally entitled to bail,” but it held that the juvenile law does not allow detaining minors “for the protection of society in situations in which an adult would be entitled to bail pending trial” (In re William M. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 16). If your child is 17 or younger, your first calls are to the probation department and a lawyer or the public defender, not a bail agent.

Caught Vaping at 18, 19, or 20

This is the group the “caught vaping under 21” searches are really about, and the rules are simple once you separate them:

• Having or using a nicotine vape: legal. There is no state penalty for an 18 to 20 year old who holds or uses one.
• Buying one: the store breaks the law, not the buyer. But the person is still legally an adult, so if they use a fake ID, that is an adult misdemeanor under PC 529.5(c).
• A THC vape: an infraction with a fine up to $100 (HSC 11357(a)(2)), or a misdemeanor on K-12 school grounds during school hours.
• Giving a vape to a younger friend or sibling: PC 308 applies, even between friends, because it covers anyone who “gives, or in any way furnishes” a tobacco product to someone under 21.

The biggest difference from a 17-year-old is where the case goes. An 18-year-old is handled in adult court, and an arrest means adult jail. Most low-level arrests end with a written promise to appear. For an infraction, the officer generally must release the person once they show ID and sign a promise to appear, and can take them into custody only if they refuse to sign or cannot be identified (PC 853.5); for most misdemeanors, release on a citation is required unless an exception applies (PC 853.6).

Do not ignore the citation. Anyone who “willfully violates his or her written promise to appear” in court “is guilty of a misdemeanor, regardless of the disposition of the charge upon which he or she was originally arrested” (PC 853.7). A $100 cannabis ticket that gets tossed in a drawer can turn into a new misdemeanor and a bench warrant. If that has already happened, see our guide to clearing an outstanding warrant.

When an 18 to 20 year old is booked on something more serious, such as selling to minors, the path is the adult one: a judge’s bail schedule, a possible release on own recognizance, and an arraignment. Our guide to how long it takes to see a judge walks through the timeline, and how to find out if someone is in jail covers the first step.

What Happens to the Adult or Store That Supplied the Vape

California puts the legal weight on the supply side.

Parents, older siblings, and friends

PC 308(a) applies to “a person” who sells, gives, or furnishes a tobacco product to someone under 21. The penalty is a misdemeanor or a civil action, “punishable by a fine of two hundred dollars ($200) for the first offense, five hundred dollars ($500) for the second offense, and one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the third offense.” The statute has no exception for parents or for gifts. On its face, a parent who hands a vape to their own 19-year-old is covered.

You will also read that giving a vape to a teen is “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” under PC 272. That law covers acts that cause or encourage a person under 18 to come within the juvenile court’s jurisdiction, and it carries up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Since a teen’s nicotine vape is no longer an offense, PC 308 is the direct statute for a nicotine vape. PC 272 is much more likely to come into play with cannabis or other conduct that would bring the teen into juvenile court. PC 272 also says a parent “shall have the duty to exercise reasonable care, supervision, protection, and control over their minor child.”

Stores

Retailers face the heaviest penalties. Under the state’s STAKE Act, an enforcing agency can assess civil penalties against a store that sells to anyone under 21 of $1,000 to $1,500 for a first violation and $2,000 to $3,000 for a second at the same location within five years, rising from there, with a 45-day license suspension for a third violation, 90 days for a fourth, and revocation for a fifth (B&P 22958, as raised by SB 1230 effective January 1, 2025). The business penalty under PC 308 is $500, $1,000, and then $5,000.

These penalties are enforced with underage decoys. In the Attorney General’s first statewide retail sweep, announced October 23, 2024, officers ran minor decoy checks at 245 locations. In the 85 decoy operations run by the state’s Office of Youth Tobacco Enforcement, six stores sold to the underage decoy, a 7% violation rate. The state also awarded $28.5 million in grants to 76 local agencies for enforcement (California Attorney General). The decoy is never the one cited. The clerk and the store are.

The biggest cases have been against companies. In April 2023, California and other states announced a $462 million settlement with JUUL, with California’s share at $175.8 million. Attorney General Rob Bonta said: “By using advertising and marketing strategies to lure young people to its products, JUUL put the health and safety of its vulnerable targets and the California public at risk” (California Attorney General). In December 2023 the state sued two online e-cigarette sellers over, among other things, failing to verify customers’ ages (California Attorney General).

The Numbers: How Many Teens Vape, and What Actually Works

Nationally. In the 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey, “5.2% of middle and high school students (1.44 million) reported current use of e-cigarettes,” meaning use in the past 30 days. That was 7.1% of high school students and 2.6% of middle school students. Among teens who vape, 66.3% mostly used disposables, 89.4% used flavored products, and 27.5% vaped every day. The most-used brand was Geek Bar, reported by 64.1% of current youth users (FDA, June 23, 2026). A year earlier, the 2024 survey found 5.9% overall and 7.8% of high school students (CDC MMWR, September 5, 2024). A second national survey, Monitoring the Future, found that 9% of eighth graders, 14% of 10th graders, and 20% of 12th graders vaped nicotine in the past 12 months in 2025 (NIDA, December 17, 2025).

In California. The state’s own survey covers 10th and 12th graders. In 2024, “16 percent of high school students have tried vaping and 5 percent currently vape,” down from 18.3% and 5.9% in 2023 (California Department of Education, December 12, 2025). Vapes are still the most common tobacco product among California high school students, and even after the flavor ban, “84.5 percent” of California high school tobacco users “reported using any flavored tobacco product in 2024” (CDPH, California Tobacco Facts and Figures 2025). The California survey does not include middle schoolers, and the two surveys use different grades and methods, so they should not be compared point for point.

Where young people get them. In California’s 2024 Synar Tobacco Purchase Survey, which sends decoys ages 16 to 20 to try to buy tobacco in stores, “The overall retailer violation rate for 2024 was 18.9 percent,” meaning nearly one in five stores checked sold to a decoy under 21 (same CDPH report).

Do penalties on teens work? The research does not show that fining young people reduces use. A widely cited review in the journal Tobacco Control concluded that youth possession laws “lack important features required for punishment to be effective in changing behaviour” and that violations “seem difficult to detect” (Wakefield and Giovino, 2003). The Public Health Law Center, reviewing the field in 2022, wrote: “No research to date clearly demonstrates that youth PUP penalties reduce youth use of tobacco products” (Public Health Law Center). That is a large part of why California aims its enforcement at sellers.

What does work: help quitting. In a randomized trial of 1,503 teens ages 13 to 17 who vaped, published in JAMA in September 2024, 37.8% of teens who got an interactive text message quit program reported not vaping at seven months, compared with 28.0% in the control group (Graham et al., JAMA 2024). California’s free quit line, Kick It California, serves teens as well as adults at 800-300-8086 (Kick It California).

Why parents worry. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2016 report on e-cigarettes found that “Nicotine exposure during adolescence can cause addiction and can harm the developing adolescent brain” (Surgeon General, 2016).

How This Plays Out: Real California Cases

The backpack search (1985). An assistant principal saw 16-year-old William walking across campus during class with a small calculator case that had an odd bulge. William tried to hide it and would not hand it over. The administrator forced it open and found marijuana. The California Supreme Court threw out the evidence because the administrator had no specific facts pointing to wrongdoing, only a hunch, and set the “reasonable suspicion” standard that still governs school searches, including searches for vapes (In re William G.).

The pocket check (2001). A campus security officer saw a 14-year-old in an area that was off-limits between classes, nervously adjusting his pocket. She later called him out of class, and a patdown found a knife. The California Supreme Court held that schools can stop and question students without reasonable suspicion as long as it is not arbitrary or harassing, which is the rule behind being pulled from class after a vape alert (In re Randy G.). We found no published California appeals decision involving a vape itself; most vape cases end at the school office.

The 20-year-old supplier (2024). In November 2024, Livermore police said a 20-year-old Tracy man had been arrested after the department’s school resource sergeant “received complaints from parents and school staff about a person selling nicotine vapes, marijuana vapes, marijuana, and psilocybin chocolate bars to minors as young as 12 years old at local middle and high schools.” Police said he used a 13-year-old to help distribute, and the case was referred to the Alameda County District Attorney (City of Livermore). These are allegations, and he is presumed innocent. The case shows the line where “vaping” stops being a school problem: an adult supplying minors faces adult charges.

The bathroom detectors (2019). Placerville schools used a $395,000 grant from Proposition 56 tobacco tax money to install vape detectors that send real-time alerts to staff. “We have issues every week that we are dealing with vaping devices in the schools,” Placerville Police Commander Kim Nida told CBS13 (CBS Sacramento, September 19, 2019).

The vape shop seizure (2025). On March 21, 2025, state tax inspectors seized 1,123 nicotine vape products, 1,585 flavor enhancer units, and 34 cannabis vapes from a Sacramento vape shop for violating the flavor ban and other laws (CDTFA). No minors were involved in that notice. It shows what enforcement looks like: at the counter, not in a teen’s pocket.

In Their Words

A student. “When I got to vaping, I could physically do it anytime, anywhere and it wouldn’t matter, and so you get used to just sipping on it.” (A San Jose high school senior who asked not to be named, KQED, April 2018)

A young adult who quit. “I decided to quit when I realized I didn’t want to be the kind of person who’s dependent on vaping.” (Bobby Vega, 24, in a California Department of Public Health campaign, CDPH, August 9, 2021)

A student outside California. “Yes I stopped, but it wasn’t a good stop. I didn’t get no support.” (Laila Gutierrez, 18, a student in Phoenix, Arizona, on being suspended for vaping, The 74, November 19, 2025)

The state’s schools chief. “Suspension should be considered only as a last resort within a tiered intervention approach.” (Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, December 12, 2025)

A Stanford researcher. “Nicotine literally changes the structure and chemistry of your brain. Adolescents are much more likely to become addicted, and the industry knows this.” And on how adults should respond: “We have to hear and see them, rather than shut them down.” (Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Stanford Medicine, Stanford Report, August 21, 2025)

A police officer focused on education. “When they learn about the health risks associated with vaping, it will open up their eyes drastically and that will hopefully empower them to take that step to say it’s not worth it.” (Officer Bethany Ulm, Placerville Police Department, CBS Sacramento, September 19, 2019)

The author of the flavor ban, arguing for firmer rules. “This is affecting our youth. The gateway is the flavored product, and we can’t leave it to the industry to police themselves, because they failed to do that.” (State Sen. Jerry Hill, CalMatters, February 4, 2020)

A legislator calling for tougher penalties. “Since 74% of kids report buying their own e-cigarette products at retail locations, we need to enact harsher penalties on retailers who are caught selling these products to underage users.” (Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, CalMatters commentary, August 19, 2019; the statistic is his, from 2019)

The Attorney General. “We will take every legal action against anyone that uses unlawful practices to lure our kids into harmful addiction for their own profit.” (Rob Bonta, December 14, 2023)

Notice where the firmest voices point. The California officials who want tougher consequences want them for the companies and stores that sell to kids. We did not find a California official on record arguing for fining teens again.

Outside California: Federal Law, Texas, Idaho, and Florida

If your teen lives in, visits, or goes to school in another state, the answer can flip. Bail Hotline has offices in Idaho, and many California families have relatives in Texas, so here is how they compare.

Federal law. Tobacco 21 was signed December 20, 2019. The FDA says “It is unlawful for any retailer to sell a tobacco product to any person younger than 21 years of age,” and that includes nicotine from any source. Retailers must check photo ID for anyone under 30 (FDA). Federal law puts no penalty on the young person. The FDA’s enforcement targets sellers and illegal products; in September 2025 the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the seizure in Chicago of 4.7 million illegal e-cigarettes worth an estimated $86.5 million, which they called the largest seizure of its kind (FDA).

Texas. A person under 21 “commits an offense if the individual” possesses, buys, uses, or accepts an e-cigarette, and “An offense under this section is punishable by a fine not to exceed $100.” The court must order an e-cigarette and tobacco awareness program, may require a parent to attend, and dismisses a first offense once the class is done. A conviction can be expunged at 21. Texas schools are stricter than California’s: since June 20, 2025, a student caught vaping at school may be sent to a disciplinary alternative school, and a first-time offender who is not must get at least 10 school days of in-school suspension (Texas Education Code 37.006).

Idaho. Idaho’s age is 21, and “It shall be unlawful for a minor to possess, receive, purchase, use, or consume tobacco products or electronic smoking devices.” A violation is an infraction “punishable by a fine of seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($17.50),” and the court may require the young person, and parents of anyone under 18, to attend an awareness program or perform community service (Idaho Code 39-5703). Idaho defines “minor” for this purpose as anyone under 21 (Idaho Code 39-5702). An Idaho 19-year-old holding a vape commits an infraction. A California 19-year-old holding the same vape does not.

Florida. It is “unlawful for any person under 21 years of age to knowingly possess any nicotine product,” a term that includes e-cigarettes and other vapes, and it is a noncriminal violation carrying 16 hours of community service or a $25 fine, and a court can suspend a driver’s license if the young person does not comply (Fla. Stat. 569.42 and 569.31; 569.11 sets the same rule for traditional tobacco).

Local Rules: California Cities and Counties That Go Further

State law sets the floor. Many California cities and counties have added their own rules on top, mostly about what stores can sell. A few go further and penalize young people. The table below lists the places where the local rule differs from state law in a way a family might notice. The rules were checked against each city’s or county’s own pages where possible, and against the statewide flavored tobacco policy tracker published through California’s tobacco control program (January 2024). Local rules change; confirm with the city before relying on one.

Two notes on the youth rules in Santa Clara and Loomis. First, they are rare and contested. Public health groups, including the Tobacco-Free Coalition of Santa Clara County and the American Cancer Society, opposed Santa Clara’s when it passed, and most local tobacco ordinances we reviewed target sellers instead. Second, state law says cities and counties “shall not adopt any ordinance or regulation inconsistent with” PC 308 (PC 308(d)). We did not find a published court decision on whether a youth possession ordinance conflicts with it. If a young person gets one of these local citations, it is worth asking a lawyer.

Where to get local help

Each county listed below runs a state-funded tobacco control program, and many school systems offer an alternative to suspension. These are the resources in several of the largest counties, plus the statewide options that work anywhere.

What Parents Should Do If a Teen Is Caught Vaping

1. Take a breath before the conversation. Your teen is not facing a criminal charge for a nicotine vape. That gives you room to focus on their health rather than on panic.
2. Find out what was in it. A THC cartridge changes the legal picture and the school discipline picture, and an unregulated one carries health risks. Ask directly, and ask the school what it found.
3. Get the school’s decision in writing. Ask whether the incident was handled under Ed Code 48900(h), what the consequence is, and whether an alternative such as YVAPE or Healthy Futures is available instead of suspension. Remember that the school must try other means of correction before suspending (Ed Code 48900.5).
4. Tell your teen that asking for help is safe. Under Ed Code 48900(h)(2), a student who voluntarily tells the school they use tobacco in order to get help cannot be suspended solely for that disclosure.
5. Get quit help that works. Kick It California (800-300-8086) is free for teens. The research on text message quit programs for teens is encouraging.
6. Do not supply vapes, even to an 18, 19, or 20 year old. PC 308 has no parent exception.
7. If police were involved, find out whether the teen was cited, and for what. For a minor, remember the rights advisement under WIC 625 and that release to a parent is the norm (WIC 628). A lawyer or the public defender’s juvenile unit can explain options such as informal handling under WIC 654.
8. If your child is 18 or older and was arrested, find out where they were booked and whether they were cited and released. If there is bail, read the next section.
9. Never let a citation go unanswered. Willfully missing the court date on a written promise to appear is a separate misdemeanor (PC 853.7).

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.

When “caught vaping” turns into an arrest: this is where we do our best work

Most vaping stories end at the principal’s office. The ones that do not tend to look alike. A young person who just turned 18 is stopped with a THC cartridge and a fake ID. A 19-year-old ignores a ticket, and a traffic stop months later turns up a warrant. A 20-year-old passes vapes to younger kids and ends up in an adult jail for the first time. The parents who call are usually just as new to this as their kids. They are scared, they do not know the words, and the person they are worried about is legally an adult even though, to them, he is still a kid.

That moment, when a young person’s first real mistake meets the adult system, is where a bail company should be at its best, and it is where we work hardest.

• We explain what is actually happening. Citation release, own recognizance, and bail are three different things. We walk families through which one applies, what the booking record means, and what happens at the first court date.
• We move day and night. Our posting agents work 24/7, so a young person does not have to sit in jail longer than necessary because it is 2 a.m. or a Sunday.
• We walk parents through cosigning before they sign. Many of our cosigners are parents doing this for the first time. We go through the agreement line by line, so nobody finds out what they promised after something goes wrong.
• We help clear warrants the right way. If a missed court date on a citation turned into a warrant, we walk clients through clearing it step by step, which is often the fastest way to keep one mistake from becoming two.
• We help them make every court date. Clients get text reminders of their court dates, because a missed date is what turns a small case into a bigger one.

Every case is different, and the judge makes the final decision. We cannot promise a result, and a pattern of willful conduct, such as repeatedly supplying minors, is treated very differently from a first mistake. But a first arrest that is handled quickly and honestly is very often something a young person can put behind them.

If your child is 17 or younger

We will tell you the truth: California’s juvenile system does not use bail bonds. Your first calls should be to the probation department that has your child and to a lawyer or the public defender. If the case is later moved to adult court, or if an older sibling or friend was arrested in the same incident, we are here.

Before and during a case

• Cosigning. Our guide to your role as a bail bond cosigner explains the promise before you make it.
• If something goes wrong. A missed court date or a new arrest while out on bail is often fixable if it is handled fast. Our guide to what happens if a bond is revoked covers the rules.
• Out of county or complicated? 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 happens if you get caught vaping under 18 in California?

Legally, nothing happens just for having or using a nicotine vape, because California deleted its penalty for minors in 2016. If you are caught at school, you can be disciplined under Ed Code 48900(h), from a counseling session or an alternative program up to suspension, and the vape will usually be taken. Vaping in certain places, such as within 25 feet of a playground, is a $250 infraction for anyone. A THC vape is an infraction with drug education and community service.

What happens if you get caught vaping under 21 in California?

If you are 18, 19, or 20, having or using a nicotine vape is legal; only buying it is restricted, and the store is the one penalized. A fake ID used to buy one is an adult misdemeanor with a $1,000 to $2,500 fine under PC 529.5(c). A THC vape is an infraction with a fine up to $100.

Can you go to jail for vaping underage?

Not for a nicotine vape alone. Jail or juvenile hall comes into play only when something else is involved, such as a fake ID, selling to other minors, theft, a larger amount of cannabis, or a warrant for missing court on a citation. Even then, most minors are released to a parent, and most adults cited for low-level offenses are released on a written promise to appear.

Can a minor get a ticket for vaping in California?

Only for vaping in a place where it is banned for everyone, such as near a playground or youth sports event (HSC 104495) or in a car with a minor present (HSC 118948), or under a local ordinance. There is no state ticket for a minor simply having a nicotine vape. A THC vape can bring a cannabis infraction.

How old do you have to be to buy a vape in California?

Twenty-one. State law excuses a seller who sells to active-duty military members 18 or older with a military ID, but federal Tobacco 21 has no military exception, so stores must follow the age of 21 for everyone.

What happens if you get caught vaping at school in California?

The school can discipline you under Ed Code 48900(h). State law requires schools to try other means of correction before suspension, and the State Superintendent told schools in December 2025 that suspension should be a last resort, pointing them to the free YVAPE program. Expulsion for nicotine vaping is allowed only in narrow cases, such as when other means of correction have repeatedly failed. A THC vape can be treated more seriously.

Do parents get in trouble if their child is caught vaping?

Not for the child’s vaping. Parents can get in trouble for supplying it: PC 308 makes it a misdemeanor or civil violation to give a tobacco product to anyone under 21, with fines of $200, $500, and then $1,000, and it has no parent exception.

Is it illegal to give a vape to someone under 21?

Yes. PC 308(a) covers anyone who “sells, gives, or in any way furnishes” a tobacco product to a person under 21, including a friend or family member. Giving a THC vape to a minor is a more serious matter.

What happens if you get caught with a THC vape under 21?

Under 18, it is an infraction that requires four hours of drug education or counseling and up to 10 hours of community service for a first offense, with no fine. From 18 to 20, it is an infraction with a fine up to $100. On K-12 school grounds during school hours the penalties are higher, and adults 18 and over face a misdemeanor there. Court and agency records of these offenses generally may not be kept more than two years, and records of a minor’s school-grounds offense are kept until age 18 (HSC 11361.5).

Will vaping at school go on my record?

A suspension goes on your school discipline record. It does not create a criminal record, because a nicotine vape is not an offense. Juvenile court records, when there are any, are confidential, and a case that ends with successful informal supervision or probation is dismissed and sealed (WIC 786).

Can the school search my phone or backpack for a vape?

A school can search a backpack if staff have a reasonable suspicion based on specific facts, such as seeing you vape (In re William G.). Going through the contents of a phone is different: California’s electronic privacy law generally requires a warrant, the specific consent of the person lawfully holding the phone, or an emergency before a government entity can look through it, and public schools appear to fit that definition.

Can you bail a minor out of juvenile hall in California?

No. The juvenile system does not use bail bonds. A minor is usually released to a parent, and a detained minor must be released within 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, unless a petition is filed (WIC 631). If the person arrested is 18 or older, it is the adult system, and bail may apply.

Why We Publish This

Bail Hotline has helped California families since 2004. We get calls from parents who found a vape in a backpack and are sure their child is about to be arrested, and calls from parents whose 19-year-old really was arrested and who had no idea the rules were different at 18. Most of what they find online is written by vape sellers or treatment centers, mixes up the rules of different states, or repeats a California penalty that was repealed in 2016. We wrote this guide to be the page we wish every family had: what the law actually says, what schools actually do, and where the real risks are. It is general information, not legal advice. For advice about a specific case, talk to a criminal defense lawyer or your public defender, and for a school matter, ask your district for its written policy.

Sources and Further Reading

California law
– Penal Code sections 272, 308, 529.5, 853.5, 853.6, 853.7, 1546.1
– Business and Professions Code sections 22950.5, 22958, 22963
– Health and Safety Code sections 104420, 104495, 104559, 104559.5, 11357, 11361.5, 11362.1, 11362.3, 11362.4, 118948, 118949
– Education Code sections 48900, 48900.5, 48901, 48915, 49050
– Welfare and Institutions Code sections 256, 625, 626, 628, 631, 654, 786, 827
– Labor Code 6404.5; Government Code 7597; Vehicle Code 13202.5
– Bills: SBX2-7 (2016), AB 2711 (2024), AB 3218 (2024), SB 1230 (2024), AB 762 (2025 to 2026, pending)
– California Attorney General, flavor ban and Unflavored Tobacco List; CDTFA, notice L-885 on the flavored tobacco law’s effective date

Court decisions
– In re William G. (1985) 40 Cal.3d 550
– In re Randy G. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 556
– In re William M. (1970) 3 Cal.3d 16
– New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) 469 U.S. 325

Research and data
– FDA and CDC, 2025 National Youth Tobacco Survey results (June 23, 2026); 2024 NYTS, MMWR (September 5, 2024)
– CDPH, California Tobacco Facts and Figures 2025 (August 2025)
– NIDA, Monitoring the Future 2025 results (December 17, 2025)
– U.S. Surgeon General, E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults (2016)
– CDC, EVALI outbreak final update (data as of February 18, 2020)
– Graham et al., vaping cessation text message trial for teens, JAMA (September 2024)
– Wakefield and Giovino, Teen penalties for tobacco possession, use, and purchase, Tobacco Control (2003)
– Public Health Law Center, Youth Purchase, Use, or Possession Penalties (2022)

Schools and help
– California Department of Education, letter on YVAPE and alternatives to suspension (December 12, 2025)
– YVAPE; Stanford REACH Lab, Healthy Futures; California TUPE intervention menu; Kick It California

Reporting and enforcement
– California Attorney General: JUUL settlement (April 2023); lawsuits against online sellers (December 2023); 2024 statewide retail sweep and grants (October 2024)
– City of Livermore, police release on vape sales to minors (November 6, 2024)
– CDTFA, Sacramento vape shop seizure notice (March 2025)
– KQED, A Look Inside the Youth Vaping Craze (2018); Stanford Report, expert advice on youth vaping (August 2025); CalMatters, flavored vaping ban (2020) and youth vaping commentary (2019); CBS Sacramento, Placerville vape detectors (2019); The 74, vape detectors and suspensions (2025); CDPH, youth anti-vaping campaign release (2021)

Outside California
– FDA, Tobacco 21; September 2025 e-cigarette seizure
– Texas Health and Safety Code 161.252, 161.253, 161.255; Texas Education Code 37.006
– Idaho Code 39-5702, 39-5703
– Florida Statutes 569.11, 569.31, 569.42
– Tobacco 21, California grade card