Fresno County stretches from the farm towns of the west side to the Sierra foothills, but nearly every adult criminal case filed anywhere in it is heard in downtown Fresno, by the Superior Court of California, County of Fresno. There is no separate municipal or “city court” for crimes committed in Fresno, Clovis, Sanger, Reedley or Coalinga; California unified its trial courts around 2000, leaving one superior court in each county. The building at the center of the criminal system is the Fresno Superior Courthouse, 1100 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93724, and the court’s general information line is (559) 457-2000. Criminal matters are handled at these locations:

• Fresno Superior Courthouse (Downtown), 1100 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93724: felony and misdemeanor departments, with the criminal clerk’s office in Room 401 on the fourth floor. Felony clerk: (559) 457-1801; misdemeanor clerk: (559) 457-1802
• Jail Annex, Criminal Courts Departments 95 & 96, 1265 M Street, Fresno, CA 93721: criminal and domestic violence calendars beside the downtown jail complex. Phone: (559) 457-2000
• ACTION Center (After Criminal One-Stop Network), inside the downtown courthouse at 1100 Van Ness Avenue: a one-stop counter for people with business to finish after a criminal case. Phone: (559) 457-2000

The department and courtroom number on the citation, bail receipt or court notice tells you exactly where to go. Open a charge level below for the Fresno route.

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office decides whether to file misdemeanor charges, whether the arrest was made by Fresno police, the Clovis department, the Sheriff or the CHP. Many begin with a field citation, the court date printed right on it. Someone who is booked into the Fresno County Jail and not released must go before a judge inside 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays. Some of those hearings take place in the Jail Annex departments on M Street rather than at Van Ness Avenue.

That first appearance, the arraignment, is where the charges are read aloud, a plea is entered (“not guilty” is standard at this stage) and release conditions are decided. When a defendant can’t afford counsel and faces possible jail, the Fresno County Public Defender is appointed, and California courts no longer send defendants a bill for appointed lawyers. A defense lawyer may also appear for the client at many misdemeanor hearings, so the defendant doesn’t always have to miss work.

Most end at pretrial conferences, by plea deal, lesser count or dismissal. Diversion is possible too, erasing the charge after required programs; DUI, domestic violence and registrable sex offenses don’t qualify. Fresno also runs several collaborative courts, including a DUI Court, a Veterans Treatment Court and an Adult Behavioral Health Court, and mental health diversion is available for qualifying defendants. If no deal is reached, a 12-member jury decides the case. The trial must start within 30 days of arraignment for someone in custody or 45 days for someone who isn’t, unless the defense waives time.

The cap is usually six months and $1,000, a few allowing a year. Probation, fines, classes and community service are the more typical results, and the court’s ACTION Center is the place to go for matters left over once a case ends. A misdemeanor usually resolves in a few weeks to several months.

Once the District Attorney files a felony complaint, a person in custody must be arraigned within 48 hours. Bail and release are addressed at this hearing, and since the California Supreme Court decided In re Humphrey in 2021, judges in Fresno and across the state must weigh a defendant’s ability to pay before setting money bail, and must consider less restrictive conditions first. In re Kowalczyk, decided in 2026, adds that a Fresno judge cannot hold someone through bail set far beyond their means.

Appointed counsel enters the case at arraignment for anyone who can’t pay a private attorney. The county Public Defender takes most; a conflict, like a co-defendant, sends the case to independent outside counsel.

The preliminary hearing is the key early checkpoint. Within 10 court days (unless waived), a judge reviews the DA’s proof and decides on trial. Sometimes Fresno prosecutors use a grand jury, and its indictment takes the prelim's role. Once held to answer, he faces a new charging paper, a second arraignment and trial within 60 days. Defendants waive that right in most felony cases, and the large majority settle with a plea before a jury is ever seated.

A conviction leads to a probation report from the Fresno County Probation Department, and sentencing generally comes within 20 court days of the verdict. The 2011 realignment law moved many low-level felony terms to county jail, and “wobblers” can become misdemeanors. Felony cases in Fresno County typically last several months and can run past a year.

A murder, rape or armed robbery charge travels the same road as other felonies, arraignment, then a prelim or grand jury, then trial, but every step tends to take longer. Pretrial release is also much harder to obtain. Judges can deny release in violent or sexual-assault felonies on clear and convincing evidence of probable serious harm, so many spend the whole case in the Fresno jail.

These charges are strikes. One prior strike doubles the term; two may mean 25 to life. Violent-felony convictions also require serving at least 85% of the prison term.

• Murder: a first-degree conviction means 25 years to life; second degree, 15 to life. Murder during a rape or robbery can mean death or life without parole. It is up to the District Attorney whether to seek the death penalty, and California has paused executions under a moratorium in place since 2019.
• Armed robbery: a nine-year top term, and firearm add-ons of 10 years for use, 20 years for firing, and 25 years to life for great bodily injury. A 2018 change in the law lets judges strike those enhancements.
• Rape: eight years or fewer unless aggravated, plus top-tier registration.

Death-penalty cases get a pair of qualified defenders. Victims, under Marsy’s Law, must be notified, may address the court at sentencing and can recover losses. Lab tests and experts slow things: one to three years is common, five or more for murder.

• Downtown courthouse: 1100 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno, CA 93724 · 559-457-2000
• M Street courthouse: 2317 Tuolumne Street, Fresno, CA 93721 · 559-457-1700
• O Street civil courthouse: 1130 O Street, Fresno, CA 93721 · 559-457-2000
• Jail annex criminal courtrooms: 1265 M Street, Fresno, CA 93721 · 559-457-2000
• Juvenile justice court: 3333 East American Avenue, Suite A, Fresno, CA 93725 · 559-457-4810

At the county's Superior Court, the judges on CourtCall's roster welcome CourtCall, the private phone and video appearance company, which sets a fee for every hearing. Judges decide which matters fit; a party signs up on CourtCall's site and books ahead, a waiver of court fees can pay for it, and many courtrooms run free video too.

The Eastern District of California sits in Fresno, which means Fresno-area defendants walk into Fresno federal courthouse, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, CA 93721. A magistrate judge handles the first hearing. Pretrial Services writes a release report. At the detention hearing, the judge decides custody; it can be delayed three days by the prosecution or five by the defense. Federal detainees may be housed in contract jails nearby. Marshals: U.S. Marshals Service, 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, 559-442-2858.

An ICE detainer doesn't pause or change a Fresno Superior Court case. It asks the jail to hold a person, which SB 54 forbids, except that release-date notices are allowed for qualifying serious or violent convictions. Plea decisions should take immigration into account, so the defense lawyer should know. The TRUTH Act requires notice before an ICE interview. San Francisco ICE field office, 630 Sansome Street, Room 590, San Francisco, CA 94111, 415-365-8800 handles Fresno; detainees are held at:

• Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center: 425 Golden State Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301
• Golden State Annex: 611 Frontage Road, McFarland, CA 93250
• California City detention site: 22844 Virginia Boulevard, California City, CA 93505

• Fresno County Inmate Search: name; shows bail, housing, court date.
• VINELink (https://vinelink.vineapps.com/): California, name; shows facility.
• Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/): register number or name; pretrial: 559-442-2858.
• CDCR Inmate Locator (https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/): number or name; shows prison.
• ICE Online Detainee Locator System (https://locator.ice.gov/odls/): A-number or name and birth country; then 415-365-8800.

Yes. The Sheriff runs a warrant information line, (559) 600-8402, and its records FAQ asks callers for the person's legal name and birth date. That warrant desk reaches California's wider files as well. On the court side, the case information search covers criminal cases countywide. New dates come through the clerk at the downtown courthouse, 1100 Van Ness Avenue, and that office can tell you which department has the case. Turning yourself in at the Main Jail, 1225 M Street, works best with counsel beside you, and a lawyer can also ask for a recall.