A California PC 1381 demand is a written notice an incarcerated person sends to the district attorney requiring the prosecution to bring any pending California charges to trial within 90 days, or have those charges dismissed.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381 The statute is short; the procedure around it is where people get tripped up. What follows is what you need to qualify, prepare the demand, get the clock running, and decide whether filing is actually in your interest.
Who Can File Under Penal Code 1381
The statute is for people already convicted and serving a sentence who have a separate California criminal matter still pending. You qualify if you fit one of these custody categories:
- You have been sentenced to and entered upon a term in a California state prison.
- You have been sentenced to county jail for more than 90 days, or placed in county jail for more than 90 days as a condition of probation.
- You have been committed to an institution under California’s juvenile corrections system.
Beyond custody status, something must actually be pending against you in a California court — an indictment, an information, a complaint, or a proceeding where you still need to be sentenced. If a new charge is filed against you after you begin serving your sentence, the statute also reaches that: the DA in the county where the new charge sits has 90 days from receipt of your demand to bring you to trial.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381
What Goes Into the Written Demand
There is no official state form. PC 1381 requires a written notice to the district attorney in the county where the pending charge sits, and that notice must state where you are imprisoned or committed and that you want to be brought to trial on the pending matter.
Make the demand easy to act on. Include your full legal name, your CDCR or booking number, your current facility and housing assignment, the case number of the pending matter, the court where it is pending, and the nature of the charges. No specific wording is required by statute, but a vague letter that doesn’t identify which case you mean invites delay and confusion.
The Jailer’s Endorsement
Before the demand leaves the facility, the sheriff, custodian, or jailer must endorse it with the reason for your commitment, the date you were committed, and your projected release date.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381 This is not a formality. Without the endorsement, the DA can argue the demand was defective and that the 90-day clock never started. Some inmates report waiting weeks for staff to add the endorsement, which can swallow a meaningful portion of the preparation window on the other end.
Delivering the Demand So the Clock Actually Starts
The 90 days begin when the district attorney actually receives the written demand. Delivery proof is everything. A letter dropped into the ordinary mail system without tracking leaves you with no answer when the DA’s office later says it never arrived.
Certified mail with a return receipt, or documented delivery through the facility’s legal services, protects the starting date. Certified mail with return receipt typically runs around $9 to $10. For a filing that controls whether a case gets dismissed, the proof is worth the cost.
The 90-Day Clock and the Only Way to Extend It
Once the DA has the proper demand, the prosecution has 90 days to bring you to trial on the pending charges, or to sentencing on an unresolved proceeding.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381 Inside that window, the DA has to arrange transport from the correctional facility to the court, finish any remaining discovery, and be ready for trial.
The deadline is firm. The only path to a continuance beyond 90 days is for you, the defendant, to personally request or consent to the extension in open court, with that consent entered into the court’s minutes.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381 The prosecution cannot extend the deadline on its own. A defense attorney who agrees to a continuance on your behalf, without your express in-court consent, has created a procedural problem that has produced appeals. If a continuance comes up, make sure your consent is on the record.
What Happens If the 90 Days Pass
If the prosecution fails to bring you to trial or sentencing within 90 days, the court must dismiss the pending action. The motion to dismiss can come from the DA, the defendant or defense counsel, the Department of Corrections, or the court on its own.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1381 As a practical matter, the defense almost always files it. The statute uses “shall,” so dismissal is mandatory rather than discretionary.
Dismissal under 1381 does not always guarantee the charges stay gone forever. Whether the prosecution refiles depends on the facts. Where the delay came from prosecutorial inaction and the case has aged, refiling is often not pursued, but that is an outcome, not a rule.
Should You File One
Filing a 1381 demand is a tactic, and it works in some situations better than others. Pending charges create uncertainty around parole dates, custody credits, housing classification, and program eligibility. Resolving them clears that cloud.
The tradeoff is that the clock runs against the defense too. A public defender carrying a heavy caseload may not have time to investigate, interview witnesses, and build a trial strategy inside 90 days. If the pending charge is serious and the evidence is strong, forcing a rushed trial can produce a worse outcome than waiting. The demand tends to work best when the prosecution’s case is weak or stale: witnesses have moved, evidence has degraded, or the DA’s office has clearly set the matter aside.
The deadline also creates leverage for plea negotiations. A prosecutor who is not ready to try the case will sometimes offer a better deal rather than risk dismissal. That leverage only pays off if your attorney is actively using the clock. If you file a demand and then hear nothing from your lawyer for two months, something is wrong.
Common Problems That Derail a Demand
Getting the Demand Out of the Facility
The gap between filing inside the facility and getting the paperwork to the DA with proof of delivery is the biggest practical obstacle. Facility staff can be slow to add the required endorsement. Prison mail is unreliable. Inmates without counsel face the steepest climb, because getting forms from the law library, obtaining the endorsement, and arranging certified mail takes persistence and institutional knowledge that new inmates often lack. Access to a well-staffed law library or legal aid program makes a real difference, and that varies by institution.
Preparing a Defense in 90 Days
Even a cleanly delivered demand produces a short defense window. Discovery may be incomplete. Witnesses may need to be located. Expert analysis takes time. One workaround some defense attorneys use is to file the demand early and then negotiate a short continuance with the client’s in-court consent, preserving pressure on the prosecution while buying preparation time.
Transport and Scheduling
Moving an inmate from a state prison to a county courthouse requires coordination between the Department of Corrections, the county sheriff, and the court. Court calendars are crowded. Delays attributable to those logistics are common, and the question of who bears responsibility for them has generated appellate litigation.
When PC 1381 Does Not Apply
PC 1381 covers pending California charges against people serving time in California facilities. It does not cover inmates in federal custody or those incarcerated in another state. If you are in federal custody with a California charge pending, Penal Code Section 1381.5 governs the obligation of California authorities to coordinate with federal officials for temporary custody. If the custody or the pending charge crosses state lines, the Interstate Agreement on Detainers applies instead, adopted in California through Penal Code Section 1389, with its own longer timeline and different procedure.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1389 When jurisdictions overlap, which rule controls is not always obvious, and that is a point to raise with counsel before sending anything.