Updated October 2026 | The Bulldog Law | California Criminal Defense

A 5150 is a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold. Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code lets a peace officer or a county-designated mental health professional take a person into custody and deliver them to a designated facility for evaluation and treatment when, as a result of a mental health disorder, the person is a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled. It is a civil detention, not an arrest, and it creates no criminal record. It does carry real consequences: a five-year firearm prohibition for most people who are admitted, the possibility of a 14-day extension under section 5250, a medical record, and, in a large share of the cases our attorneys see, a criminal case that grew out of the same 911 call. The number became slang for "crazy" through a 1986 Van Halen album; the legal meaning is the hold.

The Bulldog Law's attorneys are involved in 5150 situations from the criminal side: the client whose family called for a welfare check, who was taken on a hold, and who was then charged with criminal threats, resisting, vandalism, or a domestic violence offense based on what happened before the officers arrived or during the detention. We also hear from people after the hold who want to know what it did to their record, their gun rights, their job, and their custody case. What follows is the law of the hold itself, the ladder of longer holds that can follow it, the firearm rules under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103, the record question answered plainly, and how a hold and a criminal case interact. Call (888) 928-1609 or message our team.

The three criteria

Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 requires probable cause to believe that the person, as a result of a mental health disorder, meets at least one of three conditions. Danger to self means the person is likely to harm themselves, usually shown by suicidal statements, a plan, a recent attempt, or self-injury. Danger to others means the person is likely to harm someone else, shown by threats, violence, or conduct that puts others at risk. Gravely disabled means the person cannot provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter because of the disorder; since Senate Bill 43 took effect in 2024, with counties phasing it in through 2026, the definition also covers a person who cannot provide for personal safety or necessary medical care because of a mental health disorder or a severe substance use disorder. The officer or clinician must consider the person's history and any available information from family and witnesses, and must document the probable cause on the application for the hold. Intoxication alone, odd behavior alone, or a family member's wish that the person be evaluated is not enough; the standard is a mental health disorder plus one of the three dangers.

Who can place a hold, and what happens next

A peace officer, a member of a county mobile crisis team, or a professional designated by the county (the categories vary by county and include psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and emergency department staff at designated facilities) can initiate the hold. The person is transported to a designated facility, which may be a psychiatric hospital, a county psychiatric emergency service, or the psychiatric unit of a general hospital; a person brought to an ordinary emergency room is often medically cleared there first and then transferred. At the facility the person must be assessed under section 5151 by a professional who decides whether to admit them, and must be given a written and oral advisement under section 5157 explaining the hold, its length, and the person's rights, including the right to refuse medication absent an emergency, to make phone calls, and to see visitors. The 72 hours run from the time the person is accepted at the facility, not from the time of the encounter with police, and weekends and holidays count. The facility can release the person at any point once a psychiatrist determines the criteria are no longer met, and a majority of holds end before the 72 hours expire.

The ladder: 5250, 5260, 5270, and 5300

If, at the end of the 72 hours, the treating professionals believe the person still meets one of the criteria and the person will not accept voluntary treatment, they can certify the person for up to 14 additional days of intensive treatment under section 5250. Certification triggers rights the initial hold does not: a certification review hearing before a hearing officer within four days, at which the person is represented by a patients' rights advocate or an attorney, and the right to petition the superior court for a writ of habeas corpus under section 5275, which produces a court hearing within two judicial days. After a 5250, a person who remains a danger to self because of suicidality can be certified for another 14 days under section 5260; a person who remains gravely disabled can be held for up to 30 more days under section 5270.15; and a person who has threatened or committed serious harm can be subject to a 180-day post-certification petition under section 5300, which requires a court trial, with a jury on demand, and a finding of a demonstrated danger. Long-term involuntary treatment beyond that requires a conservatorship under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, a separate court proceeding. Each step up the ladder tightens the firearm consequences described below.

Guns after a 5150: Welfare and Institutions Code 8103

The consequence most people learn about after the fact is the firearm prohibition. Under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103(f), a person who is taken into custody under section 5150, assessed under section 5151, and admitted to a facility because they were a danger to self or others may not own, possess, control, purchase, or receive a firearm for five years from the date of admission. The facility reports the admission to the California Department of Justice, which enters it into the system that runs every firearm purchase background check. Three details matter. The prohibition attaches on admission, not on the encounter with police: a person who is evaluated and released without admission is not prohibited under 8103(f). It attaches only to the danger-to-self and danger-to-others criteria, not to a hold based solely on grave disability. And it can be lifted early: the person may petition the superior court in the county of residence for a hearing at which the district attorney bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the person would not be likely to use firearms in a safe and lawful manner. A person certified for 14-day treatment under section 5250 is prohibited for five years under 8103(g), and since 2020 a person certified twice within one year is prohibited for life, subject to a petition. Federal law adds a layer: 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4) bars firearms for anyone "committed to a mental institution," and while federal regulations treat a hold for observation alone as outside that definition, a 5250 certification or a court-ordered commitment is generally treated as within it, which is why our attorneys check the firearm eligibility record before advising a client that a California petition alone has restored their rights. Police who respond to the scene of a hold may also seize firearms in the person's possession or home under section 8102, and the person must petition for their return within the statutory deadline or the agency may dispose of them. Our page on Penal Code 29805 covers the separate misdemeanor-conviction prohibitions that often sit alongside an 8103 prohibition when a criminal case follows the hold.

What a 5150 does to your record

A 5150 hold is not an arrest and not a conviction. It does not appear on a criminal history, on a court index, or on the background checks used by most employers and landlords, and there is nothing to expunge. It is, however, a medical record, protected by state confidentiality law and HIPAA but discoverable in limited circumstances such as a custody dispute where mental health is at issue or a later criminal case where competency is raised. The admission is reported to the Department of Justice for firearm purposes and surfaces on firearms eligibility checks for the prohibition period. Applications that ask directly about involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, which include security clearance forms, peace officer and military applications, and some professional licensing renewals, must be answered truthfully, and a false answer is a far greater problem than the hold. Finally, the hold is not a finding of mental illness or incompetence by any court; it is an emergency detention based on probable cause, and nothing about it establishes that the person was, in fact, dangerous or disabled.

When a hold and a criminal case come from the same night

The overlap is where our attorneys do most of our 5150 work. The typical sequence is a 911 call from a family member or neighbor, officers who find a person in crisis, a hold, and then a criminal referral based on what the officers saw or were told: a threat that becomes a Penal Code 422 case, a shove or a thrown object that becomes a domestic violence charge, a struggle with the officers that becomes resisting or battery on a peace officer, or broken property that becomes vandalism. Several issues recur. Statements the person made during the crisis, in the patrol car, and at the facility are often the core of the prosecution's case, and whether they were voluntary, whether Miranda applied once the person was in custody, and whether a person in acute crisis could make a knowing statement are all contested. Evidence seized at the scene, including firearms taken under section 8102, is contested under the Fourth Amendment where the officers entered a home without a warrant on a welfare check. The criminal threats statute requires a threat that was specific, unequivocal, and caused sustained fear, and a statement made in the middle of a psychiatric emergency frequently fails those elements. And the hold itself, documented by officers and clinicians as a mental health crisis, is evidence the defense uses: for mental health diversion under Penal Code 1001.36, which allows the court to divert a defendant whose disorder played a significant role in the offense into treatment with dismissal at the end; for a Penal Code 25 insanity plea in the rare case that warrants it; for a competency evaluation under Penal Code 1368 where the client cannot assist in the defense; and for sentencing. Our 2023 discussion of defense options for clients with mental illness covers those tools in more depth. A hold also often leads to a civil restraining order petition by the family member or partner who called, and a firearm relinquishment order under the domestic violence firearm rules, each of which has its own hearing and its own consequences.

Practical points

A person on a hold has the right to refuse medication except in an emergency, to make and receive phone calls, to see visitors, to wear their own clothes, and to speak with a patients' rights advocate, and the facility must post and explain those rights. The facility can bill the person or their insurance for the stay, and a disputed bill is a consumer matter, not a criminal one. The person's family cannot "drop" a hold once it is placed, and the decision to release belongs to the treating psychiatrist. A person who is released and immediately re-detained on a new 5150 has not been held past 72 hours unlawfully as long as new probable cause existed, but repeated holds without a 5250 certification are a pattern our attorneys scrutinize. A person who was placed on a hold on a false report by a third party has a potential civil claim, and the person who made a knowingly false report may have committed a crime; those cases are rare and fact-specific. And a person with a pending criminal case who is placed on a hold should have their defense attorney informed immediately, because the hold can affect bail conditions, court dates, and the strategy of the case.

Frequently asked questions

What does 5150 mean?

5150 is the section number of the California Welfare and Institutions Code that allows a peace officer or a designated mental health professional to take a person into custody for up to 72 hours of psychiatric evaluation and treatment when, because of a mental health disorder, the person is a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled. In everyday speech, being 5150'd means being placed on that involuntary hold. The number became slang for "crazy" through a 1986 Van Halen album of the same name, but the legal meaning is the hold itself.

Is a 5150 hold a crime or an arrest?

No. A 5150 hold is a civil detention under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, not an arrest and not a criminal charge. It does not create a criminal record, does not appear on a criminal background check, and does not require booking. The person is taken to a designated psychiatric facility, not jail. The hold can, however, arise out of the same incident as a criminal case, and it does trigger a firearm prohibition that is reported to the California Department of Justice.

How long is a 5150 hold?

Up to 72 hours, measured from the time the person arrives at the facility. The facility can release the person sooner, and often does once a psychiatrist concludes the person no longer meets the criteria. If the treating staff believe the person still meets the criteria at the end of 72 hours, they can certify the person for up to 14 more days of intensive treatment under Welfare and Institutions Code 5250, which entitles the person to a certification review hearing within four days and to a lawyer or patients' rights advocate.

Can you own a gun after a 5150 in California?

Not for five years, in most cases. Under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103(f), a person who is taken into custody under 5150, assessed, and admitted to a facility because they were a danger to self or others is prohibited from owning, possessing, or buying a firearm for five years from the date of admission. The person may petition the superior court to lift the prohibition early, and the district attorney must then prove that the person would not be likely to use a firearm in a safe and lawful manner. A person who is evaluated but not admitted, or admitted only as gravely disabled, is not subject to the 8103(f) prohibition. A 14-day 5250 certification carries its own five-year prohibition, and two certifications within a year carry a lifetime prohibition.

Does a 5150 show up on a background check?

A 5150 hold is not a criminal record and does not appear on an ordinary employment or housing background check. The facility reports the admission to the California Department of Justice for the firearm prohibition, so it will surface on a firearms eligibility check and the federal NICS check during the prohibition period. It can also be relevant to security clearances, peace officer and military applications, and professional licensing questions that ask about involuntary hospitalization, and the hold is part of the person's medical record, which is confidential under state and federal law.

Can a 5150 be challenged or removed from your record?

The hold itself ends when the 72 hours run or the facility releases the person, and there is no criminal record to expunge. What can be challenged is the firearm prohibition, by petition under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103(f)(5), and a 14-day 5250 certification, by the certification review hearing and by a petition for writ of habeas corpus in superior court under Welfare and Institutions Code 5275. A person who believes the hold was unlawful can also raise it in any criminal case that grew out of the same incident, where statements made during the detention and evidence seized at the scene are frequently contested.

Related reading from our attorneys

• Penal Code 25 and the mental health defense in criminal cases
• How the California firearm eligibility check works
• Criminal threats under Penal Code 422

A hold that became a criminal case? The crisis is part of the defense

The Bulldog Law's criminal defense attorneys handle criminal threats, domestic violence, resisting, and weapons cases that grow out of 5150 holds across California, and we handle the firearm petitions under Welfare and Institutions Code 8103 that follow them. Call (888) 928-1609 or reach us online.