Pen. Code, § 959 · Chapter 2. Rules of Pleading
Pen. Code, § 959
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
The accusatory pleading is sufficient if it can be understood therefrom:
1. That it is filed in a court having authority to receive it, though the name of the court be not stated.
2. If an indictment, that it was found by a grand jury of the county in which the court was held, or if an information, that it was subscribed and presented to the court by the district attorney of the county in which the court was held.
3. If a complaint, that it is made and subscribed by some natural person and sworn to before some officer entitled to administer oaths.
4. That the defendant is named, or if his name is unknown, that he is described by a fictitious name, with a statement that his true name is to the grand jury, district attorney, or complainant, as the case may be, unknown.
5. That the offense charged therein is triable in the court in which it is filed, except in case of a complaint filed with a magistrate for the purposes of a preliminary examination.
6. That the offense was committed at some time prior to the filing of the accusatory pleading.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 1951, Ch. 1674.
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=959.
- Text hash
- sha256 308681d4488b119324bd4e94128f90f1113fd014a26e7cdf71c97b232ed9168b
- 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 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 959. 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.