Bill > AB1118

This bill mandates that the Judicial Council, a body responsible for court administration in California, create and annually update a statewide bail schedule for all bailable felony, misdemeanor, and infraction offenses, excluding traffic violations. This schedule, to be established by January 1, 2015, will be developed by a panel of judges and will involve consultation with representatives from various legal associations, including district attorneys, public defenders, criminal defense attorneys, and sheriffs, as well as input from other interested parties. When setting bail for felonies, the schedule will consider the seriousness of the crime and add bail amounts for any aggravating factors or enhancements, such as prior convictions or specific types of offenses listed in various sections of the Penal Code and Health and Safety Code. For offenses involving large quantities of controlled substances, additional bail will be required. The bill also introduces new rules for calculating bail when a person is charged with multiple offenses: generally, bail will be set at the highest amount for a single charge, but if the offenses were against separate victims, committed on separate dates, or involved separate sex acts that can be punished individually, the bail will be the sum of the amounts for each offense. Importantly, enhancements and prior convictions will only be added once per person and once per prior case, respectively, when determining the total bail amount. The schedule will list specific offenses and their corresponding bail amounts, or provide a general clause for unlisted offenses.