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Cal. PEN § 691

This is the official text of Cal. PEN § 691, part of California’s Penal Code — defines crimes and sets criminal procedure in California.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

The following words have in Part 2 (commencing with Section 681) the signification attached to them in this section, unless it is otherwise apparent from the context:

(a) The words “competent court” when used with reference to the jurisdiction over any public offense, mean any court the subject matter jurisdiction of which includes the offense so mentioned.

(b) The words “jurisdictional territory” when used with reference to a court, mean the city and county, county, city, township, or other limited territory over which the criminal jurisdiction of the court extends, as provided by law, and in case of a superior court mean the county in which the court sits.

(c) The words “accusatory pleading” include an indictment, an information, an accusation, and a complaint.

(d) The words “prosecuting attorney” include any attorney, whether designated as district attorney, city attorney, city prosecutor, prosecuting attorney, or by any other title, having by law the right or duty to prosecute, on behalf of the people, any charge of a public offense.

(e) The word “county” includes county, city and county, and city.

(f) “Felony case” means a criminal action in which a felony is charged and includes a criminal action in which a misdemeanor or infraction is charged in conjunction with a felony.

(g) “Misdemeanor or infraction case” means a criminal action in which a misdemeanor or infraction is charged and does not include a criminal action in which a felony is charged in conjunction with a misdemeanor or infraction.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.