With property crime rising and by all accounts it seems like more and more criminals are being re-arrested time and again for committing the same crimes, maybe it’s time that our Santa Cruz County Courts and Judges reexamine our bail schedule and raise the amounts to at least the average of California’s other counties. According to California Law, it is the duty of each of California’s 58 County Courts to revise and adopt a new bail schedule every year.
Using the 2015 bail schedules, we compare the current court approved bail amounts for simple misdemeanor burglary for Santa Cruz County with twenty other counties in California that have posted their bail schedules online. Here are the numbers:
Simple Misdemeanor Burglary Bail
| County | Bail Amount (2015) | Income Per Capita (2013) | Rank Based on Income per Capita (2013) |
| San Benito | $6,000 | 26,300 | 15 |
| Los Angeles | $5,000 | 27,900 | 13 |
| Mendicino | $5,000 | 23,600 | 17 |
| Alameda | $5,000 | 34,900 | 7 |
| Contra Costa | $5,000 | 38,100 | 5 |
| Kings | $5,000 | 18,300 | 20 |
| Mono | $5,000 | 28,800 | 12 |
| Monterey | $3,500 | 25,500 | 16 |
| San Francisco | $3,000 | 46,700 | 2 |
| Santa Clara | $2,500 | 40,700 | 4 |
| Marin | $2,500 | 54,600 | 1 |
| San Mateo | $2,500 | 45,300 | 3 |
| Napa | $2,500 | 35,300 | 6 |
| Ventura | $2,500 | 32,700 | 10 |
| San Louis O’Bispo | $2,000 | 30,200 | 11 |
| Merced | $2,000 | 18,300 | 19 |
| Sacramento | $1,000 | 27,100 | 14 |
| Sonoma | $1,000 | 33,100 | 8 |
| Fresno | $1,000 | 20,600 | 18 |
| Santa Cruz | $1,000 | 32,900 | 9 |
Santa Cruz comes out tied at the very bottom of the list having the lowest bail amount for misdemeanor burglary.
Santa Cruz ranks 9th out of 20 in per capita income out of the counties that posted their bail schedules online, but out of the 20 compared, Santa Cruz comes out tied at the very bottom of the list having the lowest bail amount for misdemeanor burglary. This is one area we don’t benefit by being the lowest in the state.
It would be interesting to see if this comparison holds true across the board for other bail amounts for misdemeanors and felonies.
California Bail Bonds Schedule:
http://www.goldenstatebail.com/california-bail-schedules.htm
Santa Cruz County Misdemeanor Bail Schedule:
http://www.santacruzcourt.org/sites/default/files/images/Misdemeanor%20Bail%20Schedule.pdf
PENAL CODE SECTION 1268-1276.5
(c) It is the duty of the superior court judges in each county to prepare, adopt, and annually revise a uniform countywide schedule of
bail for all bailable felony offenses and for all misdemeanor and infraction offenses except Vehicle Code infractions.