Every California county's superior court judges adopt and annually revise a uniform bail schedule listing amounts for bailable offenses, and many arrestees can post that amount before ever seeing a judge. A judge who sets a different amount must weigh public safety, the offense, and your record, and, under California Supreme Court decisions from 2021 and 2026, your actual ability to pay.
Where the schedule amount comes from
Penal Code section 1269b makes it the duty of the superior court judges in each county to prepare, adopt, and annually revise a uniform countywide bail schedule covering all bailable felony offenses and all misdemeanor and infraction offenses except Vehicle Code infractions, whose penalty schedule the Judicial Council sets. For felonies, the judges must consider the seriousness of the offense and add an amount for each aggravating or enhancing factor that can be charged, such as an allegation of personal firearm use or great bodily injury, and add an amount for drug offenses involving large quantities (section 1269b(e)). The schedule lists an amount for each offense that the judges determine to be appropriate, and copies go to jail officials, so many people can post the scheduled amount and be released directly from custody without a hearing. The schedule is a starting point set in advance, not a judge's individualized decision about your specific case, and the same charge can carry a different scheduled amount from one county to the next, so confirm the figure that actually applies in the county where the case is filed.
When a judge sets bail instead of the schedule
A judge can set a different amount at arraignment or a separate bail hearing. Penal Code section 1275 makes public safety the primary consideration and directs the court to weigh the seriousness of the charged offense, your prior criminal record, and the probability that you will appear at trial, along with specific factors such as any alleged injury to the victim, alleged threats to the victim or a witness, alleged use of a firearm or other deadly weapon, and, for drug offenses, the alleged quantity involved. For serious or violent felonies other than residential burglary, and for specified domestic violence, witness intimidation, felony criminal threats, stalking, and protective-order offenses, Penal Code section 1270.1 requires an actual hearing before release on anything other than the scheduled amount, with the court considering the person's record of court appearances, the potential danger to others, and the evidence offered about community ties and the ability to post bond. That requirement does not stop someone from posting the scheduled amount itself; it applies when release is sought at a different amount or on the person's own recognizance, and the prosecution and defense must get two court days' written notice of the hearing.
Why ability to pay matters: Humphrey and Kowalczyk
Ability to pay is not just one factor among many. In In re Humphrey, decided March 25, 2021, the California Supreme Court held that the common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional. Where a financial condition is still necessary, the court wrote, 'the court must consider the arrestee's ability to pay the stated amount of bail' and may not effectively detain someone solely because that person lacks the resources to post bail, and it must also consider whether nonmonetary conditions such as electronic monitoring, regular check-ins, or treatment could protect public and victim safety instead. Humphrey also required a court that orders detention to first find by clear and convincing evidence that no condition short of detention could suffice.
In In re Kowalczyk, decided April 30, 2026, the court went further on the amount itself. It held that in a noncapital case a court may deny bail outright only for the offenses specified in article I, section 12, subdivisions (b) and (c) of the California Constitution, which cover certain violent or sexual assault felonies and felonies involving threats of great bodily harm and require findings by clear and convincing evidence. Otherwise, when money bail is necessary, it must be set in a reasonable amount based on the totality of the circumstances, which as a general matter means an amount reasonably attainable for the defendant. The court added that this does not mean bail must be easily affordable, or that a judge must accept unsupported claims of an inability to pay. These constitutional rules sit on top of the bail schedule and section 1275 rather than replacing them. Ask counsel whether the record of your own hearing reflects any consideration of your ability to pay, since setting money bail without that consideration is the practice Humphrey addressed.
Asking a judge to change the amount
The amount set at arraignment is not final. Once a defendant has been admitted to bail on an indictment or information, Penal Code section 1289 lets the court in which the charge is pending increase or reduce bail for good cause, and a defense application to reduce bail must be served on the district attorney. If you remain in custody because you cannot post the amount, Penal Code section 1270.2 entitles you to an automatic review of the bail order no later than five days after the original order fixing it, unless you waive that review. For a serious or violent felony, a court that reduces bail below the schedule amount must find unusual circumstances and state them on the record, and the fact that the defendant made every prior court appearance or committed no new offenses does not count as one (section 1275(c)). The firm's motion for bail reduction page and its bail hearings page cover how that request is actually prepared and argued, including the section 1275 factors a judge weighs.
What else can change the number
Under Penal Code section 1275.1, a judge can order a hold on release when there is probable cause to believe the money or security offered for bail was feloniously obtained, which is a question about where the money came from, not how much it is; see the firm's guide to the California bail source hearing under Penal Code 1275.1. Separately, how you actually pay the scheduled or court-set amount, in cash, through property, or through a commercial surety bond, changes what you pay out of pocket without changing the dollar figure itself; the firm's comparison of a jail surety bond versus cash bail covers that choice. And the amount you post is not necessarily the amount you keep if the case ends in a conviction; see what happens to bail money if you are found guilty in California. Each of these is a different question from how the base dollar figure in your case was set in the first place, which is the question this page answers.
What to bring to a bail hearing
For a bail hearing, bring proof of ties to the community such as employment, housing, and family in the area, any proposed nonmonetary conditions like electronic monitoring or a treatment program, documentation of your actual financial resources, and, if relevant, a proposed custodian or supervision plan. These relate directly to what sections 1275 and 1270.1 and the Humphrey and Kowalczyk decisions direct the court to consider, so it helps to have them ready for the first hearing rather than only for a later reduction motion.
The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can review the scheduled amount in your case and prepare a bail reduction motion where it is warranted. Call (800) 755-5174.