Pen. Code, § 981 · Chapter 1. Of the Arraignment of the Defendant
Pen. Code, § 981
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
The bench warrant must be substantially in the following form:
County of ____. The People of the State of California to any Sheriff, Marshal, or Policeman in this State: An accusatory pleading having been filed on the ____ day of ____, A.D. ____, in the Superior Court of the County of ____, charging C. D. with the crime of ____ (designating it generally); you are, therefore, commanded forthwith to arrest the above named C. D., and bring him or her before that Court (or if the accusatory pleading has been sent to another Court, then before that Court, naming it), to answer said accusatory pleading, or if the Court is not in session, that you deliver him or her into the custody of the Sheriff of the County of ____.
Given under my hand, with the seal of said Court affixed, this ____ day of ____, A.D. ____.
By order of said Court.
[seal.] E. F., Clerk.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 468, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2004.
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=981.
- Text hash
- sha256 6eb210daed730ce427c91df6af203733d4d0455372ffbad84f4b34aa284350c4
- 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.