Pen. Code, § 1487 · Chapter 1. Of the Writ of Habeas Corpus
Pen. Code, § 1487
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
If it appears on the return of the writ that the prisoner is in custody by virtue of process from any Court of this State, or Judge or officer thereof, such prisoner may be discharged in any of the following cases, subject to the restrictions of the last section:
1. When the jurisdiction of such Court or officer has been exceeded;
2. When the imprisonment was at first lawful, yet by some act, omission, or event which has taken place afterwards, the party has become entitled to a discharge;
3. When the process is defective in some matter of substance required by law, rendering such process void;
4. When the process, though proper in form, has been issued in a case not allowed by law;
5. When the person having the custody of the prisoner is not the person allowed by law to detain him;
6. Where the process is not authorized by any order, judgment, or decree of any Court, nor by any provision of law;
7. Where a party has been committed on a criminal charge without reasonable or probable cause.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Enacted 1872.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=1487.
- Text hash
- sha256 400014f18cd4728767790422212b13d6be8069a5ca44446fbe3a95b9ffd4ba8d
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.