duistatelaws.com Key takeaways
- Tulare’s schedule lists a misdemeanor DUI at $10,000 and a misdemeanor DUI causing injury at $25,000.
- The schedule says everyone eligible for bail should be considered for own-recognizance release unless a court finds flight risk or danger.
- Felony DUI starts at $125,000, with $10,000 more for each additional injury or death.
- DUI causing great bodily injury with four or more priors is listed as No Bail.
- For a same-day 1pm in-custody hearing, papers must be filed before 10am, the local rules say.
- The DMV hearing request is due in 10 days.
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 Tulare County will make it for you. Cal. Veh. Code § 13558(b).
The Superior Court of California, County of Tulare, handles misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Its location pages list the Visalia County Civic Center at 221 South Mooney Boulevard, a Pretrial Facility on Road 112 where in-custody hearings and last-day arraignments are held remotely, and the South County Justice Center in Porterville.
The court’s bail schedule, effective November 6, 2025, opens with four numbered principles of bail and pretrial release before it lists any amounts. This page reads those principles, the DUI rows, and the local rules that govern in-custody hearings. The penalties and license rules 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. |
Where a Tulare County case is heard
The County Civic Center building is open weekdays from 8am to 4pm, on 559-730-5000. The Pretrial Facility at 36650 Road 112 is closed to the public; the court says all hearings there are held remotely and lists it for last-day arraignments and in-custody hearings, on 559-730-5020. The Porterville courthouse is at 300 East Olive.
One judge for the whole case. Under the local rules, every misdemeanor case in any division is assigned to one judge for all purposes from the date the first pleading is filed, under the court’s Judicial Assignments Order, and a challenge to that judge must be made within ten days of filing or first appearance. In pre-assigned criminal cases, counsel delivers copies of the pleadings to Room 303 at the Visalia courthouse two days before a hearing.
Visalia (County Civic Center)
- Listed as
- Tulare County Superior Court location in Visalia
- Building
- Visalia (County Civic Center)
- Address
- 221 S. Mooney Blvd., Visalia, CA 93291
- Detail
- Self-help center 559-737-5500
- Hours
- Building Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
- Phone
- 559-730-5000
Pretrial Facility
- Listed as
- In-custody hearings and last-day arraignments; closed to the public, all hearings held remotely
- Building
- Pretrial Facility
- Address
- 36650 Road 112, Visalia, CA 93291
- Detail
- The court also lists the South County Justice Center in Porterville (Dept. 16)
- Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
- Phone
- 559-730-5020
Local rule 800 sets filing deadlines for people held in custody on misdemeanor or felony charges: papers filed before 10am can be heard on the same day’s 1pm calendar; felony matters under Penal Code section 667.5 may be heard at 3pm the same day if papers are filed by 2pm; and papers filed after 2pm may be heard the following day at 1:30pm. Arraignments on misdemeanor complaints, informations or indictments are not calendared with less than two days’ notice to the court.
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What the schedule says about release
The schedule’s first section, General Principles of Bail and Pretrial Release, says its purpose is to fix an amount on which a person arrested without a warrant may be released before appearing in court. It then sets out, citing the California Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in In re Humphrey, that everyone eligible for bail should be considered for own-recognizance release unless the court makes an individualized finding of flight risk or danger; that pretrial detention is permissible only if no less restrictive conditions will do; and that a court requiring money bail must consider the defendant’s ability to pay and may not detain someone solely because they cannot afford it. After first appearance, bail is in the court’s discretion and may be more or less than the schedule, with public safety the primary consideration.
The eight-hour window, for felony arrests. In the general information for its felony section, citing Penal Code section 1269c, the schedule says a person held on a felony charge — personally or through a lawyer, friend or family member — may apply to a magistrate for bail lower than the schedule or for release on their own recognizance within eight hours after booking, and a peace officer who thinks the amount is too low may apply the other way. If the magistrate approves no change within eight hours, the schedule amount applies. For a felony DUI, that is the window before the scheduled amount sets.
The license. California gives 10 days from the notice to ask the DMV for a hearing.
| 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 rows, from $10,000 to No Bail
In the misdemeanor Vehicle Code section, the schedule lists driving under the influence under section 23152 at $10,000 and DUI causing injury under 23153 at $25,000; the “+” beside them means each subsection carries that amount. In the felony section, DUI with three or more priors is $125,000, and DUI causing injury or death is $125,000 plus $10,000 for each additional injury or death. A 23153 offense with a prior alcohol-related reckless-driving (23103.5), DUI or injury-DUI conviction under section 23560 is $125,000; with two or more priors under 23566(a), $150,000; with great bodily injury and two or more priors under 23566(b), $200,000; and with great bodily injury and four or more priors under 23566(c), the schedule says No Bail.
How bail can be posted. In the general information for its felony section, the schedule says bail may be given in cash, by a property bond approved by the court after a hearing, or by a surety bond from a certified surety insurer, and it authorizes the jailer and court clerks to accept bail in the scheduled amount for people held on felony charges.
Continuances. The local rules say continuances of criminal pretrial conferences are granted only on affirmative proof in open court that the ends of justice require one, under Penal Code section 1050.
DUI in the Tulare County bail schedule
The amounts as printed.
| Charge, as the schedule lists it | Bail |
|---|---|
| Misdemeanor DUI (VC 23152) | $10,000 |
| Misdemeanor DUI causing injury (VC 23153) | $25,000 |
| Felony DUI with three or more priors (VC 23152) | $125,000 |
| Felony DUI causing injury or death (VC 23153) | $125,000, plus $10,000 for each additional injury or death |
| VC 23153 with a prior 23103.5, 23152 or 23153 (VC 23560) | $125,000 |
| VC 23153 with two or more priors (VC 23566(a)) | $150,000 |
| Great bodily injury with two or more priors (VC 23566(b)) | $200,000 |
| Great bodily injury with four or more priors (VC 23566(c)) | No Bail |
The schedule says it is revised annually under Penal Code section 1269b(c) unless re-adopted without revision; this is the version posted when this page was written.
Other California pages on this site: Fresno, Bakersfield, Redding and Sacramento, and the DUI bail guide.
Common questions about Visalia DUI cases
What is the bail for a DUI in Tulare County?
The court's schedule, effective November 6, 2025, lists $10,000 for a misdemeanor DUI and $25,000 for a misdemeanor DUI causing injury.
Can I ask for lower bail after a felony DUI arrest in Visalia?
The schedule's felony section says a person held on a felony charge, or a lawyer, friend or family member, may apply to a magistrate for lower bail or own-recognizance release within eight hours after booking.
How much is bail for a felony DUI in Tulare County?
$125,000 for DUI with three or more priors, and $125,000 plus $10,000 for each additional injury or death for a felony DUI causing injury.
Is there a DUI with no bail in Tulare County?
Yes. The schedule lists DUI causing great bodily injury with four or more priors, Vehicle Code 23566(c), as No Bail.
When are in-custody DUI hearings held in Tulare County?
Papers filed before 10am can be heard on the same day's 1pm calendar; papers filed after 2pm may be heard the next day at 1:30pm, under local rule 800.
Can I attend a hearing at the Tulare County Pretrial Facility?
The court lists the Pretrial Facility as closed to the public, with all hearings held remotely.
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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
- Solano 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
- 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 Tulare, Criminal — read October 18, 2026
- Tulare County Superior Court Bail Schedule, November 6, 2025 (PDF) — read October 18, 2026
- Tulare County Superior Court Local Rules, revised July 1, 2026 (PDF) — read October 18, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Tulare, Visalia (County Civic Center) — read October 18, 2026
- Superior Court of California, County of Tulare, Pretrial Facility — read October 18, 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 18, 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.