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Find the Official Alameda County Bail Schedule and Read Its Asterisks

September 6, 2026
Find the Official Alameda County Bail Schedule and Read Its Asterisks

The Alameda County bail schedule is the 2024 Misdemeanor and Felony Bail Schedule, published by the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, effective March 20, 2024. It sets the preset bail amount used at booking for most charges. A judge can still raise, lower, or deny bail later, so the number on the PDF is a starting point, not a final ruling.

TL;DR:

  • Bail amounts listed are initial figures and can be adjusted or denied by a judge during arraignment based on case details.
  • Charges marked with an asterisk require a judge’s hearing before release, regardless of the posted bail amount.
  • Serious charges with "No Bail" are presumed to warrant detention until a judge reviews the case, not due to a clerical error.
  • Bail for unscheduled felonies is often calculated as a multiple of a base amount based on the crime's sentencing range.
  • Bail bond options generally cost around 10% of the bail amount, offering a faster way to secure release than paying full cash upfront.

Table of Contents

Where to Download the Official Alameda County Bail Schedule

Skip the search results promising a shortcut. The document you want lives directly on the court's own site, and it's the only version worth trusting for an actual dollar figure.

The Fee and Bail Schedules page hosts the current 2024 Misdemeanor and Felony Bail Schedule as a downloadable PDF. That same page also carries the court's official scam alert, which matters more than it sounds like it should (more on that below). When you open the PDF, look for a few specific things:

  • The Penal Code section number next to each offense, not just a plain-English description, consistent with the court's official schedule
  • A dollar figure in the bail column, or "No Bail" where release before a hearing isn't an option
  • A single asterisk next to certain entries, which flags a special rule under PC 1270.1
  • Footnotes at the bottom of each page explaining sentencing enhancements tied to prior convictions

Bookmark the fee schedule too. Bail and court fees are separate documents, and confusing them wastes time when a family is already racing the clock.

How to Read the Bail Schedule: Codes, Asterisks, and "No Bail"

The schedule runs in a straightforward table: Penal Code section, a short offense description, and a bail figure. Simple enough, until you hit the symbols.

An offense marked with an asterisk means it falls under PC 1270.1, which requires an open-court hearing before a judge before release, regardless of what dollar figure sits next to it. That single character changes everything about the timeline. A defendant charged with a qualifying violent felony or a repeat domestic violence offense, for example, typically can't just pay the listed amount at the jail and walk out. They wait for a judge.

"No Bail" entries show up for the most serious charges, usually capital offenses or certain violent felonies where the law presumes detention until a judge weighs in. This isn't a clerical gap. It's intentional.

Then there's the category of unscheduled felonies, offenses that don't appear on the printed list at all. For those, a standard fallback formula commonly used is a multiple of a base amount by the middle term of the sentence range for that crime, establishing the baseline bail amount.

Bail schedule symbols and decision paths

Pro Tip: If you're not sure whether a charge is a felony or a misdemeanor, don't guess from the schedule alone. Some "wobbler" offenses can be charged either as felonies or misdemeanors, affecting which bail schedule line applies. Our breakdown of felony versus misdemeanor bail walks through how prosecutors make that call.

Why the Listed Bail Amount Can Change

Why the Listed Bail Amount Can Change — overview diagram

Nothing on that PDF is carved in stone. Penal Code Section 1269b requires every California superior court to adopt and revise its bail schedule annually, but the same law lets judges deviate from it once a case reaches arraignment. Section 1275 spells out what a judge weighs at that point: the seriousness of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, protection of the public, and the likelihood of the person actually showing up to court.

That's why two people arrested for the exact same charge in Alameda County can walk out at different bail amounts. One might have a clean record. The other might have two prior failures to appear.

The schedule indicates the likely bail amount set at booking, but the actual bail may be adjusted by a judge during arraignment after reviewing the case details.

When someone faces multiple charges, the county generally doesn't add every listed bail amount together. The common practice is to use the highest single amount among the charges as the controlling figure, though a judge retains the discretion to depart from that approach if the case calls for it.

Cash, Bond, OR, or Cite and Release: What Are the Actual Options?

Once a bail amount exists, whether it's the scheduled figure or one a judge adjusted, a family generally has a few paths to get someone out of Santa Rita Jail.

  1. Pay the full cash amount. You hand over the entire bail sum directly to the jail or court, and it's refunded (minus fees) once the case resolves. It's the most expensive option upfront and the slowest for most families to assemble on short notice.
  2. Post a bail bond through a licensed agent. You pay a percentage of the total bail, commonly around 10%, as a non-refundable premium, and the bonding company covers the rest. This is the route most families actually use because it turns a $20,000 bail into a fraction of that in cash needed today. Our page on bail bond costs in California breaks down how that premium is calculated.
  3. Release on own recognizance (OR). A judge lets the defendant go without paying anything, based on a promise to return to court. This depends entirely on the charge and the person's history.
  4. Cite-and-release or book-and-release. For certain lower-level offenses, jail staff can release someone with a citation to appear later, skipping the bail question altogether.

Pro Tip: If cash is tight but time matters more, a bond almost always gets someone out faster than trying to scrape together the full amount, since the posting process doesn't wait on you liquidating savings or asking relatives for loans.

What to Do First When a Family Member Is Arrested

Panic wastes time. A short, ordered checklist doesn't.

  1. Confirm the basics. Get the person's full name, booking number, the arresting agency, and confirm they're being held at Santa Rita Jail.
  2. Check the bail amount. Cross-reference the charge against the 2024 bail schedule PDF, or call the jail directly to confirm the figure they've assigned.
  3. Decide on a release path. Line up either the cash amount or a licensed bail agent, and gather ID and any documents the jail requires for processing.

Night and weekend arrests often sit until the next business day for full processing, so don't assume a delay means something went wrong.

Watch for Scams Targeting Worried Families

The Superior Court has issued a direct warning that scammers pose as Pretrial Services staff and demand payment for things like GPS monitoring fees. Real Pretrial Services staff never ask defendants or their families for money over the phone.

  • Never wire money or read a payment card number to a caller claiming to represent the jail or court.
  • Hang up and call the jail or the court clerk's office directly using numbers from their official website.
  • Report any suspicious call to the court or local law enforcement.

Local Perspective: What Trips Families Up in Alameda County

Working alongside families through this process for years, the same misunderstanding surfaces constantly: people treat the printed bail number as a locked verdict. It isn't. Arraignment can move that figure in either direction, and a judge's read on prior record often matters more than the charge itself.

Timing catches people off guard too. An arrest on a Friday night at Santa Rita Jail can mean a wait until Monday for anything beyond the scheduled bail to get sorted, simply because staffing and court calendars run thinner on weekends. Families who keep booking numbers, charge details, and ID documents organized from the first phone call move through the process noticeably faster than those scrambling to find paperwork at the jail window.

— william

A Faster Path to Release Than Waiting on Cash

Reading the schedule tells you the number. Getting someone home still takes cash on hand, a plan, and speed. Abaasybailbonds works as the option for families who don't have the full bail amount sitting liquid but need a release moving now, not after a weekend of scrambling.

Abaasybailbonds

Some bail bond services operate 24/7 with licensed agents who can start the release process at any time. Some services offer bilingual support, upfront pricing, and flexible payment plans to help manage costs. A bail bond agent can assist you in understanding the amount owed and the next steps, regardless of adjustments at arraignment. Visit Abaasy Bail Bonds to start a release or get a straight answer on cost before you commit to anything.

Primary Sources for This Article

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

Sources