14.3 Transporting Prisoners and Out-of-State or Foreign Recovery
Key Takeaways
- Penal Code 1301 requires delivery without unnecessary delay: within 48 hours of an in-state arrest, or within 48 hours after an out-of-state arrestee is brought into California; willful failure is a misdemeanor.
- The 48-hour clocks are for the defendant's benefit and may be waived only in a writing signed by the defendant and delivered to the bail within 48 hours of the arrest or of entry into this state; the defendant may revoke that waiver the same way.
- Penal Code 847.5 is how a bondsman deals with a person admitted to bail in another state who is present in California: affidavit to a magistrate, warrant, district-attorney investigation, hearing, and an order authorizing return — not a self-help snatch.
- Taking an out-of-state bailee into custody in California without a 847.5 order is an infraction punishable by a $5,000 fine (847.5(e)); reproductive-health pickups from other states are separately barred.
- Penal Code 1305(f) and (g) are bond-relief statutes when the defendant is beyond California's jurisdiction; People v. North River Ins. Co. (S282020, 2025) holds that the court cannot compel the prosecutor's extradition election. A UFAP warrant, a provisional arrest warrant, and an Interpol Red Notice are law-enforcement tools, not BFRA paperwork.
Transporting Prisoners and Out-of-State or Foreign Recovery
Quick Answer: After a 1301 arrest, transport is delivery. In California, deliver without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours. If the arrest was outside California, the 48 hours start when the defendant is brought into this state. For a person admitted to bail in another state who is found here, Penal Code 847.5 requires a magistrate's order after a hearing. A UFAP warrant, a provisional arrest, and an Interpol Red Notice are law-enforcement instruments; a BFRA does not issue them.
One of the eight Laws-domain items is transporting prisoners. Another is out-of-state or foreign recovery, including Penal Code 847.5 and 1305(f) and (g). Treat geography as three different jobs: a California bond recovered inside California; a California bond recovered elsewhere; and another state's bond recovered inside California.
Transport is the 1301 delivery, not a private jail
Penal Code 1301 is the transport statute the exam actually writes. Any bail or other person who arrests a defendant in this state shall, without unnecessary delay, and in any event within 48 hours of the arrest, deliver the defendant to the court or magistrate before whom the defendant is required to appear, or to the sheriff or police for confinement in the appropriate jail in the county or city where the defendant is required to appear. Any bail or other person who arrests a defendant outside this state shall, without unnecessary delay after the defendant is brought into this state, and in any event within 48 hours after the defendant is brought into this state, make the same delivery. Willful failure is a misdemeanor.
The time-of-delivery rules are for the defendant's benefit. With the bail's consent they may be waived, but only in a writing signed by the defendant and delivered to the bail within 48 hours after the arrest or after entry into this state. The defendant may revoke that waiver in the same manner; delivery is then due without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours of revocation. If a 48-hour period terminates on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, delivery may take place before noon on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday without violating 1301.
Penal Code 847 is the general private-person overlay: a private person who has arrested another shall, without unnecessary delay, take the person before a magistrate or deliver the person to a peace officer. A 1301 surrender arrest does not authorize a multi-day "interview," a drive to an out-of-county warehouse, or a stop at the indemnitor's house to demand more collateral. Penal Code 835 still limits restraint to what is reasonable for the arrest and detention. Seat the defendant in the passenger cabin of a legal vehicle, not in a trunk. Do not leave a restrained person unattended in a parked car. Do not mix the transport with a side trip to "show the family we have him." Those are best-practice applications of 835, 847, and 1301; they are not a separate unpublished hour-count. If the receiving jail will not take the body without a booking packet, the clock is still running — call the court or the agency before the 48 hours expire rather than inventing a holding cell.
California scenario. A BFRA arrests a San Diego defendant in Oceanside at 9 p.m. Friday. Forty-eight hours lands at 9 p.m. Sunday. 1301's weekend rule lets delivery occur before noon Monday. Holding the defendant in an Escondido garage until Wednesday because "Central Jail intake is a mess" is a willful-failure misdemeanor, not a logistics courtesy. A written waiver signed by the defendant and delivered to the bail within 48 hours can extend that, and the defendant can revoke it.
Other-state fugitive found in California: 847.5, not self-help
Penal Code 847.5 is the inbound statute. If a person has been admitted to bail in another state, escapes bail, and is present in this state, the bail bondsman or other person who is bail for that fugitive may file with a magistrate in the county where the fugitive is present an affidavit stating the name and whereabouts, the offense charged or of which the person was convicted, the time and place, and the particulars of the bail violation, and may request a warrant and, after hearing, an order authorizing the affiant to return the fugitive to the jurisdiction from which the person escaped bail. The magistrate may require additional sworn evidence, may issue a warrant if there is probable cause the person is such a fugitive, shall notify the district attorney and direct the DA to investigate, shall advise the fugitive of the right to counsel and to produce evidence, and may admit the fugitive to bail pending the hearing. The DA shall appear. If, after hearing, the magistrate is satisfied the person is a fugitive, the magistrate may issue the return order.
847.5(e) is the self-help penalty: a bondsman or other person who is bail for an out-of-state fugitive who takes that fugitive into custody except pursuant to an order issued under 847.5 is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of $5,000. 847.5(b) forbids a magistrate from issuing a warrant when the alleged out-of-state offense criminalizes sexual or reproductive health care that is lawful in California. 847.5(c) adds license ineligibility and forfeiture for a 1299.02-authorized person who takes such a reproductive-care fugitive into custody without a magistrate's order. 847.5(d) gives the person taken a three-year civil action against the bondsman and bond company. Pair 847.5 with 1299.02(c): the out-of-state recovery person also needs a California BFRA license before doing any of this work here.
California fugitive found elsewhere: local law, 1305(f)/(g), and federal tools
When the California bailee is in another state or another country, California 1301 does not rewrite that other sovereign's arrest law. Notify local law enforcement. Learn that jurisdiction's recovery, firearms, kidnapping, and extradition rules before anyone knocks. Some states treat an unlicensed California recovery person as a kidnapper. 1299.05 still requires compliance with all laws applicable to the apprehension; "I have a CDI card" is not a defense in Clark County or in Baja.
Bond relief, if the body cannot be returned, is Penal Code 1305, taught as forfeiture in Chapter 13 and tested again here as out-of-jurisdiction recovery:
- 1305(f) — the defendant is in custody beyond the court's jurisdiction, the prosecuting agency is informed of the location, and the prosecutor elects not to seek extradition. The court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate on just terms.
- 1305(g) — the defendant is not in custody and is beyond the state's jurisdiction, 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 a sworn affidavit, and the prosecutor elects not to seek extradition. Same vacatur-and-exoneration result. The parties may agree to toll the 180 days to allow a return (1305(h)).
The California Supreme Court in People v. The North River Insurance Company (Bad Boys Bail Bonds), S282020 (2025) held that 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 election is in the prosecution's sole purview. Staging a 1305(g) detention and then asking the judge to order the district attorney to extradite is asking for relief the Supreme Court said the statute does not give.
Three federal or international labels appear in recovery classrooms. Teach what they are, and that a BFRA does not issue them:
| Instrument | What it is | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| UFAP (Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution), 18 U.S.C. 1073 | A federal crime of moving or traveling in interstate or foreign commerce to avoid prosecution, custody, or confinement after conviction, or to avoid giving testimony | A federal UFAP warrant is obtained through the United States Attorney / FBI after a local prosecutor requests it. It is not a CDI form |
| Provisional arrest warrant | A temporary arrest in the requested country so the person can be held pending a formal extradition package | Issued by the requested country's authorities on a treaty request, not by a recovery agent |
| Interpol Red Notice | A request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar action, based on a judicial arrest warrant or court order | Circulated by Interpol at a member country's request. It is not itself a California arrest warrant and is not BFRA paper |
An agent who locates a defendant in Tijuana, stages a 1305(g) temporary detention with local police, and obtains the sworn identification affidavit has done the bond-relief job 1305(g) describes. Snatching the defendant off a Mexican street, stuffing him in a car, and driving north is kidnapping under Mexican and United States law, not "foreign recovery." If the Los Angeles prosecutor elects not to extradite, 1305(g) requires vacatur on just terms. If the prosecutor has simply not decided, North River says the court cannot force that election.
Traps. 1301's out-of-state 48 hours start at entry into California, not at the foreign arrest. A 847.5 inbound fugitive is not a 1301 California bailee; skip the magistrate and 847.5(e) is a $5,000 infraction. 1299.02(c) still requires a California BFRA license for work in this state. 1305(g) requires detention in the presence of local LE plus a sworn identification affidavit plus the prosecutor's election. A Red Notice is not a license to kick a door in Guadalajara. PC 832 does not travel as peace-officer status.
A BFRA arrests a California bailee in Phoenix and later drives the defendant across the Colorado River into California. When does Penal Code 1301's 48-hour delivery clock begin?
A Texas surety's agent finds, in Fresno, a person who was admitted to bail in Texas and failed to appear. What does Penal Code 847.5 require before that agent may return the person to Texas?
A bail agent locates a forfeited Los Angeles defendant in another country, temporarily detains the person in the presence of local police, and obtains a sworn identification affidavit. The prosecutor has not decided whether to extradite. Under People v. North River Ins. Co. (S282020, 2025) and Penal Code 1305(g), what may the trial court not do?
What is an Interpol Red Notice in the out-of-country recovery setting the exam tests?