Pen. Code, § 851.6 · Chapter 5. Arrest, by Whom and How Made
Pen. Code, § 851.6
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) In any case in which a person is arrested and released pursuant to paragraph (1), (3), or (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 849, the person shall be issued a certificate, signed by the releasing officer or his superior officer, describing the action as a detention.
(b) In any case in which a person is arrested and released and an accusatory pleading is not filed charging him or her with an offense, the person shall be issued a certificate by the law enforcement agency which arrested him or her describing the action as a detention.
(c) The Attorney General shall prescribe the form and content of the certificate.
(d) Any reference to the action as an arrest shall be deleted from the arrest records of the arresting agency and of the Department of Justice. Thereafter, any record of the action shall refer to it as a detention.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 566, Sec. 2. (SB 238) Effective October 7, 2017.
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=851.6.
- Text hash
- sha256 5087e23a08c496933331f6416cd442eb1468b47883bb988da15b5f7527fbe0cd
- 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.
Penal Code
Cited by 3 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 851.6. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
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.