Resisting Arrest Bail Amounts in California: PC 148, PC 69 & Obstruction

Resisting arrest is one of the most frequently added charges in California, and one of the most frequently misunderstood. Most people picture a struggle. The statute requires nothing of the kind — and in many cases, no arrest was even underway. If a resisting count has been added to someone’s booking sheet, here is what it means for their bail.

The short version: Penal Code 148(a)(1) is a misdemeanor and is very often a secondary count added to a primary charge. In most California counties, an added count like this does not increase bail, because bail is set on the highest single offense rather than added up. Estimate your cost with our California bail cost calculator.

What PC 148(a)(1) actually prohibits

The statute makes it a crime to willfully resist, delay, or obstruct a public officer, peace officer, or emergency medical technician in the discharge of their duties. Three things follow from that wording, and they explain why the charge appears so often:

No physical resistance is required. “Delays or obstructs” is enough. Walking away, refusing to follow a lawful order, giving a false name, or interfering with an investigation can all satisfy the statute.
No arrest needs to be happening. The common name “resisting arrest” is a misnomer. Any lawful duty counts.
It protects more than police. Obstructing paramedics at a scene is a PC 148 violation.

There are real limits, too. The officer must be lawfully engaged in their duties — an unlawful detention or excessive force takes the officer outside the scope of the statute. And California law states expressly that photographing or recording an officer in public is not, by itself, a violation, nor does it create reasonable suspicion to detain or probable cause to arrest. The same recording protection applies to PC 69, discussed below.

Penalty: PC 148(a)(1) is a straight misdemeanor — up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $1,000, or both. It is not a wobbler and can never become a felony.

The three charges people confuse

Getting these straight matters, because only one of them can be a felony.

PC 148(a)(1) — resisting, delaying or obstructing. No force required. Misdemeanor only.
PC 69 — resisting an executive officer. Requires a threat or violence to deter an officer from performing a duty, or knowingly resisting by force or violence. This is a wobbler: as a felony it carries 16 months, two, or three years and a fine up to $10,000. PC 69 is also not an ordinary misdemeanor in its consequences: it can qualify as a strike under California’s Three Strikes law where the defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury or personally used a deadly weapon. PC 148 never can.
PC 148.9 — false identification to a peace officer. Giving a fake name during a lawful detention or arrest. A misdemeanor. Many arrests people describe as “resisting” are actually this.

The dividing line between 148 and 69 is force, not outcome. Pulling away, going limp, or running is PC 148. Swinging, shoving, or threatening an officer is PC 69. If the booking sheet says 69 rather than 148, treat it as a substantially more serious case and get a defense attorney involved immediately.

Typical bail amounts by county

Los Angeles County: under the 2026 pre-arraignment protocol, PC 148(a)(1) is designated Cite and Release — released in the field, with no money bail. PC 69 is designated Magistrate Review, which is also a zero-dollar designation but means the person is booked and a magistrate decides release conditions. That review is available around the clock, and the magistrate can defer the release decision to arraignment. So a PC 69 arrest in LA County can still mean custody overnight even though no dollar figure attaches.

San Bernardino County publishes one of the few line items in the state that names these statutes directly: resisting or delaying a peace officer under PC 69/148 is listed at $10,000. That is notable because San Bernardino otherwise requires no bail on most misdemeanors.

Riverside County sets unlisted misdemeanors according to maximum incarceration exposure, which puts PC 148 in the range of $5,000. Felony PC 69 resolves to roughly $10,000.

Orange County does not list PC 148 by name; unlisted misdemeanors fall to the Judicial Council schedule. Felony PC 69 resolves to roughly $20,000 under the county’s top-term rule.

These are schedule figures, and a judge can change any of them at arraignment. The number that matters is the one on the booking record — we can pull it 24/7 through our California inmate locator.

The add-on question: does a resisting count raise the bail?

This is the question families actually call about, and the answer is reassuring. In California, bail is set on the highest single count — not by adding the counts together. Every Southern California bail schedule says so in some form:

Orange County is the most explicit: where a felony is charged alongside misdemeanors or infractions, the highest bail for any one felony plus enhancements applies, and “misdemeanor and infraction bails will not be considered.” A PC 148 count added to a felony arrest there adds nothing.
Riverside and San Bernardino both use the highest single offense per case — though bail on separate cases is cumulative.
Los Angeles County applies the strictest release protocol among the charged offenses, and no additional financial condition may be added for an offense designated zero-dollar.

There are three exceptions where counts genuinely do stack: separate victims, separate dates, or separate cases. That last one matters here, because PC 148 has its own multiplier — a person can be convicted of a separate count for each officer or EMT involved. One incident with three officers can mean three counts, and separate victims is exactly the trigger that permits aggregation.

Enhancements are the other thing that adds rather than replaces. See felony vs. misdemeanor bail for how that works.

Why this charge gets added so often

PC 148 is written as a residual offense — it applies “when no other punishment is prescribed.” It requires no force, no injury, and no completed arrest. Any non-compliance during an arrest for something else supplies the elements. In practice it rides along with DUI, drug, theft and domestic violence arrests constantly.

That is worth understanding without reading too much into it. An added resisting count is common, it is usually a misdemeanor, and it usually does not change what you pay to get someone out. What it can affect is the negotiation later, which is a conversation for a defense attorney.

Getting bail lowered

California law allows an attorney, friend, or family member to apply to a magistrate for release on lower bail or on own recognizance. In Los Angeles County that application must be made within two hours of booking. Law enforcement can also request an increase above the schedule in the same window. That narrow window is one of the strongest arguments for calling someone experienced immediately rather than waiting until morning.

At arraignment — usually within 48 hours, as we cover in our arraignment guide — the judge sets bail fresh, and must consider ability to pay under In re Humphrey.

Step by step if a resisting charge was added

Check whether it says 148 or 69. That single digit is the most important thing on the booking sheet.
Locate them with the inmate locator and get the booking number.
Ask what the primary charge is. That is almost certainly what the bail is based on.
Call a licensed bondsman to confirm the real number — see our cosigner guide.
Get a defense attorney if it is PC 69. A strike allegation changes the whole case.

Someone booked on a resisting or obstruction charge? We can confirm the bail and start the release. Call 800.590.7321 or message 626.862.0627 any time.

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