Disturbing the Peace (Penal Code 415)

Penal Code 415 covers three kinds of conduct: fighting or challenging someone to fight in public, unreasonable noise made maliciously and wilfully, and offensive words used in a public place that are inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction. It sits at the bottom of the seriousness scale.

Misdemeanour or infraction

PC 415 can be charged as a misdemeanour, and in many cases it can be handled as an infraction instead. It very commonly ends with a citation and a notice to appear rather than a booking — see cite and release.

Why people sometimes see it at the end of a case

PC 415 is also frequently the charge a more serious allegation is reduced to through negotiation — a battery, a vandalism, a minor domestic matter. If you are seeing it on a booking sheet, though, it is the charge as booked, and the bail figure follows it. See release paperwork on why charges change.

When someone is actually held

• Another charge from the same incident — most often battery, resisting or vandalism.
• Intoxication — the first exception to release under PC 853.6(i). See disorderly conduct, which covers public intoxication.
• A warrant or a hold surfacing at booking — see holds and multiple cases.
• A domestic element, which changes the treatment considerably — see domestic violence.

Working out the amount, and what can change it

The figure comes from the countywide schedule that Penal Code 1269b requires each county’s judges to adopt and revise annually — which is why Orange and Los Angeles County can attach different numbers to identical conduct. A judge may raise bail under Penal Code 1269c, a hearing may be required in serious cases under 1270.1, and under In re Humphrey (2021) 11 Cal.5th 135 a court must consider ability to pay before setting money bail that results in detention.

Where they are, and where the case is heard

Which facility is holding the person decides how much time you actually have — a Temporary Holding facility must move someone within 24 hours, while a Type I city jail may hold an adult up to 96 hours excluding holidays. See what the classifications mean, our Orange County and Los Angeles County jail guides, and find an inmate. Neither county’s Superior Court publishes a city-by-city criminal assignment table, so the release paperwork governs the court date — see release paperwork.

Local guides: Anaheim, Brea, La Habra, Fullerton, Buena Park, Yorba Linda and Tustin.

---

Please note: American Freedom Bail Bonds is a licensed bail bond agency, not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and we cannot predict how any case will be charged or resolved. Charging decisions are made by the prosecutor, and bail schedules are revised annually. California bail license 1841014.