A misdemeanor arrest in San Mateo County usually ends one of two ways in the first hours: you're cited and released, or you're booked into the county jail and released after. Either way, what you do next — before the DA files — shapes the whole case.
Here's the sequence, and the first 30 days that matter most.
The First Hours: Booking or Citation
On many misdemeanors, San Mateo County law enforcement releases a person in the field or from the station on a citation rather than holding them. When someone is booked, it's into the county's main jail — the Maguire Correctional Facility in Redwood City, run by the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
If a family member has been booked and you're trying to locate them or find out about release, the Sheriff's Office can confirm custody status.
How Release Works
There are three common paths out:
- Citation release — a signed promise to appear, with a court date.
- Own recognizance (OR) — the court releases you without cash bail on a promise to return.
- Bail — release secured by a bond or cash.
On most first-offense misdemeanors, release without cash bail is common. If a person is held for arraignment, the judge addresses release at that first hearing — see what happens at a San Mateo County arraignment.
The DA's Charging Decision
An arrest is not a charge. In San Mateo County, a Deputy District Attorney reviews the police reports and decides whether the evidence proves the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Only then does the DA issue a written complaint — and the DA may file the same charge, a different one, or decline to file at all.
That gap between arrest and filing is a window. It's when a defense attorney can reach the DA, present the other side, and sometimes change what gets filed.
The First 30 Days
The most useful things happen early:
- Get counsel before the DA files. The pre-filing window is the highest-leverage moment in a misdemeanor case.
- Preserve evidence. Surveillance video is often overwritten within days or weeks; witness memory fades. Lock it down now.
- Say nothing about the case to anyone but your lawyer — not on the phone from jail, not on social media.
- Line up diversion eligibility so it's ready to raise at arraignment.
San Mateo Diversion Options
For many first-time clients, the goal is to end the case in a dismissal through diversion. San Mateo County offers judicial misdemeanor diversion (PC 1001.95), mental health diversion, and collaborative courts — Drug Court, Military Diversion, the Pathways Program mental health treatment court, and Veterans Treatment Court.
ASH Legal handles San Mateo County misdemeanors on a flat fee starting at $3,500. See the San Mateo County criminal defense overview.
Free 30-Minute Consultation
Just arrested, or a family member was? Call before the DA files. I'll tell you what to expect and what to do in the first 30 days.
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