DUI Attorney in San Fernando

Reviewed by Ron Chini, Esq. · CA State Bar No. 263308 · DUI defense attorney in Irvine, CA since 2009.
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San Fernando is one of Los Angeles County's smallest cities — roughly two and a half square miles, completely surrounded by the City of Los Angeles, with Sylmar to the north, Lake View Terrace to the east, Pacoima to the south, and Mission Hills to the west. That geography matters more than most drivers realize: because San Fernando is its own city and not part of Los Angeles, a DUI arrested here follows a different prosecution path than one arrested a few blocks away in an L.A. neighborhood. Understanding that difference early is one of the most useful things you can do for your case.

How DUIs are policed in San Fernando

Unlike the surrounding L.A. neighborhoods — which are patrolled by the LAPD — the City of San Fernando keeps its own San Fernando Police Department. Its officers patrol the compact street grid around San Fernando Road, Maclay Avenue, Truman Street, and the Sylmar/San Fernando Metrolink corridor, and they make most of the city's DUI stops. San Fernando PD runs its own DUI enforcement program, including DUI sobriety and driver's-license checkpoints and roving saturation patrols on weekend and holiday nights. The department publicly announces these operations, and its press releases note that funding comes from a grant through the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). At a checkpoint, officers stop vehicles in a pattern, look for signs of impairment, and divert drivers they suspect into a secondary screening with field sobriety and breath tests.

As a small city tucked inside a dense part of the Valley, San Fernando does not carry the raw collision volume of a large city, but OTS still tracks alcohol-involved crashes here and the OTS grant funding is what keeps the local checkpoint program running. Many San Fernando DUI arrests also begin on the freeways that ring the city — the 210, the 5, and the 118 are all close by. Those freeways fall under the California Highway Patrol, so a CHP officer, rather than San Fernando PD, may be the arresting agency if your stop happened on the freeway.

• Arresting agency is usually the San Fernando Police Department on city streets — or the CHP if you were stopped on the 210, 5, or 118.
• San Fernando PD runs its own OTS/NHTSA grant-funded DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols, mostly on weekend and holiday nights.
• Checkpoint refusals, breath/blood results, and field-sobriety observations are all common pressure points a defense attorney examines.
• Where you were arrested — inside the City of San Fernando vs. a neighboring L.A. neighborhood — affects who prosecutes the case.

Who prosecutes a San Fernando DUI — and where

San Fernando is a separate city from Los Angeles, so the Los Angeles City Attorney has no role here. A misdemeanor DUI arrested inside San Fernando's city limits, and any felony DUI as well, is filed and prosecuted by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, which keeps a San Fernando Courthouse branch specifically for local filings. Both levels of charge are heard at the San Fernando Courthouse, part of the Superior Court's North Valley District, which also covers Sylmar, Pacoima, and Mission Hills. The courthouse does not have its own dedicated page on this site, so for the fuller county picture, see our Los Angeles County DUI Defense hub. Ron Chini appears in San Fernando Courthouse matters from his Irvine office and will confirm your specific department once the case is filed, since arraignment and trial calendars can sit in different courtrooms.

Where a San Fernando Arrest Gets Booked

An arrest inside San Fernando city limits is usually booked right at the city's own jail, part of the San Fernando Police Department at 910 First Street, rather than driven into a county facility. The city jail is a short-term holding operation: people are generally held toward arraignment or release rather than for an extended stay, and visiting is limited to a narrow evening window with valid photo ID required at the door. For questions about whether someone is actually in custody there, the department's Detective Bureau, at the same address, is reachable at (818) 898-1256 during weekday business hours; outside those hours, the station's main non-emergency line is the better first call, since detectives are not always the ones handling custody questions overnight. Because San Fernando runs its own department rather than contracting with the Sheriff, this is also where the arrest report and booking paperwork originate, which matters once the case moves to court.

Picking Up a Car San Fernando PD Towed

San Fernando contracts its vehicle storage to Black and White Towing, Inc., at 10857 San Fernando Road in Pacoima, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A car towed simply for blocking a street, driveway, or fire hydrant can be picked up directly from the tow yard. A car impounded as evidence, or held under Vehicle Code 14602.6 because the driver was unlicensed or suspended, works differently: the registered owner first has to go to the Police Department's Detective Division with a driver's license and proof of ownership, pay a $35 administrative fee, and get a release form before Black and White will hand the car back. The tow yard then adds its own charges on top, currently an initial storage fee of $134, a daily rate of $50 plus tax, and a $162.50 towing charge. Anyone who thinks the tow or the hold itself was unjustified can request a post-storage hearing within 10 days, held within 48 hours of the request.

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Ron Chini, Esq.

DUI Defense Attorney · CA State Bar No. 263308

Ron defends DUI cases across Southern California from his Irvine office — and works directly with you, not a call center.

Learn more about Ron Chini →