California’s felony sentencing guidelines work from a fixed menu: for most felonies, the Penal Code gives the judge three specific prison terms to choose from, called the triad. The middle term is the default. The judge can go lower based on the defendant’s circumstances, or higher only if aggravating facts are proven to a jury or admitted. On top of the base term, enhancements for things like firearm use or prior strikes can add years or decades, and whether time is served in state prison or county jail, and how much of it, depends on the offense classification and California’s credit rules.
The Triad: Lower, Middle, and Upper Term
Under California’s Determinate Sentencing Law, each felony statute lists three possible prison terms. A given offense might carry a triad of two, three, or four years, for example. The judge chooses one of the three, and the middle term is the presumptive sentence.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170
The court cannot exceed the middle term unless aggravating facts are either stipulated to by the defendant or found true beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury (or by the judge in a bench trial). This proof requirement came in with SB 567 in 2022. A defendant can ask that the aggravating-circumstances proceeding be separated from the main trial.2California Legislative Information. SB-567 Criminal Procedure Sentencing
How the Judge Chooses the Term
The California Rules of Court lay out the formal lists of aggravating and mitigating circumstances the court weighs at sentencing.
Aggravating Circumstances
Aggravators fall into two groups. Crime-related factors include great violence or cruelty, the defendant being armed, the victim being particularly vulnerable, and planning or sophistication in how the offense was carried out. Defendant-related factors include a pattern of increasingly serious prior convictions, committing the new offense while on probation or parole, and poor performance on past supervision.3Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 4.421 – Circumstances in Aggravation Any of these can support the upper term only if proven at the required standard.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170
Mitigating Circumstances
Mitigators push toward the lower term. Crime-side mitigators include a passive or minor role in the offense, provocation by the victim, and unusual circumstances unlikely to recur. Defendant-side mitigators include a minimal criminal record, a mental or physical condition that reduced culpability, and early acknowledgment of wrongdoing.4Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 4.423 – Circumstances in Mitigation
Mandatory Lower Term for Youth, Trauma, and Abuse Survivors
California law requires the court to impose the lower term if any of the following contributed to the offense: the defendant experienced psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including abuse, neglect, or sexual violence; the defendant was under 26 at the time of the offense; or the defendant was a victim of intimate partner violence or human trafficking. The presumption gives way only if the court finds that aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating ones and that the lower term would be contrary to the interests of justice.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170
Wobblers: Felony or Misdemeanor
Before the triad analysis even begins, there is a threshold question for many offenses. A wobbler is a crime the prosecution can charge as either a felony or a misdemeanor. Common examples include assault with a deadly weapon, grand theft, forgery, and some domestic violence charges. A misdemeanor conviction tops out at one year in county jail, so the classification changes the sentence dramatically.
A wobbler can be reduced to a misdemeanor at several stages: the prosecutor can file it that way originally; the judge can declare it a misdemeanor before trial, at sentencing if the sentence imposed is not state prison, or when granting probation; and a defendant on probation can petition the court to reclassify it after the fact.6California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 17
Sentencing Enhancements
Enhancements add time on top of the base sentence. They must be charged in the complaint or indictment and either admitted by the defendant or found true by the jury.
Causing great bodily injury during a felony adds three consecutive years.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 12022.7 Firearm enhancements, which apply to a list of specified serious felonies, are steeper:
- Personal use of a firearm adds 10 years; the firearm need not be loaded or operable.
- Intentionally firing a firearm adds 20 years.
- Firing a firearm and causing great bodily injury or death adds 25 years to life.
These terms run consecutively to the base sentence.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 12022.53
When a Judge Can Dismiss an Enhancement
Penal Code 1385 requires the court to dismiss an enhancement when doing so serves the interests of justice, and it lists mitigating circumstances the court must weigh heavily. Those include cases where multiple enhancements are alleged (all but one should be dismissed), where the total sentence with enhancements would exceed 20 years, where the offense is connected to mental illness or childhood trauma, and where the enhancement rests on a prior conviction more than five years old.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1385
The Three Strikes Law
Prior convictions for serious or violent felonies count as strikes. A defendant with one prior strike who is convicted of any new felony receives double the sentence otherwise applicable to the current offense.10California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 667
A defendant with two or more prior strikes faces an indeterminate sentence of 25 years to life, but only if the new felony is itself serious or violent.11California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170.12 That limitation came from Proposition 36 in 2012. If the new offense is nonserious and nonviolent, a two-prior-strike defendant is sentenced to double the normal term rather than life. Exceptions remain for certain drug offenses, sex crimes, and cases where the defendant used a firearm or intended to cause great bodily injury.12Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 36 Three Strikes Law Sentencing for Repeat Felony Offenders
Romero Motions
A judge can dismiss a prior strike in the interest of justice under Penal Code 1385. The motion to do so is called a Romero motion. The court considers the defendant’s background and character and the nature of the current offense to decide whether treating the defendant as a second or third striker would produce an unjust result. The decision is discretionary.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1385
Multiple Felony Convictions in the Same Case
When a defendant is convicted of several felonies at once, the court decides whether the sentences run concurrently or consecutively. For consecutive sentences, the longest single sentence (plus the enhancements attached to it) is designated the principal term. Every other consecutive conviction becomes a subordinate term, calculated at one-third of the middle term for that offense plus one-third of any enhancements specific to it. The total is the sum of the principal term, all subordinate terms, and any additional qualifying enhancements.13California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170.1
Prison, County Jail, or Probation
Where the sentence is served matters almost as much as how long it is.
Felony Probation
The court can grant felony probation instead of incarceration, with conditions like restitution, counseling, community service, searches, and sometimes a short county jail stint as a condition of the grant. The maximum probation term for most felonies is two years. Violent felonies can carry supervision up to the maximum possible sentence, and qualifying theft offenses can carry up to three years.14California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1203.1
County Jail Felonies and Split Sentences
Under Penal Code 1170(h), a felony that is not classified as serious, violent, or requiring sex offender registration is served in county jail rather than state prison. When the offense statute does not specify a length, the default triad is 16 months, two years, or three years. For these county jail sentences, the court must suspend the final portion of the term and convert it to mandatory supervision unless it finds doing so inappropriate. A three-year sentence might be split into 18 months in jail followed by 18 months of mandatory supervision through the county probation department. During mandatory supervision, the defendant earns only actual-day credit toward the remaining term.15California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170 Subdivision h
Post-Release Community Supervision
Defendants who serve a state prison term and are not classified as serious, violent, or high-risk sex offenders are released to Post-Release Community Supervision rather than state parole. PRCS lasts up to three years and is run by the county probation department.16California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 3451 Defendants convicted of serious or violent felonies, third strikers, and those required to register as sex offenders stay under state parole supervision.
Custody Credits and Actual Time Served
The announced sentence is rarely the time actually served.
Presentence and Conduct Credits
Time spent in jail before sentencing counts against the sentence day for day. On top of that, defendants earn conduct credits for following rules and performing assigned work. Under Penal Code 4019, every two days of actual custody translate to four days of credit toward the sentence.17California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 4019 A compliant defendant serves roughly half the credited time.
The 85 Percent Rule for Violent Felonies
Defendants convicted of violent felonies can earn no more than 15 percent credit, meaning they serve at least 85 percent of the imposed term. The cap applies to both state prison time and presentence county jail time.18California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 2933.1 Whether an offense counts as “violent” under Penal Code 667.5(c) therefore has large downstream consequences for actual time served.
Restitution and Fines
Every felony conviction carries mandatory financial obligations. The court must impose a restitution fine of at least $300 and up to $10,000. A judge can waive it only on a finding of compelling and extraordinary reasons stated on the record.19California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1202.4
If any victim suffered economic loss, the court must separately order full victim restitution for the actual damages: medical bills, lost wages, property damage, funeral costs, and similar expenses. The defendant’s ability to pay does not reduce the amount. The order is enforceable as a civil judgment, so the victim can pursue wage garnishment and other civil remedies long after the criminal case ends. Victim restitution takes priority over all other fines and fees.19California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1202.4