Redding, California
Redding Criminal Defense Attorney
Jacob Levin is a Redding criminal defense attorney at 1308 Placer Street. An arrest in Redding can come from the Redding Police Department, the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office or the California Highway Patrol. The Sheriff runs the jail on West Street, and the case itself is heard at the courthouse at 1515 Court Street.
Attorney at Law
Which Agency Made the Arrest in Redding?
Look at the paperwork. Three agencies arrest people in and around Redding. The Redding Police Department covers the city. The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office covers the unincorporated county around it. The California Highway Patrol covers Interstate 5, the state routes and county roads. The agency named on the form tells us where the evidence is kept.
Redding Police Department
Headquartered at 777 Cypress Avenue. The customer service lobby is on the west side of the City Hall building and is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The non-emergency line is (530) 225-4200.
Shasta County Sheriff’s Office
Based at 300 Park Marina Circle. Its Enforcement Division covers roughly 3,700 square miles of unincorporated county, and its South County Station at 6590 Lockheed Drive in Redding serves the communities of the Redding Basin.
California Highway Patrol
The Redding Area office at 2503 Cascade Boulevard patrols Interstate 5, State Routes 44, 273 and 299, and about 1,200 miles of unincorporated county roads. The CHP Northern Division headquarters is also in Redding, on Sonoma Street.
Why it matters
Each agency writes its own reports, keeps its own recordings and dispatch logs, and answers its own records requests. Knowing which office holds the file is the first step toward testing what it says.
What Happens at the Shasta County Jail After a Redding Arrest?
The Shasta County Jail at 1655 West Street is run by the Sheriff’s Office, not by the court. The Sheriff describes it as a high security facility holding people pending arraignment, during trial and after a sentence of commitment. To learn the charge and the bail amount, call custody staff at (530) 245-6100.
Bail posted at the jail has to be the exact amount. The Sheriff’s Office accepts U.S. currency, a verifiable personal check up to $1,000, or a cashier’s check or money order, each made out to Shasta County Superior Court and brought to the reception area of the Main Jail. The other route is a bail bond agency of your own choosing, which will explain its own process.
The amount comes from a schedule. Penal Code section 1269b requires the superior court judges in every county to adopt, and revise each year, a uniform countywide schedule of bail for felonies and for misdemeanors and infractions other than Vehicle Code infractions. The Shasta County Superior Court posts its 2026 Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule on its bail schedules page, and its own FAQ lists setting bail as part of what happens at arraignment.
Families have a statutory right worth knowing. Under Penal Code section 825, any attorney entitled to practice in California may visit a person after arrest at the request of that person or of any relative. A family member does not have to wait for the first court date to involve a lawyer.
[CLIENT CONFIRM: Whether Jacob Levin visits clients at the Shasta County Jail before arraignment, and how a family member should ask for that. The page makes no promise of jail visits until this is confirmed.]How Soon Does a Redding Arrest Reach a Judge?
If the person stays in custody, Penal Code section 825 requires that they be taken before a judge without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours after arrest, not counting Sundays and holidays. If the person is released on a citation or on bail, the citation, bond receipt or release form shows the first court date.
Section 825 adds one detail people rarely expect. When the 48 hours run out while court is not in session, the time extends through the next court session on the following judicial day. An arrest late on a Wednesday, if no holiday intervenes, has to reach a judge by that Friday.
That first appearance is the arraignment, and for a Redding case it takes place at the Redding Main Courthouse, 1515 Court Street. The court’s criminal division describes it plainly: the accused receives a copy of the complaint, is told the charges, is advised of constitutional rights and enters a plea. It is a procedural hearing. Jacob Levin explains why it is not the day to argue the facts in What Happens at Arraignment (My Cousin Vinny Got It Wrong).
Somewhere between the arrest and that hearing, the Shasta County District Attorney decides whether to file charges at all. That office acts as public prosecutor for every crime committed in the county, so a Redding Police Department arrest and a CHP arrest on Interstate 5 are reviewed by the same office and heard in the same building. Deadlines for every stage after arraignment are laid out in the Shasta County Superior Court guide.
What a Redding Criminal Defense Attorney Does in the First Week
The first week of a Redding case is about facts that are about to become harder to reach, and about preventing mistakes that cannot be undone.
Identify the agency and the report number. Release forms and citations name the arresting agency. That decides whether requests go to Cypress Avenue, Park Marina Circle or Cascade Boulevard, and which records custodian answers them.
Confirm the court date independently. The court’s Public Portal has a hearing search, and the paper calendar is posted outside the Criminal Division Clerk’s Office. The court warns that a missed appearance can bring a warrant and added charges, so we verify the date rather than trust a form.
Find what was recorded. Stores, parking lots, doorbell cameras and phones all record. None of those owners keeps footage for the benefit of a defendant, so a request made in the first days is the one most likely to reach something.
Stop the self-inflicted damage. Jacob Levin’s advice after an arrest is consistent: stay silent, ask for a lawyer, and say plainly that you do not consent to searches. His post You’ve Been Arrested or Charged With a Crime. What Is the First Step? explains why each one matters, and What Happens After an Arrest? walks through booking, charging and discovery in order.
Charges That Follow a Redding Arrest
The charge decides which evidence matters most. Each page below covers one of them in detail.
Common Questions
Do I need a Redding criminal defense attorney before my first court date?
You are not required to have one, and if you cannot afford a lawyer the court will appoint one at arraignment if you qualify. The reason to talk to counsel sooner is that the days before arraignment are when records, video and witnesses are easiest to reach, and when the filing decision is still being made.
Where will my Redding case be heard?
At the Redding Main Courthouse, 1515 Court Street. The court’s locations page lists its courtrooms there as Departments 21 through 64. Your paperwork or the posted court calendar tells you which department to report to, and the court says courtroom doors generally open at 8:00 AM.
How do I find out someone’s bail amount?
Call the Shasta County Jail custody staff at (530) 245-6100. The Sheriff’s Office says the charge and the bail amount must be obtained from custody staff before anyone can post bail or arrange a bond. The amount comes from the countywide bail schedule the Superior Court adopts each year.
Can I post bail with a personal check?
The Sheriff’s Office accepts a verifiable personal check for up to $1,000. Otherwise, bring the exact amount in U.S. currency, or a cashier’s check or money order made out to Shasta County Superior Court, to the reception area of the jail at 1655 West Street.
What if the CHP arrested me instead of Redding police?
The case goes to the same District Attorney and the same courthouse. What changes is where the evidence is kept. Reports, recordings and dispatch records from a CHP arrest are held by the CHP, not the city, so requests for them go to a different office than they would after a Redding Police Department arrest.
Does an arrest mean I will be charged?
No. The Shasta County District Attorney reviews the arresting agency’s report and decides whether to file charges and which ones. Sometimes charges are filed as the report suggests, sometimes they are reduced or more investigation is requested, and sometimes nothing is filed. That window is one reason to involve counsel early.
Arrested elsewhere in the county: Shasta County criminal defense lawyer. The full practice: criminal defense. Served with an order: restraining orders. Ready to talk: contact Jacob Levin Law.
Consultations
Talk Through Your Case
If you have been charged, served, or contacted by an investigator, the sooner a defense begins the more of it there is to build. Consultations are available.
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