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Cal. PEN § 784.5

This is the official text of Cal. PEN § 784.5, 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 jurisdiction of a criminal action for a violation of Section 277, 278, or 278.5 shall be in any one of the following jurisdictional territories:

(a) Any jurisdictional territory in which the victimized person resides, or where the agency deprived of custody is located, at the time of the taking or deprivation.

(b) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child was taken, detained, or concealed.

(c) The jurisdictional territory in which the minor child is found.

When the jurisdiction lies in more than one jurisdictional territory, the district attorneys concerned may agree which of them will prosecute the case.

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.