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Pen. Code, § 992 · Chapter 1. Of the Arraignment of the Defendant

Pen. Code, § 992

Verbatim from the official edition

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

(a) (1) In any case in which the defendant is charged with a felony, the court shall require the defendant to provide a right thumbprint on a form developed for this purpose. Unless the court has obtained the thumbprint at an earlier proceeding, it shall do so at the arraignment on the information or indictment, or upon entry of a guilty or no contest plea under Section 859a. The fingerprint form shall include the name and superior court case number of the defendant, the date, and the printed name, position, and badge or serial number of the court bailiff who imprints the defendant’s thumbprint. In the event the defendant is physically unable to provide a right thumbprint, the defendant shall provide a left thumbprint. In the event the defendant is physically unable to provide a left thumbprint, the court shall make a determination as to how the defendant might otherwise provide a suitable identifying characteristic to be imprinted on the judgment of conviction. The clerk shall note on the fingerprint form which digit, if any, of the defendant’s was imprinted thereon. In the event that the defendant is convicted, this fingerprint form shall be attached to the minute order reflecting the defendant’s sentence. The fingerprint form shall be permanently maintained in the superior court file.

(2) This thumbprint or fingerprint shall not be used to create a database. The Judicial Council shall develop a form to implement this section.

(b) In the event that a county implements a countywide policy in which every felony defendant’s photograph and fingerprints are permanently maintained in the superior court file, the presiding judge of that county may elect, after consultation with the district attorney, to continue compliance with this section.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 304, Sec. 8. (SB 428) Effective January 1, 2012.

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=992.
Text hash
sha256 28eb823794323c6881a8b1115c0b81e5c326f7a710ee5cb6d80246807b70644b
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.