ARTICLE 1. Escapes [4530. - 4537.]

Cal. Penal Code - PEN 1.
in effect

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4530. Section 4530.

(a) Every prisoner confined in a state prison who, by force or violence, escapes or attempts to escape therefrom and every prisoner committed to a state prison who, by force or violence, escapes or attempts to escape while being conveyed to or from that prison or any other state prison, or any prison road camp, prison forestry camp, or other prison camp or prison farm or any other place while under the custody of prison officials, officers or employees; or who, by force or violence, escapes or attempts to escape from any prison road camp, prison forestry camp, or other prison camp or prison farm or other place while under the custody of prison officials, officers or employees; or who, by force or violence, escapes or attempts to escape while at work outside or away from prison under custody of prison officials, officers, or employees, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of two, four, or six years. The second term of imprisonment of a person convicted under this subdivision shall commence from the time he or she would otherwise have been discharged from prison. No additional probation report shall be required with respect to that offense. (b) Every prisoner who commits an escape or attempts an escape as described in subdivision (a), without force or violence, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years to be served consecutively. No additional probation report shall be required with respect to such offense. (c) The willful failure of a prisoner who is employed or continuing his education, or who is authorized to secure employment or education, or who is temporarily released pursuant to Section 2690, 2910, or 6254, or Section 3306 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to return to the place of confinement not later than the expiration of a period during which he or she is authorized to be away from the place of confinement, is an escape from the place of confinement punishable as provided in this section. A conviction of a violation of this subdivision, not involving force or violence, shall not be charged as a prior felony conviction in any subsequent prosecution for a public offense.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4532. Section 4532.

(a) (1) Every prisoner arrested and booked for, charged with, or convicted of a misdemeanor, and every person committed under the terms of Section 5654, 5656, or 5677 of the Welfare and Institutions Code as an inebriate, who is confined in any county or city jail, prison, industrial farm, or industrial road camp, is engaged on any county road or other county work, is in the lawful custody of any officer or person, is employed or continuing in his or her regular educational program or authorized to secure employment or education away from the place of confinement, pursuant to the Cobey Work Furlough Law (Section 1208), is authorized for temporary release for family emergencies or for purposes preparatory to his or her return to the community pursuant to Section 4018.6, or is a participant in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018, and who thereafter escapes or attempts to escape from the county or city jail, prison, industrial farm, or industrial road camp or from the custody of the officer or person in charge of him or her while engaged in or going to or returning from the county work or from the custody of any officer or person in whose lawful custody he or she is, or from the place of confinement in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018 is guilty of a felony and, if the escape or attempt to escape was not by force or violence, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a determinate term of one year and one day, or in a county jail not exceeding one year. (2) If the escape or attempt to escape described in paragraph (1) is committed by force or violence, the person is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or six years to be served consecutively, or in a county jail not exceeding one year. When the second term of imprisonment is to be served in a county jail, it shall commence from the time the prisoner otherwise would have been discharged from jail. (3) A conviction of a violation of this subdivision, or a violation of subdivision (b) involving a participant of a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018 that is not committed by force or violence, shall not be charged as a prior felony conviction in any subsequent prosecution for a public offense. (b) (1) Every prisoner arrested and booked for, charged with, or convicted of a felony, and every person committed by order of the juvenile court, who is confined in any county or city jail, prison, industrial farm, or industrial road camp, is engaged on any county road or other county work, is in the lawful custody of any officer or person, or is confined pursuant to Section 4011.9, is a participant in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018 who escapes or attempts to escape from a county or city jail, prison, industrial farm, or industrial road camp or from the custody of the officer or person in charge of him or her while engaged in or going to or returning from the county work or from the custody of any officer or person in whose lawful custody he or she is, or from confinement pursuant to Section 4011.9, or from the place of confinement in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, is guilty of a felony and, if the escape or attempt to escape was not by force or violence, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, two years, or three years, to be served consecutively, or in a county jail not exceeding one year. (2) If the escape or attempt to escape described in paragraph (1) is committed by force or violence, the person is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for a full term of two, four, or six years to be served consecutively to any other term of imprisonment, commencing from the time the person otherwise would have been released from imprisonment and the term shall not be subject to reduction pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1170.1, or in a county jail for a consecutive term not to exceed one year, that term to commence from the time the prisoner otherwise would have been discharged from jail. (c) Notwithstanding any other law, every inmate who is a participant in an alternative custody program pursuant to Section 1170.05 who escapes or attempts to escape from the program is guilty of a misdemeanor. (d) (1) Except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served if the person is granted probation, probation shall not be granted to any person who is convicted of a felony offense under this section in that he or she escaped or attempted to escape from a secure main jail facility, from a court building, or while being transported between the court building and the jail facility. (2) In any case in which a person is convicted of a violation of this section designated as a misdemeanor, he or she shall be confined in a county jail for not less than 90 days nor more than one year except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would best be served by the granting of probation. (3) For the purposes of this subdivision, “main jail facility” means the facility used for the detention of persons pending arraignment, after arraignment, during trial, and upon sentence or commitment. The facility shall not include an industrial farm, industrial road camp, work furlough facility, or any other nonsecure facility used primarily for sentenced prisoners. As used in this subdivision, “secure” means that the facility contains an outer perimeter characterized by the use of physically restricting construction, hardware, and procedures designed to eliminate ingress and egress from the facility except through a closely supervised gate or doorway. (4) If the court grants probation under this subdivision, it shall specify the reason or reasons for that order on the court record. (5) Any sentence imposed under this subdivision shall be served consecutive to any other sentence in effect or pending. (e) The willful failure of a prisoner, whether convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor, to return to his or her place of confinement no later than the expiration of the period that he or she was authorized to be away from that place of confinement, is an escape from that place of confinement. This subdivision applies to a prisoner who is employed or continuing in his or her regular educational program, authorized to secure employment or education pursuant to the Cobey Work Furlough Law (Section 1208), authorized for temporary release for family emergencies or for purposes preparatory to his or her return to the community pursuant to Section 4018.6, or permitted to participate in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018. A prisoner convicted of a misdemeanor who willfully fails to return to his or her place of confinement under this subdivision shall be punished as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). A prisoner convicted of a felony who willfully fails to return to his or her place of confinement shall be punished as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4533. Section 4533.

Every keeper of a prison, sheriff, deputy sheriff, or jailer, or person employed as a guard, who fraudulently contrives, procures, aids, connives at, or voluntarily permits the escape of any prisoner in custody, is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, and fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4534. Section 4534.

Any person who willfully assists any paroled prisoner whose parole has been revoked, any escapee, any prisoner confined in any prison or jail, or any person in the lawful custody of any officer or person, to escape, or in an attempt to escape from such prison or jail, or custody, is punishable as provided in Section 4533.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4535. Section 4535.

Every person who carries or sends into a prison or jail anything useful to aid a prisoner or inmate in making his escape, with intent thereby to facilitate the escape of any prisoner or inmate confined therein, is guilty of a felony.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4536. Section 4536.

(a) Every person committed to a state hospital or other public or private mental health facility as a mentally disordered sex offender, who escapes from or who escapes while being conveyed to or from such state hospital or other public or private mental health facility, is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or in the county jail not to exceed one year. The term imposed pursuant to this section shall be served consecutively to any other sentence or commitment. (b) The medical director or person in charge of a state hospital or other public or private mental health facility to which a person has been committed as a mentally disordered sex offender shall promptly notify the chief of police of the city in which the hospital or facility is located, or the sheriff of the county if the hospital or facility is located in an unincorporated area, of the escape of the person, and shall request the assistance of the chief of police or sheriff in apprehending the person, and shall, within 48 hours of the escape of the person, orally notify the court that made the commitment, the prosecutor in the case, and the Department of Justice of the escape.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4536.5. Section 4536.5.

The medical director or person in charge of a state hospital or other public or private mental health facility to which a person has been committed under the provisions of Article 4 (commencing with Section 6600) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, shall promptly notify the Department of Corrections’ Sexually Violent Predator Parole Coordinator, the chief of police of the city in which the hospital or facility is located, or the sheriff of the county if the hospital or facility is located in an unincorporated area, of the escape of the person, and shall request the assistance of the chief of police or sheriff in apprehending the person, and shall, within 48 hours of the escape of the person, orally notify the court that made the commitment, the prosecutor in the case, and the Department of Justice of the escape.

Cal. Penal Code - PEN § 4537. Section 4537.

(a) The person in charge of any secure detention facility, including, but not limited to, a prison, a juvenile hall, a county jail, or any institution under the jurisdiction of the California Youth Authority, shall promptly notify the chief of police of the city in which the facility is located, or the sheriff of the county if the facility is located in an unincorporated area, of an escape by a person in its custody. (b) The person in charge of any secure detention facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections or the Department of the Youth Authority shall release the name of, and any descriptive information about, any person who has escaped from custody to other law enforcement agencies, or to other persons if the release of the information would be necessary to assist in recapturing the person or to protect the public from substantial physical harm. (c) In addition to the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b), in cases of escape by persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections who have been convicted of a felony listed in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 or who have effected the escape by force or violence as proscribed by subdivision (a) of Section 4530, prompt notification shall be given to the newspapers of general circulation within the county in which the escape occurred, and to television stations regularly broadcasting news into and within the county, accompanied by a photograph and description of the escapee.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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