How California handles a case
What happens after an arrest anywhere in California: who decides release first, how fast a person sees a judge, which courts hear the case, and who runs the offices around them. Every county in the state works under these rules.
From arrest to court
- Who decides release first
The superior court judges in each county adopt a bail schedule every year, and the jail, police, or court clerk can accept bail under it and release the person without a judge. A duty judge or commissioner can raise bail on an officer's sworn request, and a judge sets release at arraignment.
Cal. Penal Code 1269bCal. Penal Code 1270.1- Time to see a judge
An arrested person must be taken before a judge without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays.
Cal. Penal Code 825- Money bail
Money bail and county schedules remain, but in In re Humphrey (2021) the California Supreme Court held that a court setting money bail must consider the person's ability to pay and may not hold someone only because they can't afford it.
In re Humphrey (2021) 11 Cal.5th 135, S247278Cal. Penal Code 1269b- Pretrial risk assessment
Counties choose their own pretrial risk tools, and by 2017, 49 of the 58 counties used one. State law requires a pretrial services agency that uses a tool to validate it and report on it.
Cal. Penal Code 1320.35Public Policy Institute of California, Pretrial Risk Assessment in California (secondary)- Courts
California has one trial court, the superior court, in each county. It hears all criminal cases, felonies and misdemeanors alike.
Cal. Const. art. VI, sec. 4- Judges and magistrates
County voters elect superior court judges on a nonpartisan ballot to six-year terms. The governor appoints a judge to fill a vacancy until an elected judge's term begins.
Cal. Const. art. VI, sec. 16Cal. Const. art. II, sec. 6- Prosecutors
Each county elects a district attorney, who prosecutes crimes in the superior court. With the district attorney's consent, a city attorney may prosecute misdemeanors committed in the city.
Cal. Const. art. XI, sec. 1(b)Cal. Gov. Code 26500Cal. Gov. Code 41803.5- Public defense
Each county's board of supervisors may create a public defender office, alone or with other counties. Counties without one, or with conflicts, appoint or contract with private lawyers.
Cal. Gov. Code 27700Cal. Gov. Code 27706- Jails
The sheriff runs the county jail in most counties. A board of supervisors may instead give the jail to a county department of corrections, and counties where the sheriff did not run the jail in 1993 may keep that arrangement.
Cal. Gov. Code 26605Cal. Gov. Code 23013
Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Which counties run jails through a department of corrections, and which counties have a public defender office, were not listed here. Los Angeles has used pre-arraignment release protocols with no money bail for most arrests since 2023 (see the bail-setters research note); not re-checked.