duistatelaws.com Key takeaways
- The schedule says a misdemeanor defendant is entitled to release on own recognizance unless that compromises public safety or appearance.
- Where bail is set, misdemeanor DUI is $5,000 for a first offense, $7,500 for a second and $15,000 for a third.
- Felony bail is set by the maximum term: $25,000 at three years, rising $10,000 to $15,000 per year.
- Before a first appearance, bail is the warrant amount or, without a warrant, set by the Sheriff from the schedule; afterwards the judge may consider ability to pay.
- Criminal departments sit in Fairfield and at the Solano Justice Building in Vallejo.
- The DMV hearing request is due within 10 days, whatever the bail.
from the date you were served with the notice to demand a hearing from California Department of Motor Vehicles. The request goes to the DMV, not to the court, and no judge in Solano County will make it for you. Cal. Veh. Code § 13558(b).
Solano County’s Superior Court publishes its bail schedule as a page of rules rather than a long list of offenses, and the rules start from release. The schedule, effective January 14, 2026, says a defendant charged with misdemeanor offenses is entitled to release on his or her own recognizance unless release will compromise public safety or will not reasonably ensure appearance; only then does the presumptive bail schedule come in.
This page covers that schedule, the courthouses and what the court publishes about appointed counsel and remote appearance. The penalties, the priors and the interlock terms are on the California DUI law page.
The same diagram as a table
| Step | Criminal case — decided by a court | License case — decided by a state agency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrest and booking, hour 0 | Notice of suspension served, day 0 |
| 2 | Charge filed by the prosecutor | Deadline to demand a hearing: 7 to 30 days in the eight states on this site that use an agency hearing |
| 3 | First court setting, on a date the court picks | Hearing held if the request was filed — whether the suspension waits for the ruling is set by each state's statute |
| 4 | One or more pretrial settings | Suspension takes effect automatically with no hearing |
| 5 | Trial, plea or dismissal | — |
| Clock | Weeks to months. No filing deadline runs against the driver. | Counted in days from the notice, and fixed by statute. |
The Solano courthouses
Three courthouses are in downtown Fairfield: the Old Solano Courthouse at 580 Texas Street, the Hall of Justice at 600 Union Avenue and the Law and Justice Center at 530 Union Avenue. The fourth, the Solano Justice Building, is at 321 Tuolumne Street in Vallejo. The court’s criminal setting guide places criminal departments in all three of the main criminal buildings: the Law and Justice Center (with the Hall of Justice as its mailing address), the Hall of Justice itself — where a department holds jail arraignments at 1:30pm early in the week — and the Vallejo building.
The Hall of Justice is open 8am to 5pm, with its clerk’s offices open for drop-in visits from 8am to 11:30am or by appointment from 8am to 3pm. Every visitor passes through metal detectors. The court notes that the Suisun/Fairfield Amtrak station is less than a ten-minute walk from all the Fairfield courthouses.
Fairfield Courthouse – Hall of Justice
- Hears
- Fairfield courthouse; criminal departments here include jail arraignments
- Building
- Hall of Justice
- Address
- 600 Union Ave., Fairfield, CA 94533
- Detail
- Clerk’s offices: drop-in 8am to 11:30am, or by appointment 8am to 3pm
- Hours
- Courthouse open 8am to 5pm
Fairfield Courthouse – Law and Justice Center
- Hears
- Criminal departments sit here
- Building
- Law and Justice Center
- Address
- 530 Union Ave., Fairfield, CA 94533
Vallejo Courthouse – Solano Justice Building
- Hears
- Criminal departments for the Vallejo branch
- Building
- Solano Justice Building
- Address
- 321 Tuolumne St., Vallejo, CA 94590
The court publishes ZoomGov links for some criminal calendars, listed by department and day, and links its guidelines for court hearings on Zoom. Check your department and calendar before relying on a remote appearance.
For appointed counsel, the court explains that under Penal Code section 987.2 the county pays for representation of indigent defendants; a defendant is first referred to the Public Defender, then to the Alternate Public Defender if the Public Defender has a conflict or cannot take the case, and only then to outside counsel.
Not sure which court your case is in?
Enter the ZIP code where the arrest happened and the full form opens with it filled in.
Who sets bail, and when
Before any appearance in court, the schedule says, bail is the amount fixed in the arrest warrant; if no warrant was issued, the Solano County Sheriff sets bail under the uniform schedule. At the first appearance the judge or magistrate sets bail, and from then on, citing Penal Code section 1269b(b), the amount lies in the judicial officer’s discretion and may be greater or less than the schedule.
When setting bail, the court says, the judge may consider the defendant’s ability to pay and other individual circumstances, less restrictive alternatives to money bail, the California Constitution and case law, alongside the Penal Code section 1275 factors — public protection first, then the seriousness of the offense, the defendant’s record and the likelihood of appearing. The hearing may be continued for the defendant to submit a financial declaration.
The license. None of this touches the DMV suspension: California gives 10 days from the notice to request a hearing from the DMV.
| What happened | First time | With a prior | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed the test | 4 months | 1 year | Cal. Veh. Code § 13353.3(b) |
| Refused the test | 1 year | 2 years (revocation) | Cal. Veh. Code § 23612(a)(1)(D) |
The DUI ladder and the felony scale
Misdemeanors. Where a misdemeanor defendant is admitted to bail, the schedule’s general scale runs by maximum term — $1,600 for a 90-day offense, $5,000 for 180 days, $7,500 for 365 days — and it has a separate line for DUI misdemeanors under Vehicle Code 23152 and 23153: $5,000 for a first offense, $7,500 for a second and $15,000 for a third. Bail is not cumulated where Penal Code section 654 would apply.
Felonies. Felony bail follows the maximum term allowed for the charged offense, with enhancements: $25,000 for three years, $35,000 for four, $45,000 for five, rising to $75,000 at eight, $90,000 at nine and $105,000 at ten, then $15,000 for each additional year. When charges arise from the same course of conduct, bail is the highest single amount; when separate acts permit separate punishment, the amounts are added.
A trial in a high school. With the District Attorney, the Public Defender, Probation and the Sheriff, the court runs a Real DUI Court in Schools Program: on a school’s invitation it holds a real young-adult DUI trial in a courtroom set up at the school, with a judicial officer, bailiff, attorneys, witnesses and an advisory jury of students, who can question the participants afterwards.
Solano County’s 2026 bail lines
From the schedule effective January 14, 2026.
| Charge | Presumptive bail |
|---|---|
| Misdemeanor DUI, first offense | $5,000 |
| Misdemeanor DUI, second offense | $7,500 |
| Misdemeanor DUI, third offense | $15,000 |
| Felony, maximum term 3 years | $25,000 |
| Felony, maximum term 4 years | $35,000 |
| Felony, maximum term 5 years | $45,000 |
The felony scale continues to $105,000 at ten years and adds $15,000 for each further year, with enhancements added on top.
How Solano compares with other counties’ schedules is on the DUI bail guide. The neighboring pages are Napa and Contra Costa County.
Common questions about Solano County DUI cases
How much is bail for a DUI in Solano County?
The 2026 schedule lists misdemeanor DUI at $5,000 for a first offense, $7,500 for a second and $15,000 for a third, but says a misdemeanor defendant is entitled to own-recognizance release unless that would compromise public safety or appearance.
Who sets bail before I see a judge in Solano County?
The amount in the arrest warrant, or if there is none, the Solano County Sheriff using the uniform schedule. At the first appearance the judge sets bail.
Can a Solano judge consider whether I can afford bail?
Yes. The court says the judge may consider ability to pay, individual circumstances and less restrictive alternatives to money bail, and may continue the hearing for a financial declaration.
How is felony DUI bail set in Solano County?
By the maximum term for the charged offense plus enhancements: $25,000 at three years, up to $105,000 at ten, then $15,000 for each further year.
Where are the Solano County criminal courts?
The criminal setting guide lists departments at the Law and Justice Center (530 Union Avenue) and the Hall of Justice (600 Union Avenue) in Fairfield, and the Solano Justice Building, 321 Tuolumne Street, Vallejo.
Does posting bail affect my DMV hearing deadline?
No. The DMV suspension is separate; Vehicle Code 13558 gives ten days from the notice to request the hearing.
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More for California
- California DUI law — the full penalty matrix, the statutes, and the rules on priors and interlock
- San Diego — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Los Angeles — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Orange County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Sacramento — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Rosa and Sonoma County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Fresno — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Francisco — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Bakersfield and Kern County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Bernardino — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Napa — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Jose and Santa Clara County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Cruz — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Alameda County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Contra Costa County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- San Mateo County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Santa Barbara — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Redding and Shasta County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Visalia and Tulare County — the same state, a different courthouse problem
- Refusing a breathalyzer — what implied consent costs here against what it buys
- How long it stays on your record — three records, three clocks
- SR-22 insurance after a California suspension — what the filing certifies and how long it runs
- Ignition interlock providers and costs in California — what the device costs and who installs it
Sources
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, bail information — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, bail schedule effective January 14, 2026 (PDF) — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, locations information — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, criminal court setting guide — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, remote appearance – criminal court — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, court appointed counsel – criminal — read October 9, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Solano, Real DUI Court in Schools Program — read October 9, 2026
- Cal. Veh. Code § 23152(b) and the rest of the California statutes cited on this page — read in force 2026
Court addresses, hours and phone numbers were read from each court’s or office’s own published page on October 9, 2026. Those change without notice; confirm before you rely on them. No judge is named anywhere on this page, because a roster is exactly the kind of detail that goes stale silently.