Cal. Codes » Penal Code / PART 1. OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS / TITLE 8. OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON / CHAPTER 9. Assault and Battery
California Codes

Cal. Penal Code § 241 (2026)

Assault and Battery

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a)An assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(b)When an assault is committed against the person of a parking control officer engaged in the performance of their duties, and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a parking control officer, the assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(c)When an assault is committed against the person of a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, animal control officer, or search and rescue member engaged in the performance of their duties, or a physician or nurse engaged in rendering emergency medical care outside a hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, or a physician, nurse, or other health care worker of a hospital engaged in providing services within the emergency department, and the person committing the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, lifeguard, process server, traffic officer, code enforcement officer, animal control officer, or search and rescue member engaged in the performance of their duties, or a physician or nurse engaged in rendering emergency medical care, or a physician, nurse, or other health care worker of a hospital engaged in providing services within the emergency department, the assault is punishable by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.

(d)As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)Peace officer means any person defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.

(2)“Emergency medical technician” means a person who is either an EMT-I, EMT-II, or EMT-P (paramedic), and possesses a valid certificate or license under the standards of Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code.

(3)“Nurse” means a person who possesses a valid certificate or license under the standards of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 2700) or 6.5 (commencing with Section 2840) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code or a nurse of a hospital engaged in providing services within the emergency department.

(4)“Lifeguard” means a person who is:

(A)Employed as a lifeguard by the state, a county, or a city, and is designated by local ordinance as a public officer who has a duty and responsibility to enforce local ordinances and misdemeanors through the issuance of citations.

(B)Wearing distinctive clothing which includes written identification of the person’s status as a lifeguard and which clearly identifies the employing organization.

(5)“Process server” means any person who meets the standards or is expressly exempt from the standards set forth in Section 22350 of the Business and Professions Code.

(6)“Traffic officer” means any person employed by a county or city to monitor and enforce state laws and local ordinances relating to parking and the operation of vehicles.

(7)“Animal control officer” means any person employed by a county or city for purposes of enforcing animal control laws or regulations.

(8)(A)“Code enforcement officer” means any person who is not described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 and who is employed by any governmental subdivision, public or quasi-public corporation, public agency, public service corporation, any town, city, county, or municipal corporation, whether incorporated or chartered, that has enforcement authority for health, safety, and welfare requirements, and whose duties include enforcement of any statute, rules, regulations, or standards, and who is authorized to issue citations, or file formal complaints.

(B)“Code enforcement officer” also includes any person who is employed by the Department of Housing and Community Development who has enforcement authority for health, safety, and welfare requirements pursuant to the Employee Housing Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 17000) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code); the State Housing Law (Part 1.5 (commencing with Section 17910) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code); the Manufactured Housing Act of 1980 (Part 2 (commencing with Section 18000) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code); the Mobilehome Parks Act (Part 2.1 (commencing with Section 18200) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code); and the Special Occupancy Parks Act (Part 2.3 (commencing with Section 18860) of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code).

(9)“Parking control officer” means any person employed by a city, county, or city and county, to monitor and enforce state laws and local ordinances relating to parking.

(10)“Search and rescue member” means any person who is part of an organized search and rescue team managed by a governmental agency.

(11)“Health care worker” means a person who, in the course and scope of employment, performs duties directly associated with the care and treatment rendered by the hospital’s emergency department or the department’s security.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 51 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1966–2025 · leading case: Sanders v. City of Fresno, 551 F. Supp. 2d 1149 (E.D. Cal. 2008).
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Sanders v. City of Fresno, 551 F. Supp. 2d 1149 (E.D. Cal. 2008). · cites it 2× “33 See Cal. Pen.Code §§ 241, 243, 245. Further, Michael was wet, naked, irrational, had a crazed or wide eyed look, said the police were there to kill him, and said that they were not going to take Lavette away from him.”
United States v. Feola, 420 U.S. 671 (1975). · cites it 2× “, Cal. Penal Code §§ 241 , 243, 245 (b) (Supp.”
People v. Mesce, 52 Cal. App. 4th 618 (Cal. Ct. App. 1997). · cites it 4× “Yet the statute does list five other offenses which appear quite near the included statutes in the code: assault on an officer or other person performing official or emergency duties (Pen. Code, § 241); battery on a peace officer, public safety provider, process server, former…”
People v. Olivas, 551 P.2d 375 (Cal. 1976). “(Pen. Code, § 241.) Had defendant been sentenced to and served the maximum possible jail term, his incarceration would have terminated months ago.”
People v. Tanner, 596 P.2d 328 (Cal. 1979). “06 apply to other dangerous felonies such as assault or battery on a peace officer (Pen. Code, §§ 241, 243), assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer (Pen.”
Karen Kennedy v. Los Angeles Police Dep't City of Los Angeles James J. King Stanley A. Schott, 901 F.2d 702 (9th Cir. 1990). “The district court contrasted these felonies, which by dint of classification would trigger a routine body-cavity search, with the following crimes that are designated misdemeanors and yet do not automatically actuate such a search: assault, Cal.Penal Code § 241, dis *714…”
United States v. Juan Ramon Fernandez, 497 F.2d 730 (9th Cir. 1974). · cites it 3× “2d 330 ), and authorizes punishment to an extent that state laws do not (compare punishment for simple assault in Cal.Penal Code § 241 with punishment in 18 U.”
United States v. Daniel Reid & Theodore E. Thomas, Jr., 517 F.2d 953 (2d Cir. 1975). · cites it 2× “Section 111 accordingly provides for punishment in excess of that which states would impose (compare 18 U.”
People v. Castro, 41 Cal. Rptr. 3d 190 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006). “Because assault (Pen. Code, § 241) is a lesser included offense of battery, the conviction of assault on count 1 should remain dismissed, as defendant can only be sentenced on the greater offense of battery.”
Krueger v. City of Anaheim, 130 Cal. App. 3d 166 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 2× “We find no reason for a public policy supporting the officer’s assumption of that sort of intentional abuse directed specifically and independently at him. An assault of this nature is a separate and different criminal act arising after the offense which occasions the officer’s…”
People v. Herron, 62 Cal. App. 3d 643 (Cal. Ct. App. 1976). · cites it 2× “Had defendant been sentenced to the county jail (an *649 alternative provided for in § 12020), the maximum would have been one year.”
Michael R. v. Jeffrey B., 158 Cal. App. 3d 1059 (Cal. Ct. App. 1984). “However, Penal Code sections 241, 243 and 148 (intentional assault or battery on a peace officer; battery on a peace officer; or resisting an officer in the performance of his duties) are statutes “clearly directed to protect the officer, and the legislative protection thus…”
Show all 51 citing cases →
Cal. Penal Code § 241(a)(1): 1 case
Banyard v. Duncan, 342 F. Supp. 2d 865 (C.D. Cal. 2004).
Cal. Penal Code § 241(a)(2): 1 case
Banyard v. Duncan, 342 F. Supp. 2d 865 (C.D. Cal. 2004).
Cal. Penal Code § 241(b): 1 case
Abudiab v. City & Cnty., 833 F. Supp. 2d 1168 (N.D. Cal. 2011).
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