Orange County Jail InfoIndependent guide · Orange County, California

Looking up a California Penal Code section

Three Penal Code sections people ask about, with their text from the Legislature’s website. For what a section means in a specific case, ask the defense attorney or the court.

By Orange County Jail Info Page reviewed:

The short answer

This guide quotes three sections from California Legislative Information, the Legislature’s website, where their text was read on October 27, 2026. Each section below links to its own page there. For any other section on a booking or court record, the defense attorney or the court can say what it is and what it means.

Sections people ask about

The list of violent felonies (Penal Code section 667.5)

Subdivision (c) of section 667.5 lists 24 crimes or kinds of crime that are a “violent felony” for the purpose of that section, including murder or voluntary manslaughter, robbery, kidnapping and carjacking. Other sections use this list: for example, a court may not reduce bail below the county schedule for a person charged with a violent felony without finding unusual circumstances (section 1275), and an executed sentence for a felony punishable under section 1170(h) is served in state prison when the defendant has a prior or current violent felony conviction (section 1170).

Only subdivision (c) is quoted here, so this guide doesn’t say which version of section 667.5 it comes from.

The official text of subdivision (c)

[…] (text omitted)

(c) The Legislature finds and declares that the following specified crimes merit special consideration when imposing a sentence to display society’s condemnation for these extraordinary crimes of violence against the person. For the purpose of this section, “violent felony” means any of the following:

(1) Murder or voluntary manslaughter.

(2) Mayhem.

(3) Rape as defined in paragraph (2) or (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 261 or paragraph (1) or (4) of subdivision (a) of former Section 262.

(4) Sodomy as defined in subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 286.

(5) Oral copulation as defined in subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 287 or of former Section 288a.

(6) Lewd or lascivious act as defined in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 288.

(7) Any felony punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison for life.

(8) Any felony in which the defendant inflicts great bodily injury on a person other than an accomplice, which has been charged and proved as provided for in Section 12022.7, 12022.8, or 12022.9 on or after July 1, 1977, or as specified prior to July 1, 1977, in Sections 213, 264, and 461, or any felony in which the defendant uses a firearm which use has been charged and proved as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 12022.3, or Section 12022.5 or 12022.55.

(9) Any robbery.

(10) Arson, in violation of subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 451.

(11) Sexual penetration as defined in subdivision (a) or (j) of Section 289.

(12) Attempted murder.

(13) A violation of Section 18745, 18750, or 18755.

(14) Kidnapping.

(15) Assault with the intent to commit a specified felony, in violation of Section 220.

(16) Continuous sexual abuse of a child, in violation of Section 288.5.

(17) Carjacking, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 215.

(18) Rape or sexual penetration, in concert, in violation of Section 264.1.

(19) Extortion, as defined in Section 518, which would constitute a felony violation of Section 186.22.

(20) Threats to victims or witnesses, as defined in Section 136.1, which would constitute a felony violation of Section 186.22.

(21) Any burglary of the first degree, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 460, wherein it is charged and proved that another person, other than an accomplice, was present in the residence during the commission of the burglary.

(22) Any violation of Section 12022.53.

(23) A violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11418.

(24) Rape as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 261, wherein it is pleaded and proved that the defendant caused the intoxication by administering a controlled substance to the victim without their consent and with the intent to sexually assault the victim.

[…] (text omitted)

Official: Penal Code section 667.5 on California Legislative Information, read

A driver’s license or ID card intended for a forgery (Penal Code section 470b)

A person who displays, causes or permits the display of, or possesses a driver’s license or identification card of the type listed in section 470a, intending it to be used to facilitate any forgery, is punishable by up to one year in a county jail, or by imprisonment under section 1170(h).

The official text of section 470b

Every person who displays or causes or permits to be displayed or has in his or her possession any driver’s license or identification card of the type enumerated in Section 470a with the intent that the driver’s license or identification card be used to facilitate the commission of any forgery, is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

Version quoted: (Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 15, Sec. 359. (AB 109) Effective April 4, 2011. Operative October 1, 2011, by Sec. 636 of Ch. 15, as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 39, Sec. 68.)

Official: Penal Code section 470b on California Legislative Information, read

The Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act (Penal Code section 1299)

Section 1299 gives the name of an article of the Penal Code, the Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act, and says nothing else. This guide doesn’t quote the rest of the article.

The official text of section 1299

This article shall be known as the Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act.

Version quoted: (Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 747, Sec. 1. (AB 2029) Effective January 1, 2013.)

Official: Penal Code section 1299 on California Legislative Information, read

Not legal advice

This is general information from the official text. It doesn’t say what applies to anyone’s case. For bail rules, see bail laws.