Under California Penal Code section 594(a), vandalism penalties turn on the dollar value of the damage. Below $400, it is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. At $400 or more, prosecutors can charge it as a felony punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in county jail, with fines that climb to $50,000 when the damage reaches $10,000. Restitution to the victim is ordered on top of any fine.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594
What the Statute Covers
Section 594(a) reaches three kinds of conduct aimed at property you do not own: defacing it with graffiti or inscribed material, damaging it, or destroying it. The property can be real estate, a vehicle, a sign, personal belongings, or anything else belonging to another person, a business, or a government entity. Where the property belongs to a public agency or the federal government, the court is permitted to presume you did not own it and lacked permission to alter it.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594
The mental-state requirement is that you acted “maliciously,” which under California law means you either intended a wrongful act or acted with a wish to annoy or injure someone.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 7 Accidental damage is not vandalism.
How Damage Is Valued
The $400 dividing line depends on what it would cost to fix or replace the damaged property. When repair is possible, the number is the actual cost of materials and labor. When the property is beyond repair, replacement cost of a comparable item controls. Courts rely on professional repair estimates, contractor quotes, and receipts.
If several acts of vandalism were part of a single plan or spree, the costs are added together. Spray-painting four storefronts on the same block in one night does not produce four separate $200 misdemeanors. The values combine, and the combined total determines the charge level.
Misdemeanor Vandalism: Under $400
When the damage falls below $400, the offense is a straight misdemeanor. The maximum exposure is up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594 Judges can also impose informal (summary) probation, typically one to three years, with conditions. Violating those conditions can send you back before the judge to serve the remaining jail time.
A prior conviction changes the fine ceiling. If you have a prior conviction under Penal Code sections 594, 594.3, 594.4, 640.5, 640.6, or 640.7, the maximum fine rises from $1,000 to $5,000 even though the offense stays a misdemeanor.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594 The prior does not have to be under this exact statute.
Felony-Level Vandalism: $400 or More
At $400 and above, vandalism becomes a “wobbler.” The prosecutor can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the severity of the damage, your criminal history, and the surrounding circumstances.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594
Charged as a misdemeanor at this level, you face up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Charged as a felony, the sentence is served under Penal Code 1170(h) for 16 months, two years, or three years. Under California’s realignment law, that time is served in county jail rather than state prison unless you have a prior serious or violent felony, or you are a registered sex offender.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1170 Judges commonly suspend the tail end of a 1170(h) sentence and convert it to mandatory supervision, sometimes called a “split sentence,” meaning part of the term is served in custody and the rest under probation-like supervision.
There is a second fine tier that often surprises defendants. When the damage reaches $10,000 or more, the maximum fine climbs from $10,000 to $50,000.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594 That threshold is separate from the $400 wobbler line, and commercial glass, vehicles, and equipment can cross it faster than most people expect.
Collateral Consequences of a Felony
A felony conviction has effects that outlast the sentence. You lose the right to own or possess firearms under state and federal law. Many professional licensing boards require disclosure of felony convictions and can deny or revoke licenses on that basis. Employers in healthcare, education, and finance routinely screen for felonies. Because the offense is a wobbler at this level, keeping the charge at the misdemeanor tier or reducing it later can meaningfully change what work and licenses remain available to you.
Victim Restitution
On top of any criminal fine, the court must order full restitution to the victim for every economic loss caused by the vandalism.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1202.4 Restitution is not the same as the fine. The fine goes to the state; restitution goes to the person or entity whose property was damaged. It covers the full repair or replacement cost, and the court can also include lost profits if the vandalism shut down a business temporarily.
Unpaid restitution accrues interest at 10 percent per year from the date of sentencing.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 1202.4 Victims can also recover reasonable attorney’s fees and collection costs when a private entity pursues the balance. If the losses cannot be calculated at sentencing, the judge will leave the restitution order open and set the amount later once the documentation comes in. People tend to focus on jail time and fines, but restitution is frequently the largest financial hit of the case.
Graffiti Cleanup, Community Service, and Counseling
For graffiti-related vandalism, the court is required to order you to clean up, repair, or replace the damaged property when that is feasible. As an alternative, the judge can order you (and your parents or guardians, if you are a minor) to keep the damaged property or another community property free of graffiti for up to one year. If removal is not practical, the court must consider other community service instead.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594
The statute also lets judges order counseling for anyone directed to perform community service or graffiti removal. Counseling is discretionary rather than mandatory, and judges use it when the vandalism appears to fit a broader behavioral pattern.
Parental Liability When a Minor Is Charged
When a minor commits vandalism, financial consequences reach the parents. If the minor cannot personally pay a court-imposed fine, the parent is liable under Penal Code 594(d), though the court can waive that obligation for good cause.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 594
Civil Code 1714.1 adds a broader civil rule. When a minor willfully defaces property with paint or a similar substance, the parent or guardian who has custody and control can be held jointly liable for damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees up to $25,000 per incident. That cap is adjusted every two years for inflation by the Judicial Council, so the actual ceiling may be higher when the case is resolved.5California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 1714.1 This civil liability is separate from and in addition to whatever the juvenile court orders.
Immigration Exposure for Non-Citizens
For non-citizens, a vandalism conviction can carry immigration consequences on top of the criminal penalties. Federal authorities evaluate whether a conviction qualifies as a “crime involving moral turpitude,” which can trigger deportation or block adjustment of status. The Board of Immigration Appeals has held that vandalism committed with a gang enhancement is categorically a crime involving moral turpitude, and it noted that Section 594’s malice requirement reflects a “readiness to do evil,” leaving room to classify a standalone vandalism conviction the same way depending on the facts.6U.S. Department of Justice. Matter of E.E. Hernandez, 26 I&N Dec. 397 (BIA 2014) If you are not a U.S. citizen, how the case is pleaded and what appears in the record of conviction may matter more than the criminal sentence itself.
Reducing or Clearing a Vandalism Conviction
Wobbler Reduction Under Penal Code 17(b)
A felony vandalism conviction can be reduced to a misdemeanor under Penal Code 17(b) in several situations, including when the judge grants probation and declares the offense a misdemeanor at that point, or when you apply for reduction after successfully completing probation.7California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 17 A misdemeanor on your record is far less damaging for employment and licensing than a felony.
Expungement Under Penal Code 1203.4
After probation is finished and all conditions are satisfied, including restitution and fines paid in full, you can petition the court for a dismissal under Penal Code 1203.4. If granted, the court withdraws the guilty plea, enters a not-guilty plea, and dismisses the case, releasing you from most penalties and disabilities of the conviction. The dismissal does not erase the record entirely, and certain licensing boards still require disclosure, but it removes many of the barriers that a live conviction imposes.
Eligibility generally requires that you are not currently serving a sentence, not on probation for another case, and not facing any pending charges. When a felony vandalism sentence was served in county jail under 1170(h) rather than state prison, the expungement path stays open.