13.3 Technical Relief, In-Custody, and Out-of-Jurisdiction Cases
Key Takeaways
- If the defendant appears in court, or is surrendered or arrested in the underlying case, within the 180-day period, Penal Code 1305(c) requires the court to vacate the forfeiture and exonerate; a hold placed while the defendant is in custody on other charges is an arrest under 1305(i).
- In-county surrender or arrest still vacates even if the defendant is released before an appearance (1305(c)(2)). Out-of-county surrender or arrest in the underlying case also vacates (1305(c)(3)). Permanent disability under 1305(d) vacates; temporary disability under 1305(e) tolls.
- Penal Code 1305(f) covers a defendant in custody beyond the court's jurisdiction when the prosecutor elects not to extradite. Penal Code 1305(g) covers a defendant who is not in custody, is beyond the state, is temporarily detained by the bail agent in the presence of local law enforcement, and the prosecutor elects not to extradite.
- People v. The North River Insurance Company (S282020, 2025) holds that section 1305 does not authorize the trial court to compel the prosecutor's extradition decision under 1305(g), and does not require the court to continue the vacatur hearing until the prosecution decides.
- Technical grounds include mailing defects, the 15-day no-complaint bar, a 1306(c) failure to enter summary judgment within 90 days, and a 980(b) NCIC-entry failure that blocked a return to custody. CDI states that County Counsel collects forfeiture debts.
Technical Relief, In-Custody, and Out-of-Jurisdiction Cases
Quick Answer: If the defendant appears, is surrendered, or is arrested in the case within the appearance period, Penal Code 1305(c) requires the court to vacate the forfeiture and exonerate. Permanent disability vacates (1305(d)); temporary disability tolls (1305(e)). Out-of-jurisdiction relief under 1305(f) or (g) requires a prosecutor's election not to extradite. People v. The North River Insurance Company (S282020, 2025) holds that the court cannot compel that election. If the period runs, 1306 summary judgment follows and County Counsel or the district attorney collects.
Relief is not one motion. Some defects mean the people never obtained a collectible forfeiture. Some facts mean the surety performed inside the period. Some facts mean the body is beyond the court's reach and the prosecutor has chosen not to bring the person back. The exam will mix those piles.
Technical grounds: the court cannot collect this paper
"Technical" relief is not a loophole. It is a statutory condition that 1305 or 1306 itself treats as releasing the bail. Build the checklist from the text, not from courthouse rumor:
| Defect | Statute | Result if the facts are proven |
|---|---|---|
| Forfeiture never declared in open court | 1305(a)(1) | No valid forfeiture |
| Case dismissed, or no complaint filed within 15 days of arraignment (unless extended up to 90 days from the jailer's original arraignment date) | 1305(a)(2) | Court lacked jurisdiction to declare a forfeiture; bail released |
| Amount over $400 and clerk did not mail within 30 days | 1305(b)(3)(A) | Surety or depositor released of all obligations |
| Clerk did not mail the surety at the address printed on the bond | 1305(b)(3)(B) | Released of all obligations |
| Clerk did not mail the agent at the address shown on the bond | 1305(b)(3)(C) | Released of all obligations |
| On a private surety-bonded felony, the agency failed to enter the bench warrant in NCIC and that failure prevented surrender or arrest or caused a later release | 980(b) | On petition, set aside the forfeiture and exonerate |
| Summary judgment not entered within 90 days after the date it may first be entered, because the court failed to perform its duties | 1306(c) | The right to enter summary judgment expires and the bail is exonerated |
| Right to enforce a 1306 summary judgment is more than two years after entry | 1306(f) | Enforcement right expired |
Penal Code 1306(d) is the trap on that list. A dismissal of the complaint, indictment, or information after the default of the defendant does not release or affect the obligation of the bail bond. The 15-day no-complaint bar in 1305(a)(2) is a pre-forfeiture jurisdiction rule. A dismissal after FTA is not a get-out-of-1306 card.
California scenario — Alameda NCIC miss. A private-surety felony warrant never hits NCIC. The agent locates the defendant during a Texas traffic stop; local officers release him because nothing national comes back. If the Alameda court finds that the missing NCIC entry prevented the arrest, 980(b) requires the court, on petition, to set aside the forfeiture and exonerate. That petition is not a 1305(g) extradition motion and it does not need a prosecutor's no-extradition letter.
1305(c): appearance, surrender, arrest, and the in-county / out-of-county split
Penal Code 1305(c)(1) is the appearance path. If the defendant appears either voluntarily or in custody after surrender or arrest in court within 180 days of the forfeiture, or within 180 days of mailing if notice was required, the court shall, on its own motion at the defendant's first appearance on that case, vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond. If the court fails to act, the obligations are immediately vacated and the bond exonerated. Terms may be just but may not exceed terms imposed in similar situations for other forms of pretrial release.
Location then splits:
- Inside the county where the case is located (1305(c)(2)): if the defendant is surrendered to custody by the bail or is arrested in the underlying case within the period, and is subsequently released from custody prior to an appearance in court, the court shall still, on its own motion, vacate and exonerate. The in-county pickup is enough even if the jail later lets the person go before the next calendar.
- Outside the county where the case is located (1305(c)(3)): if the defendant is surrendered to custody by the bail or is arrested in the underlying case within the 180-day period, the court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bail. The statute does not add the "released before appearance" sentence that (c)(2) uses, because the defendant is not in the case county's dock.
- Reinstatement instead of exoneration (1305(c)(4)): the court may order the bail reinstated and the defendant released on the same bond only if the bail is given prior notice of the reinstatement and the bail has not surrendered the defendant. You cannot be forced back onto paper you already used to put the body in a cell.
Penal Code 1305(i) defines arrest for this section to include a hold placed on the defendant in the underlying case while the person is in custody on other charges. A Kern County jail hold on a Fresno case, placed inside the period, is an arrest for 1305(c). Do not wait for a van to Fresno before you treat the hold as performance.
| Where the body is during the period | What 1305 requires |
|---|---|
| Walks into the case courtroom, or is produced there in custody | (c)(1): vacate and exonerate on the court's own motion |
| Surrendered or arrested in the case county, then released before appearing | (c)(2): still vacate and exonerate on the court's own motion |
| Surrendered or arrested in the underlying case outside the case county (another California county) | (c)(3): vacate and exonerate |
| Hold placed while in custody on other charges | (i): that hold is an arrest |
| In custody beyond the court's jurisdiction, prosecutor elects not to extradite | (f): vacate and exonerate on just terms |
| Not in custody, beyond the state, temporarily detained by the bail agent in the presence of local law enforcement with a sworn identification affidavit, prosecutor elects not to extradite | (g): vacate and exonerate on just terms |
Permanent disability, temporary disability, and out-of-country cases
Penal Code 1305(d) is permanent disability. Within the appearance period it must be made apparent to the court's satisfaction that (1) the defendant is deceased or otherwise permanently unable to appear due to illness, insanity, or detention by military or civil authorities, and (2) the absence is without the connivance of the bail. The court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate. Death of the defendant, proven without the bail's connivance, is the cleanest (d) file. A staged "illness" the indemnitor helped invent is connivance and is not (d) relief.
Penal Code 1305(e) is temporary disability. The court shall toll the 180-day period during the temporary disability if (A) the defendant is temporarily disabled by illness, insanity, or detention by military or civil authorities, (B) because of that disability the defendant is unable to appear during the remainder of the 180-day period, and (C) the absence is without the bail's connivance. After the disability ceases, the tolling shall be extended for a reasonable period, in the court's discretion, to allow return of the defendant to the court's jurisdiction. Temporary does not vacate. Temporary pauses the clock.
Penal Code 1305(f) is the in-custody, beyond-jurisdiction path. In all cases where a defendant is in custody beyond the jurisdiction of the court that ordered the bail forfeited, and the prosecuting agency elects not to seek extradition after being informed of the location, the court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate on just terms that do not exceed terms imposed on other forms of pretrial release. A booking in an Arizona jail, or a hold in a Mexican prison, does not by itself exonerate. The prosecutor must be informed of the location and must elect not to extradite.
Penal Code 1305(g) is the not-in-custody, beyond-the-state path. The defendant is not in custody and is beyond the jurisdiction of the state; is temporarily detained by the bail agent in the presence of a local law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction where the defendant is located; is positively identified by that officer in an affidavit signed under penalty of perjury; and the prosecuting agency elects not to seek extradition after being informed of the location. Then the court shall vacate and exonerate on just terms. Penal Code 1305(h) lets the bail agent and the prosecuting agency agree to toll the 180 days to allow a return; the court may toll up to the length of time agreed upon.
Hearings on (f), (g), or (j) still require 10 court days' written notice to the prosecutor as a condition precedent (1305(k)).
People v. North River Ins. Co. (S282020, 2025)
The California Supreme Court in People v. The North River Insurance Company (Bad Boys Bail Bonds), S282020 (2025) construed the 1305(g) extradition election. The Court held that section 1305 does not authorize the trial court to compel the prosecution to make an extradition decision, and does not require the court to continue the vacatur hearing until the prosecution decides. The extradition decision is in the prosecution's sole purview.
An agent who locates a defendant in another country, stages a 1305(g) temporary detention with local police, obtains the sworn identification affidavit, informs the prosecutor, and then asks the judge to order the district attorney to extradite — or to freeze the hearing until the DA makes up its mind — is asking for relief the Supreme Court said the statute does not give. If the prosecutor simply has not elected, 1305(g) is not satisfied. 1305(h) tolling is a bilateral agreement, not a court-ordered substitute for the election.
California scenario — Tijuana. On day 120 the agent finds the $100,000 defendant in Tijuana, detains him briefly in the presence of local police, and obtains the sworn identification affidavit. If the Los Angeles prosecutor elects not to extradite, 1305(g) requires vacatur and exoneration on just terms. If the prosecutor has simply not decided, North River says the court cannot force that election and need not continue the hearing until one appears. If instead the defendant is already in a Baja California jail, the file is 1305(f) (in custody beyond the court's jurisdiction), not (g). If he walks into Department 30 on day 160, 1305(c)(1) requires the court to vacate on its own motion and none of the extradition machinery applies.
1306 collection: County Counsel, costs, and the 90-day lapse
If the 1305 period elapses without the forfeiture being set aside, Penal Code 1306(a) requires the court that declared the forfeiture to enter a summary judgment against each bondsman named in the bond for the amount of the bond plus costs. No penalty assessments shall be levied or added. If the court grants relief, it shall impose a monetary payment for the actual costs of returning the defendant to custody, except where the interest of justice says no costs should be imposed (1306(b)). Failure to pay those costs is not a basis for summary judgment on the underlying bail amount.
If, because the court failed to perform its duties, summary judgment is not entered within 90 days after the date it may first be entered, the right expires and the bail is exonerated (1306(c)). That 90-day lapse is another technical ground. It is not a reason to ignore a judgment that was entered on time.
The district attorney or county counsel shall demand immediate payment within 30 days after the summary judgment becomes final, and if it remains unpaid for 20 days after demand, shall enforce it as a money judgment (1306(e)). CDI's consumer bail page states the operational fact the exam expects: the County Counsel's Office in each county is responsible for collecting bail-bond forfeiture debts; contact the County Counsel where the case is filed. The right to enforce the summary judgment expires two years after entry (1306(f)). Penal Code 1308 then bars courts from accepting that person or corporation as surety if the summary judgment remains unpaid 30 days after service of notice of entry, unless a challenge is pending and a third-party appeal bond is posted.
Traps. 1305(c) in-county release-before-appearance still vacates; do not tell the court the bond remains live because the defendant never "came to court." A hold is an arrest (1305(i)). Permanent disability vacates; temporary disability tolls. 1305(f) is in-custody beyond jurisdiction; 1305(g) is not-in-custody beyond the state plus a staged detention and a sworn ID. Both (f) and (g) require an actual prosecutor election not to extradite; North River (S282020, 2025) holds the court cannot compel that election under (g). Dismissal after default does not kill the bond (1306(d)). County Counsel or the DA collects; the agent does not "pay the court cash to reopen the bond." A 90-day failure to enter summary judgment exonerates; a timely judgment is enforceable for two years.
A Fresno defendant on a Fresno bond is arrested in the underlying case in Kern County during the 180-day period. What does Penal Code 1305(c)(3) require?
How do Penal Code 1305(d) and 1305(e) differ?
An agent stages a Penal Code 1305(g) temporary detention of a defendant in another country, obtains the local officer's sworn identification affidavit, and informs the prosecutor. The prosecutor has not decided whether to extradite. Under People v. The North River Insurance Company (S282020, 2025), what may the trial court not do?
After a 1305 period runs without the forfeiture being set aside, who collects the resulting 1306 summary-judgment debt according to CDI, and what happens if the court fails to enter that judgment within 90 days after it may first be entered?