When someone is arrested, they are booked by the arresting agency, typically the police or sheriff's department. The initial charges at the time of booking may not be the final charges filed by the district attorney. However, these initial charges can have an impact on their ability to be released from custody.
Getting out of jail should be a top priority. Obviously, being incarcerated is undesirable; however, people who are able to secure their release are more likely to obtain non-jail resolutions when their cases are eventually resolved. On the other hand, individuals who remain in jail as the case progresses are more likely to receiving jail or prison sentences at the conclusion of their case. It is generally true that individuals with less serious offenses are more likely to be released and receive less severe sentences at the conclusion of their case, but a variety of anecdotal evidence and some academic research (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20161503) suggests that pretrial release can materially affect the outcome of a case.
Ideally, after being booked, the best outcome is to be released directly from the jail on “own recognizance” or “OR” release. This means the person is released with a promise to return to court on a later date to address potential charges. If someone is not released on OR, they may have the option to post bail before seeing a judge. Every charge in California has an associated bail amount, so they might be able to post cash bail or seek assistance from a bail bond company to secure their release before a court hearing.
If they are not released prior to their first court appearance; there is still a possibility of being released after they have seen a judge. In California, in-custody arrestees must be arraigned within 48 hours of their arrest, excluding weekends and holidays. Therefore, if they are arrested on a Friday evening, the 48-hour clock will not begin until Monday morning.
During the first court appearance, called the arraignment, several things will occur. They will be informed of the charges against them, advised of their constitutional rights, and, in most cases, allowed to request release. This is where an experienced criminal defense attorney is essential. The judge has various options: they may release them on your own recognizance, meaning they only need to promise to return to court in the future; they may release them with pretrial release conditions, such as staying away from specific locations, wearing an alcohol or GPS monitor, or attending counseling or classes. The final option is for the judge to set a bail amount which could be higher or lower than the initial bail set. If bail is set, their only opportunity for release is to pay the full amount in cash or have a bail bond company pay it for them. If they pay “cash bail,” the full amount themselves, the amount will be returned to them when the case is resolved, but this often takes months. If they use a bail bond company, they will typically only pay a portion of the full bail amount, usually around 10%, but they will not receive any money, back regardless of the outcome of the case.