The RegistrySan Joaquin Valley · California

Criminal Defense Attorneys in Bakersfield, California

Looking for a criminal defense lawyer near you in Bakersfield? Explore the Kern County record for criminal defense attorneys on the State Bar of California's official roll and review each profile for yourself.

Bakersfield is a city of roughly 404,000, and its criminal defense matters are heard at the Kern County Superior Court: Metropolitan Division, Bakersfield. Kern County Superior Court's Metropolitan Division in downtown Bakersfield anchors a docket shaped by the southern Valley's oil, agriculture, and logistics industries; workplace injury, wage-and-hour, and trucking collision matters are constants.

One date controls everything that follows: most misdemeanors: one year to charge; most felonies: three years, per Cal. Penal Code §§ 799–802. Charging deadlines scale with the offense: crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and embezzlement of public money, may be prosecuted at any time (Cal. Penal Code § 799). After arrest, arraignment must generally occur within 48 hours (Cal. Penal Code § 825). Read the record below with that clock in mind.

This page is the Bakersfield chapter of the registry's statewide record · Criminal Defense Lawyers in California collects every county and city.

The clock & the court

Statute of limitations

Most misdemeanors: one year to charge; most felonies: three years.

Cal. Penal Code §§ 799–802

Charging deadlines scale with the offense: crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment, and embezzlement of public money, may be prosecuted at any time (Cal. Penal Code § 799). After arrest, arraignment must generally occur within 48 hours (Cal. Penal Code § 825).

Court of record · Kern County

Superior Court of California, County of Kern.

Courthouse at the county seat: Metropolitan Division, 1415 Truxtun Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93301

For Bakersfield: Kern County Superior Court: Metropolitan Division, Bakersfield.

Court website · Self-help center · Source: The court's official website, read 2026-09-27. Venue depends on the case; legal information, not legal advice.

Criminal Defense · Bakersfield roster

167 active attorneys with an address of record in Bakersfield list criminal defense among their practice areas on the registry, out of 743 active attorneys whose address of record is in Bakersfield.

By count, the practice areas most often listed by Bakersfield attorneys are criminal defense (167), business law (106), litigation (99), estate planning (93) and employment (85). A count of listings, not a measure of skill.

2 of the 743 have claimed and verified their record here; every other listing is the official record as published.

For 45 of the 743 active attorneys in Bakersfield, the registry holds a firm website published in a language other than English; by count, Spanish (45), Hindi (8), Persian (5) and Arabic (1). That describes the website, not the attorney's own ability; an attorney's profile says when they have confirmed a language themselves.

Reading the roster in Bakersfield. For criminal charges, the useful questions are concrete: how often the attorney appears in the specific courthouse where your case is set, their experience with the charged offense, who will actually stand up in court with you, and how fees are structured (criminal defense is typically flat-fee by stage of case). Move fast: early representation matters at arraignment and bail, and pre-filing intervention can sometimes shape charging decisions.

Address of record in Bakersfield