Drug Charge Bail Bonds

The single most important thing to establish about a drug arrest is whether it has been booked as simple possession or as possession for sale. The two sit far apart on the bail schedule.

Simple possession

Health and Safety Code § 11350 covers possession of specified controlled substances — those listed in §§ 11054, 11055 and 11056, and narcotic drugs in Schedules III, IV or V — unless held under a valid prescription from a licensed practitioner.

The base penalty is imprisonment in county jail for up to one year. The statute creates an exception increasing exposure under Penal Code § 1170(h) for people with certain qualifying prior convictions, including specified serious offenses and offenses requiring sex offender registration.

Possession for sale is a different charge

Possession for sale is charged under separate sections and is treated far more seriously than personal possession. Quantity, packaging, scales, cash and messages are the sorts of things that move an arrest from one category to the other. Because the charge is different, the scheduled bail is different — often by a wide margin.

Possession versus possession for sale, in the sections themselves

This is the distinction that decides whether a case is a misdemeanour that resolves in months or a felony carrying real bail. It is not about quantity alone — it is about what the charging section says.

What turns possession into possession for sale

Families are often told “it was only for personal use” and cannot understand where the sales charge came from. Police and prosecutors look at a pattern of circumstances rather than any single fact:

• Quantity relative to ordinary personal use.
• Packaging — multiple individual bags rather than one.
• Scales, ledgers or large amounts of cash found alongside.
• Phone messages read as arranging transactions.
• Absence of paraphernalia consistent with personal use.

Whether those inferences hold is a question for a defence lawyer, and it is often where these cases are won. What matters for the first night is simply this: find out which section is on the booking sheet, because a sales section and a possession section produce very different numbers.

How the bail figure is actually built on a sales charge

Many drug sections carry no individual entry in the Orange County schedule. Where that is so, the county prices a felony from the state prison top term using its guideline table — $20,000 at a three-year top term, rising through $55,000 at ten years to $100,000 at sixteen. That is why two people booked the same night on what sound like similar drug charges can be quoted very different figures. See the Orange County bail schedule explained.

Two further points that move the number: enhancements for quantity or location can attach, and in Orange County felony bails do not stack count by count — the highest single felony amount plus enhancement applies.

Los Angeles County: check before assuming a bond is needed

Simple possession is exactly the kind of non-violent, non-serious offence the county’s pre-arraignment release protocols designate CR, BR or MR at $0 bail. Sales and transportation charges are much more likely to carry a dollar figure. Establish which column before paying anything: LA County bail amount lookup.

How drug bail is set

Bail comes from the uniform countywide schedule adopted under Penal Code § 1269b. The superior court judges in each county must prepare, adopt and annually revise that schedule for all bailable felony, misdemeanor and infraction offenses, weighting it for the seriousness of the offense and adding amounts for aggravating or enhancing factors. It applies before a person has appeared in front of a judge.

Where cash was seized alongside the arrest, expect the question of where the bail money came from to be raised. Penal Code § 1275.1 allows a judge to place a source-of-funds hold on the release, and the defense then carries the burden of showing that no part of the money was feloniously obtained. It is a court process, not something a bail agency can resolve.

Where they are held and where the case is heard

The Intake Release Center in Santa Ana accepts bail 24 hours a day; Theo Lacy only 8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.; Musick is not a bail acceptance point. See all jails.

The case is heard at the justice center for the city of arrest — North, Central, West or Harbor. See all courthouses.

Proposition 47 and why the same law shows up on theft cases

The 2014 measure that reduced simple drug possession is the same measure that reduced low-value theft. That is why a drug arrest and a shoplifting arrest can produce similar-looking bail figures despite having nothing else in common: Proposition 47 rewrote both sets of sections at once, and in the theft half it drew an explicit line at $950.

The practical consequence on a drug case is narrow but worth knowing. The reduction applies to possession for personal use. It does not reach possession for sale, and it does not reach prior convictions that disqualify a person from the reduced treatment — which is why the booking sheet, not the substance, is what decides the number you will be quoted.

The charges that tend to arrive with a drug case

Drug cases generate follow-on charges more often than most, and each of these carries its own bail rules rather than adding to the drug figure.

• Failure to appear. Under Penal Code § 1320 and § 1320.5, missing a court date is a chargeable offense in its own right and adds a second bail on top of the first.
• Probation violation. Where a drug case ended in probation, a new arrest is usually handled under § 1203.2 as well as on its own merits, and the court often holds the violation without bail until it rules.
• Outstanding warrants. A warrant from an older case has to be cleared separately. Posting on the new charge does not release someone who is also being held on a warrant.

Questions families ask us

Is possession still a felony in California?

Simple possession under § 11350 carries a base penalty of up to a year in county jail, with an exception that increases exposure where certain prior convictions exist. How a specific case is charged is a question for a defense attorney.

Does a prescription matter?

Section 11350 applies where the substance is held without a valid prescription from a licensed practitioner. Whether that applies to a specific case is a legal question, not one for us.

Will treatment options affect bail?

Diversion and treatment questions belong with a defense attorney. Bail is set from the schedule at the point of booking.

Where we work from

Our three offices — Anaheim, Brea and La Habra — are open 24 hours and are our only physical locations. See locations and areas we serve.

See also felony bail bonds, misdemeanor bail bonds and DUI bail bonds, or all of bail bond services.

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