Skip to main content

Pen. Code, § 784.5 · Chapter 1. Of the Local Jurisdiction of Public Offenses

Pen. Code, § 784.5

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

The jurisdiction of a criminal action for a violation of Section 277, 278, or 278.5 shall be in any one of the following jurisdictional territories:

(a) Any jurisdictional territory in which the victimized person resides, or where the agency deprived of custody is located, at the time of the taking or deprivation.

(b) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child was taken, detained, or concealed.

(c) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child is found.

When the jurisdiction lies in more than one jurisdictional territory, the district attorneys concerned may agree which of them will prosecute the case.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 1984, Ch. 1207, Sec. 5.

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&sectionNum=784.5.
Text hash
sha256 98d092bca312c9378b5b6622df8f819419e217f6fa1e68fdd831e89c769f618a
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

This section cites

Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.

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.