San Bernardino Justice Center
Bail Bonds Guide

Yes. The Criminal Division of the San Bernardino District sits inside the Justice Center at 247 West Third Street, and its clerk line is (909) 384-1888. Arraignments, preliminary hearings, felony trials, and bail review motions for the county seat run on this building's calendar.

No. Bail is never posted at a courthouse counter in California. A bond is posted at the facility holding the defendant — for San Bernardino arrests that is almost always the Central Detention Center or the West Valley Detention Center. What happens here is the arraignment and any motion to raise or lower the amount.

The building houses three separate public lines: criminal at (909) 384-1888, civil at (909) 708-8678, and probate at (909) 521-3388. Use the one matching the case type printed on your notice. Family law is not in this building at all.

The Superior Court lists building hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding court holidays. A drop box at the front entrance accepts properly completed documents and fine payments by check or money order; anything deposited before 4:00 p.m. is received the same day.

The starting number comes from the county Felony and Misdemeanor Bail Schedule adopted annually under Penal Code §1269b(c). At arraignment the judge may keep it, raise it, or lower it under Penal Code §1275, which requires the court to consider public safety, the seriousness of the offense, the defendant's record, and the probability of appearance. Under In re Humphrey (2021) the court must also consider ability to pay and less restrictive alternatives before setting an amount that results in detention.

Two blocks away at the San Bernardino Historic Courthouse, 351 North Arrowhead Avenue. Family law and the Court Investigations Office moved into that building; the Justice Center handles criminal, civil, and probate.

Release timing is controlled by the detention facility, not by the court. Once the bond is filed and accepted at the jail, processing typically takes a few hours at Central Detention Center depending on the shift and the count. We post around the clock, so the paperwork is rarely the delay.