A felony complaint is the written, sworn document a prosecutor files to start a felony case, naming the charge and asking a judge to hold you to answer. It is not the final charging document in superior court; after a preliminary hearing the case usually continues on an "information," and a grand jury indictment is a separate route.
What is a felony complaint?
A felony complaint is a written accusation, sworn under oath, that charges a specific crime and is filed with the magistrate who will hold your first court dates.
Penal Code 806 sets this out for felonies:
"A proceeding for the examination before a magistrate of a person on a charge of a felony must be commenced by written complaint under oath subscribed by the complainant and filed with the magistrate." (Penal Code section 806)
The same basic structure applies to lesser charges, under a different section: misdemeanors and infractions are also prosecuted by a sworn written complaint, unless another law provides otherwise, under Penal Code 740. The difference is what happens next. A misdemeanor complaint is usually the document the case is tried on from start to finish; a felony complaint is only the opening step, and Penal Code 949 confirms that: the "first pleading" in a felony case in superior court is "the indictment, information, or the complaint in any case certified to the superior court under Section 859a," while for a misdemeanor or infraction the complaint itself remains the first pleading.
The firm's overview of California arraignments covers what happens when this document is read to you in court and you enter a plea. This page looks instead at the document itself: who files it, what it must say, and how a felony case moves from a complaint to an information or an indictment. The firm's investigation and pretrial hearings page covers the wider stretch of a case this document sits inside, from the pre-filing investigation that can lead to a complaint through the pretrial steps that follow it.
Who files a felony complaint, and what happens right after?
The district attorney's office decides whether to file the complaint; once it is filed, you are arraigned on it, and both sides have a right to a preliminary hearing.
The complaint is signed under oath by the complainant named on it and filed with the magistrate (Penal Code section 806). At your arraignment on the complaint, the magistrate tells you the charge, you are asked to enter a plea, and bail or release conditions are addressed. From there, both sides generally have a right to a preliminary hearing, which Penal Code 859b says must be held within 10 court days of the arraignment or the plea, whichever is later, unless both sides waive that time or the court finds good cause for a continuance.
How a felony complaint can lead to a filed charge in superior court
| Route | What happens | Governing section |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary hearing, then an information | Magistrate holds you to answer; district attorney files an information within 15 days | Penal Code 872, 739 |
| Certified complaint (guilty or no contest plea before the magistrate) | With your lawyer present, you plead guilty to the felony complaint (or no contest, with the magistrate's and prosecutor's consent); the magistrate certifies it to superior court as the charging document | Penal Code 859a |
| Grand jury indictment | A grand jury, not a magistrate's hearing, decides whether to charge you; no complaint is required | Penal Code 949 |
What happens after you are held to answer?
If the magistrate finds enough evidence at the preliminary hearing, you are "held to answer," and the district attorney then has 15 days to file an information in superior court.
Penal Code 872(a) describes what the magistrate does at that point:
"It appearing to me that the offense in the within complaint mentioned (or any offense, according to the fact, stating generally the nature thereof), has been committed, and that there is sufficient cause to believe that the within named A.B. is guilty, I order that he or she be held to answer to the same." (Penal Code section 872(a))
Penal Code 739 then puts the district attorney on a clock:
"When a defendant has been examined and committed, as provided in Section 872, it shall be the duty of the district attorney... to file in the superior court of that county within 15 days after the commitment, an information against the defendant which may charge the defendant with either the offense or offenses named in the order of commitment or any offense or offenses shown by the evidence taken before the magistrate to have been committed." (Penal Code section 739)
Notice that last part: the information is not limited to exactly what the original complaint charged. It can include any offense the preliminary hearing evidence supports, even if that offense was not in the holding order. The firm's answer on adding a felony charge after a California preliminary hearing covers the limits on that. A different path skips the information entirely: under Penal Code 859a, if you plead guilty, or no contest with the magistrate's and prosecutor's consent, to a noncapital felony complaint while it is still pending before the magistrate and your lawyer is present, the magistrate must certify the case to superior court, where the proceedings continue as if you had pleaded guilty there, with the complaint serving as the charging document (Penal Code 949).
What if the case goes through a grand jury instead?
A grand jury indictment is a separate route that skips a complaint entirely; a grand jury, not a magistrate, decides whether to charge you.
Penal Code 949 lists the indictment as its own, separate first pleading alongside the information and the complaint. Because there is no preliminary hearing in front of a magistrate when a grand jury indicts, the protections tied to that hearing, including a prosecutor's duty to disclose known evidence that could clear you, work differently; see the firm's answer on missing exculpatory evidence in a California grand jury indictment for how that is handled.
What should you check on your felony complaint?
Check the exact charge and code section, the date and place alleged, whether any prior convictions are charged, and the exact court and date you must appear.
- The charge itself. Confirm the statute cited matches what you were told at arrest, and ask your lawyer to explain each element the prosecutor would have to prove.
- Prior convictions. If the complaint is later used as the document you plead to under Penal Code 859a, it must "contain the same allegations, including the charge of prior conviction or convictions of crime, as are required for indictments and informations" (Penal Code section 806); priors that matter to your sentence need to actually be charged, not assumed.
- Dates, locations, and your name and other identifying details. Small errors can matter later in the case.
- The court, department, and date. Confirm these against any citation or release paperwork you were given, and mark your calendar.
- What comes after the preliminary hearing. If you are offered the choice to waive the hearing, see what you give up by waiving a California preliminary hearing before deciding, and if the hearing already happened, see what happens after a California felony preliminary hearing for what the ruling means.
Frequently asked questions
Is a felony complaint the same as being convicted?
No. A complaint is only an accusation that starts the case. Under Penal Code 1096 you are presumed innocent, and unless you plead guilty or no contest, you can be convicted only if the prosecution proves the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
Who decides whether to file a felony complaint?
The district attorney's office decides whether to file charges and what the complaint will allege. The document itself must be signed under oath by the complainant named on it, under Penal Code section 806.
What is the difference between a complaint and an information?
A complaint starts the case before a magistrate, usually followed by a preliminary hearing. An information is the document the district attorney files in superior court within 15 days after you are held to answer, under Penal Code section 739.
Can the information charge something different from what is in the complaint?
Yes, within limits. Penal Code section 739 lets the information include any offense "shown by the evidence taken before the magistrate," not only the exact offense named in the original complaint or the holding order.
Does every felony case go through a complaint first?
No. A grand jury can indict a case directly, without a complaint or a magistrate's preliminary hearing, under the separate route Penal Code section 949 describes.
Why would someone plead guilty on the complaint itself instead of waiting for an information?
Penal Code section 859a lets a defendant, with counsel present, plead guilty to a noncapital felony complaint (or no contest, with the magistrate's and prosecutor's consent) while it is still before the magistrate, and the case is then certified to superior court on that complaint rather than a separately filed information.
How quickly does a preliminary hearing happen after arraignment on a complaint?
Generally within 10 court days of the arraignment or the plea, whichever is later, unless both sides waive that time or the court finds good cause for a continuance (Penal Code 859b).
Talk to a lawyer
The Law Offices of David S. Chesley offers a free consultation and is available 24/7, with payment plans and Se habla español, to review a felony complaint with you. Call (800) 755-5174 or request a free consultation online.