At a California arraignment, a judge states the exact charges, confirms that you have or are offered a lawyer, and takes your plea, usually not guilty at this early stage. If you are held in custody, you generally must be brought to court within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays. The judge also addresses release and sets your next court date. The hearing itself often takes only minutes.
How soon after arrest does arraignment happen
If you were arrested and held in custody, Penal Code section 825 requires that you be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay, and in any event within 48 hours of arrest, not counting Sundays and holidays. If you were instead cited and released for a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 853.6, the notice to appear sets your court date, which generally must be at least 10 days after the arrest, and that date is usually your arraignment. Either way, the date on your paperwork, not a general rule of thumb, controls when you must actually appear.
What happens in the courtroom, step by step
The hearing follows a consistent pattern. The clerk or judge calls your case and confirms your identity. Under Penal Code section 988, the arraignment consists of reading the charges to you, giving you a copy, and asking for your plea, though in a misdemeanor case you receive a copy of the complaint only if you ask for it. For a felony, Penal Code section 859 requires the court to give you a copy of the complaint, tell you about your right to counsel, and allow reasonable time to get a lawyer, and if you want a lawyer and cannot afford one, the court must assign one. You then enter a plea. The judge addresses bail or release. Finally, the court sets your next date, often a pretrial conference for a misdemeanor or a preliminary hearing date for a felony. Many courtrooms call several cases on the same morning calendar, so your own hearing may be brief even though the overall wait in the courtroom is not.
What plea should you enter
The three most common pleas are guilty, not guilty, and no contest, out of the six kinds of pleas listed in Penal Code section 1016. A not guilty plea is the standard choice at this early stage, since it preserves your right to see the evidence and explore defenses before any decision about resolving the case. A guilty or no contest plea at arraignment gives up that review before you or your attorney have even seen the prosecution's evidence, let alone tested it. Such a plea can later be withdrawn only if the court allows it for good cause, generally before judgment, under Penal Code section 1018, so do not assume you can simply change your mind later.
What happens to bail and release at arraignment
If you are still in custody, the judge decides at arraignment whether to release you on your own recognizance, meaning on your promise to appear with no bail, or to set bail or other conditions instead. Under Penal Code section 1270, a defendant in custody who is arraigned on a misdemeanor complaint is entitled to own recognizance release unless the court finds on the record that release would compromise public safety or would not reasonably assure the defendant's return to court. In setting, reducing, or denying bail, Penal Code section 1275 directs the judge to consider public safety first, along with the seriousness of the charge, your prior record, and the probability that you will appear, and the judge can change a bail amount set at booking from the county bail schedule.
Misdemeanor versus felony arraignment
Under article VI, section 4 of the California Constitution, each county has one superior court, and California no longer has separate municipal courts. The difference between a misdemeanor and a felony arraignment is in procedure, not in which court you go to. A misdemeanor arraignment is typically quicker, your lawyer can often appear for you without you under Penal Code section 977, except that you must be present for arraignment in a misdemeanor domestic violence case and the court may order you to attend in a misdemeanor DUI case, and the next date is usually a pretrial conference. A felony arraignment is more involved: the court addresses counsel first, under section 859, and your next date is typically a preliminary hearing, discussed in the firm's page on preliminary hearings, generally within 10 court days unless that time is waived or a continuance is granted for good cause.
What to bring and what happens next
Bring your citation, booking paperwork, or any notice you received, along with a list of your charges if you know them and the name of anyone who witnessed your arrest. Write down the exact time and place you were arrested or cited, and any names of officers involved, while those details are still fresh. If a public defender has already been assigned, write down the name if you have it, since a different lawyer from that office sometimes covers a single hearing, and that does not mean you have no representation. Under Penal Code section 1382, a misdemeanor trial generally must begin within 30 days of the arraignment or plea if you are in custody, or within 45 days if you are not. For a felony, the 60 day trial deadline runs from the arraignment on the information or indictment, which comes after the preliminary hearing or grand jury, not from the first arraignment. Either deadline can be extended if you agree to a later date. Missing a later court date can lead to a bench warrant under Penal Code section 978.5, so confirm the next date in writing before you leave the courthouse. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley can review your charges and timeline before your hearing.