First court appearance
If they are still in custody, the first court appearance is supposed to happen within 48 hours of arrest. Sundays and court holidays do not count, and if the deadline falls when the court is shut, it waits for the next session.
That hearing is the arraignment: the charges, their rights, a chance to enter a plea, bail, the next date, and — if they cannot afford a lawyer — a Public Defender.
Do not drive to the nearest courthouse, and do not drive to the jail. The case assignment decides the courtroom, not geography and not which jail is holding them. They may appear on a video link from inside the jail while the hearing runs somewhere else entirely.
How the clock actually runs
The count is in court days, not hours on a wall.
“The defendant shall in all cases be taken before the magistrate without unnecessary delay, and, in any event, within 48 hours after his or her arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays.”California Penal Code § 825(a)(1)
Why a Friday-night arrest usually means Monday. Not because Saturday is excluded by name — it is not. Because when the time runs out the court is closed, and the statute then carries the deadline to the next session. A holiday Monday pushes it again.
The statute’s own worked example. Arrested on a Wednesday after that day’s court session has ended, and the Wednesday is not a court holiday: they must be before a magistrate no later than the following Friday, provided that Friday is not a court holiday.
Where it happens
The screen is in the jail. The hearing is not.
Someone in custody may be arraigned by video link from West Valley Detention Center or from High Desert Detention Center — the Public Defender’s FAQ calls the second one the “Adelanto Detention Center”, meaning the Sheriff’s jail in Adelanto, not the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
What that means for the person
They may never leave the building. The Sheriff describes West Valley’s court appearances as being done by remote video to a range of courts — San Bernardino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, Victorville and Barstow among them.
What that means for you
You cannot sit in on it at the jail. If you attend, you go to the courthouse the case is assigned to. Turning up at the jail on the day means missing the hearing entirely.
Which courthouse, then?
Ask. There is no published rule that arrested-in-Fontana always means the Fontana court — charging and housing both move. Call the criminal division with a name and a booking or case number.
We are not going to guess this for you. A jail-to-courthouse map would be easy to publish and wrong often enough to cost someone the hearing. Neither the court nor the Sheriff publishes one.
At the hearing
Five things are settled that day.
They are told the charges, and given the charging document
Formally advised of the specific charges and of their rights.
They may enter a plea
An opportunity, at that hearing.
Bail is set
The court works from the county’s published schedule and can raise it, lower it, or release someone without bail. See what the schedule starts at →
The next court date is fixed
This is usually the first reliable date a family gets.
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A lawyer may be appointed
If they cannot afford private counsel, the judge appoints the Public Defender at this hearing — the person has to ask when the judge asks who represents them.
The Public Defender is not on the case before this moment. How appointment works, and which office →
For most families this hearing is also, in the Public Defender’s own words, “probably the first time you will be able to see your friend or loved-one following an arrest.”
Days that do not count
Judicial holidays still ahead.
Court holidays are excluded from the count and close the court, which pushes the deadline to the next session. These are the next few the Superior Court publishes.
- 11 November Veterans Day Wednesday, 2026
- 26 November Thanksgiving Day Thursday, 2026
- 27 November Day after Thanksgiving Friday, 2026
- 25 December Christmas Day Friday, 2026
- 1 January New Year's Day Friday, 2027
- 18 January Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, 2027
Checked against the court’s list on 21 August 2026. The court is the authority and publishes the full year plus the next — see the current list. Where a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed the Monday; on a Saturday, the Friday.
When the 48 hours do not apply.
The rule is for people still in custody. It is the reason someone cannot simply be held indefinitely without seeing a judge.
Cited and released. If they were given a citation with a future court date rather than being held, this timeline does not apply — the date on the citation does.
Bailed out before the hearing. Release before arraignment changes the sequence; the case still proceeds.
The District Attorney declines to file. Someone can be released without an arraignment happening at all.
Not on the locator yet. A recent booking can take hours to appear. Not being findable online is not evidence that a hearing was missed.
Who to call
Court questions go to the court.
The jail knows what bail was set at and whether someone is still in custody. It does not run the court calendar.
Criminal Division, San Bernardino District
San Bernardino Justice Center
247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0240
Phone and building, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For the court date and the assigned district. Have a name and a booking or case number ready.
Sheriff bail and public information
A countywide telephone line answered from the jails, not a public counter.
For whether they are still in custody and what the bail amount is. Not the court calendar.
An attorney can visit before any appointment
Penal Code § 825(b): an attorney entitled to practice in California may visit a prisoner at the request of the prisoner or any relative of the prisoner. An officer who refuses a proper application commits a misdemeanor.
This is the one step a family can take before the judge appoints anyone. It means a privately retained lawyer, not the Public Defender, who cannot act until appointed.