California Penal Code § 4532 PC makes it a felony to escape from custody if you have been arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime. The penalties depend on the underlying crime you were in custody for and whether you used force or violence in the escape attempt.
In this article, our California criminal defense attorneys discuss:
- 1. When PC 4532 Applies
- 2. Penalties for Escape
- 3. Probation
- 4. Penalties for Failing to Return
- Additional Reading
1. When PC 4532 Applies
California Penal Code 4532 PC outlines the punishments for escaping – or attempting to escape – from law enforcement Custody. Specifically, this law applies to the following 10 situations:
- you were in a county jail
- you were in a city jail,
- you were at an industrial farm,
- you were at an industrial road camp,
- you were doing county road or other county work,
- you were in the custody of any officer or person,
- you were employed, or continuing in your regular educational program, or authorized to secure employment or education away from your place of confinement, pursuant to the Cobey Work Furlough Law (Section 1208),
- you were authorized for temporary release for family emergencies,
- you were authorized for temporary release for purposes preparatory to your return to the community pursuant to Section 4018.6, or
- you were participants in a home detention program pursuant to Section 1203.016, 1203.017, or 1203.018.1
2. Penalties
The felony penalties for escape in violation of PC 4532 turn on what crime you were in custody for:
| Underlying Crime | California Penalties for Escaping from Custody |
| Misdemeanor | If the escape did not involve force or violence:
If force or violence was used to escape:
|
| Felony | If the escape did not involve force or violence:
If force or violence was used to escape:
|
You may also be ordered to pay restitution for the costs of searching for you.
Note these penalties are served consecutively to any sentence for the underlying crime you are in custody for.
Example: Jacob attempts to escape from custody after being sentenced to 10 years for robbery. The judge sentences Jacob to two years for the attempted escape. Therefore, Jacob will be serving 12 years total (10 years for the robbery plus two years for the escape).
Also note that inmates in an alternative custody program under PC 1170.05 who escape – or attempt to escape – face just a misdemeanor charge. This carries 90 days to one year in jail unless the judge permits probation.2
Judges treat you the same whether you attempt and fail to escape or you succeed in escaping and are then caught.
3. Probation
In most cases, judges may not grant probation for an escape conviction if you were escaping from either:
- a secure main jail facility,
- a court building, or
- custody while being transported between the court building and the jail facility.3
4. Penalties for Failing to Return
PC 4532 penalties are potentially less harsh for prisoners who do not escape but instead willfully fail to return by curfew. If you were in custody for a misdemeanor, then willfully failing to return is a felony carrying:
- 1 year and 1 day in state prison, or
- 1 year in county jail.
If you were in custody for a felony, then willfully failing to return is a felony carrying:
- 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in state prison, or
- 1 year in county jail.4
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to the following scholarly articles:
- Prison Escapes and Community Consequences: Results of a Case Study – Federal Probation.
- Catch ‘em if you can: examining how often and how quickly people who escape from prisons and jails are recaptured – Security Journal.
- How often and under what circumstances do escapes from prison and jail result in violence? An examination of the “powder keg” theory – International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.
- Frequency and Characteristics of Prison Escapes in the United States: An Analysis of National Data – The Prison Journal.
- Should Intolerable Prison Conditions Generate a Justification or an Excuse for Escape – UCLA Law Review.
See our related article escape from state prison (PC 4530).
Legal References
- California Penal Code 4532 PC – Escape by persons in custody, on authorized leave, on county work project, in home detention program, or in alternative custody program; Willful failure to return from authorized release.
(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).
See also People v. Taggart (Cal. App. 5th Dist. 2019) 31 Cal. App. 5th 607; People v. Allen (Cal. App. 3d Dist. 2016) 6 Cal. App. 5th 1
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