What should I expect from a criminal case in Kern County?

A Kern County criminal case is generally filed in the court division covering the ZIP code where the offense allegedly happened: the Metropolitan Division at 1415 Truxtun Avenue in Bakersfield, or the Delano, Shafter, Lamont, Mojave, or Ridgecrest branch. If you are held in custody, arraignment must come within 48 hours, excluding Sundays and holidays, and release before then follows the court's 2026 bail schedule categories.

Which Kern County courthouse hears your case

Under Kern Superior Court Local Rule 1.7.5(d), prosecutors generally must file criminal complaints "in the Division in which the crime is alleged to have occurred," using the ZIP code tables in Appendix A. The court's criminal division page lists six criminal court locations:

Appendix A assigns venue by community as well as ZIP code, and some ZIP codes are split: 93307 is Metropolitan for Bakersfield but Lamont for Weedpatch and Greenfield. The rule also has exceptions. Murder and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Penal Code 187 and 191.5) may be filed in the Metropolitan Division's felony department, as may informations for certain sex offenses; felonies with four or more defendants must be filed there; and incidents inside the Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility are filed in Shafter. A party may move to transfer a case to the Metropolitan Division for good cause. In Bakersfield, check the building on your paperwork: the Metropolitan Division at 1415 Truxtun Avenue and the Justice Building at 1215 Truxtun Avenue are separate courthouses.

Arraignment and who must appear

If you are in custody, Penal Code 825 requires that you be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays. The court's criminal page explains that at arraignment the judge advises you of your rights and the charges, bail may be raised or lowered, and you are asked to enter a plea. Whether you must attend in person depends on the charge under Penal Code 977:

• Misdemeanor: you may appear through your lawyer alone, except that in a domestic violence case you must be present at arraignment and sentencing, and in a DUI case the court may order you to be present for arraignment, plea, or sentencing.
• Felony: you must be physically present at arraignment, plea, the preliminary hearing, the evidence portions of trial, and sentencing, unless a remote appearance is permitted under section 977(c). Kern's form CR-0415 is the waiver and request for a remote video felony arraignment.

Kern also allows a misdemeanor informal arraignment under Local Rule 5.1.2. A retained attorney files form CR-2404, waiving formal arraignment and time for trial, entering a not guilty plea, and requesting a pretrial date, either with the criminal unit at least five court days before the arraignment date or in the courtroom that day. The process is not available to self-represented defendants, after a failure to appear or with an outstanding warrant, in a domestic violence misdemeanor, or in a DUI case alleging a prior conviction, among other exceptions, and the court can reject the request. The court's remote hearings page adds that criminal matters require prior judicial approval for CourtCall appearances. See also when a lawyer can appear without you.

Bail and release before arraignment

Kern's 2026 Felony Bail Schedule, revised December 19, 2025 and effective December 29, 2025, includes a pre-arraignment release protocol that places each listed offense in one of four categories:

• Cite and Release (CR): listed misdemeanors, with "$0 bail" and a promise to appear.
• Book and Release (BR): listed felonies, also $0 bail, after booking by the Kern County Sheriff's Office and a promise to appear.
• Magistrate Review (MR): a magistrate considers the offense, the person, and a risk assessment report, then may release on your own recognizance, set nonfinancial conditions, set money bail, or defer release to arraignment.
• Arraignment Review Only (AR): charges that make a person ineligible for release before arraignment.

The schedule lists a misdemeanor DUI under Vehicle Code 23152 as CR with a presumptive bail amount of $5,000, or $10,000 and $20,000 with one or two priors, and a felony DUI causing injury under Vehicle Code 23153 as MR with $200,000. Its introduction names protection of the public as the "primary consideration" in setting bail. A later felony bail review uses form CR-0608F; see Kern felony bail review. The court's bail page says cash bail refunds are processed on court order, take about 4 to 6 weeks, and are mailed by the Kern County Auditor.

Felony and misdemeanor timelines

After a not guilty plea in a misdemeanor case, Penal Code 1382(a)(3) requires trial within 30 days of arraignment or plea if you are in custody, or 45 days if you are not, unless you waive time. A felony adds a preliminary hearing, which Penal Code 859b requires within 10 court days of arraignment or plea unless both sides waive that time or good cause is found. If you are held to answer, absent good cause the information must be filed within 15 days and trial must start within 60 days of arraignment on it, unless you waive time (section 1382(a)(1) and (a)(2)). Kern felony case numbers carry prefixes such as BF, DF, SF, LF, MF, and RF (Local Rule 1.7.5(d)(7)).

Cases ready for trial are called on Kern's Master Criminal Calendar under Local Rule 5.2.3. If no courtroom is free on the trial date, the case goes on a trailing calendar, and one that trails for ten court days without a courtroom is reset to a date certain with priority. Once a case is assigned to a trial department, a motion to continue is considered only on grounds that were unknown and could not reasonably have been known earlier.

DUI and other cases with Kern-specific steps

A DUI arrest in Kern involves two separate tracks. In court, informal arraignment is unavailable when a Vehicle Code 23152 or 23153 charge alleges a prior conviction, and the judge may order a misdemeanor DUI defendant to appear in person. The DMV's action on your license is a separate administrative process, and the DMV's DUI page, which the court's criminal page links, explains the deadline to request a DMV hearing after a suspension or revocation order. For DUI defense in Kern County, see the firm's Bakersfield DUI page.

Other local paths use their own forms, all listed on the court's local forms page: the Domestic Violence Diversion Program instructions (CR-0314; see preparing for a Kern DVDP hearing), an order for misdemeanor diversion under Penal Code 1001.95 (CR-0324), an ex parte request for pretrial felony diversion or treatment (MC-2658), a request to modify a criminal protective order (KERN-0052), and a request for confidential criminal records (CR-2300; see Kern confidential record requests). A listed form does not establish eligibility.

What to bring and do before court

• Bring your citation, notice to appear, bail receipt, or release paperwork, which shows where and when to appear, and any letter from the court or prosecutor.
• Check the case on the court's case information search, which the court says is not the official record. If a new citation is not there yet, see a citation missing from the online search.
• For someone in custody, use the Sheriff's inmate search; the Sheriff's Lerdo Pre-Trial page says court information for an inmate who went to court is available after 5:30 p.m.
• Plan around court hours. The court's location listings show hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to noon on Friday, and the Bakersfield buildings screen visitors with metal detectors.
• Do not miss a date. The court's criminal page warns that a failure to appear can lead to forfeited bail, an arrest warrant, a license suspension order to the DMV, and a new failure to appear charge.

For help with a Kern County charge, see the Law Offices of David S. Chesley's Bakersfield criminal defense page.