Kidnapping Bail Bonds — PC 207

Penal Code § 207 makes it an offence forcibly, or by instilling fear, to take and carry another person a substantial distance without consent. It is a violent felony, which places it at the top end of the bail schedule and outside every shortcut that makes other cases easier.

What families most often misunderstand

• Distance is not measured in miles. The requirement is a substantial distance, judged in context — movement within a building or a vehicle has supported charges.
• No ransom or demand is required. The offence is the taking and carrying away.
• It frequently arises out of another incident, particularly a domestic violence allegation, an assault or a robbery, rather than as a standalone stranger case.
• Aggravated forms carry far greater exposure, including life terms — which is where the $1,000,000 line on the county guideline table becomes relevant.

Why the usual routes are closed

• § 1270.1 applies. As a violent felony, release on own recognizance or at any amount other than the scheduled figure requires a hearing in open court. The scheduled amount can still be posted immediately.
• § 1275(c) applies. The court must find unusual circumstances, stated on the record, before reducing bail below the county schedule.
• No $0 release in Los Angeles County. Violent felonies are excluded from the pre-arraignment protocols.
• Denial is possible in the narrow circumstances set out in article I, section 12 of the California Constitution — see can bail be denied?

How the bail figure is built

Where a felony section has no individual entry in the Orange County schedule, the county prices it from the state prison top term using its guideline table — $20,000 at three years, through $55,000 at ten, $100,000 at sixteen, and $1,000,000 for all life-term offences. See the Orange County bail schedule explained.

Strike priors take bail to $100,000 for one and $200,000 for two — see strike priors and bail. In Los Angeles County, serious and violent felonies are excluded from the county’s $0 pre-arraignment release, so money bail applies: LA County bail amount lookup.

What to do first

1. Get a criminal defence lawyer immediately. On a charge at this level that matters more than anything a bail agency does.
2. Get the exact section and any aggravating allegations, which decide whether a life term is in play.
3. Ask about strike priors.
4. Expect the scheduled amount to be the only immediate route.

Related resources

All bail services · Felony bail · Strike priors and bail · Can bail be denied? · Bail reduction hearings · Orange County bail schedule