Pen. Code, § 837 · Chapter 5. Arrest, by Whom and How Made
Pen. Code, § 837
Verbatim from the official edition
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
A private person may arrest another:
1. For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence.
2. When the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence.
3. When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it.
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=837.
- Text hash
- sha256 34644981c8cc1c98cadc770f84e4fd635361e0242b03f4cb26731d383fa701da
- 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
Cited by 8 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 837. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Penal Code
- Pen. Code, § 142Printed as Section 837
- Pen. Code, § 207Printed as Section 834 or 837
- Pen. Code, § 602.3Printed as Section 837
- Pen. Code, § 840Printed as Section 836 or 837
- Pen. Code, § 847Printed as Section 142, 837, 838, or 839
- Pen. Code, § 1299.02Printed as Sections 837, 838, and 839
- Pen. Code, § 9502Printed as Section 490.5 or 837
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.