The RegistrySacramento Valley · California

Criminal Defense Lawyers in Sacramento, California

Searching for a criminal defense lawyer in Sacramento? Counsel for the accused: from arraignment through trial and record clearance. This page indexes Sacramento's criminal defense coverage from the State Bar of California's official roll, with identity-verification markers where available.

Sacramento is a city of roughly 526,000, and its criminal defense matters are heard at the Sacramento County Superior Court: Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse. As the state capital, Sacramento's bar runs deep in government, regulatory, and writ practice; the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse hears the county's civil docket, and the Third District Court of Appeal and Eastern District of California sit downtown.

The law also keeps time: most misdemeanors: one year to charge; most felonies: three years under 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). The plaque below carries the citation; the roster and questions that follow carry the rest.

This page is the Sacramento chapter of the registry's statewide record · Criminal Defense Attorneys 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 · Sacramento County

Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento.

Main courthouse: Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Sacramento County Courthouse, 500 G St., Sacramento, CA 95814

For Sacramento: Sacramento County Superior Court: Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse.

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 · Sacramento roster

690 active attorneys with an address of record in Sacramento list criminal defense among their practice areas on the registry, out of 7,854 active attorneys whose address of record is in Sacramento.

By count, the practice areas most often listed by Sacramento attorneys are litigation (1,111), employment (998), business law (966), criminal defense (690) and real estate (600). A count of listings, not a measure of skill.

8 of the 7,854 have claimed and verified their record here; every other listing is the official record as published.

For 446 of the 7,854 active attorneys in Sacramento, the registry holds a firm website published in a language other than English; by count, Spanish (252), Punjabi (85), Armenian (56) and Persian (55). 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 Sacramento. 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 Sacramento