What happens if I am arrested for being drunk in public?

If you were given a court date to appear at, you are being prosecuted for a crime. Make sure you didn't overlook it in the paperwork. If you didn't get one yet, you may still get a letter in the mail advising you of a court date. The charges actually filed will determine how much time and fines could potentially be imposed. You'll learn the actual charge[s] and any enhancements filed and get copies of all the police reports, evidence and test results when appearing for arraignment at the first court hearing. The prosecutors can amend at any time they believe they can prove additional or different charges. In California, if convicted of any felony, you potentially face one or more years in prison, plus fines; on any misdemeanor, you potentially face up to 12 months in jail, plus fines. Priors and strikes will add penalty enhancements under the 3-Strikes rules. If this constitutes a probation violation, factor those new violation charge[s] and old deferred sentence[s] in as well. You are always entitled to represent yourself in court. Whether you should is a different issue. The conventional wisdom is that an attorney will be able to do a better job and get a better outcome. Prosecutors and judges don't like dealing with ProPers, unless you are simply pleading guilty, not defending the case.

From what you have stated, it does appear that law enforcement considers this a detention only and not an arrest, so there will be no criminal charges or conviction on your record this time. Try to avoid public intoxication in the future.

If you were arrested for public intoxication, you could be charged with a misdeameanor for disorderly conduct; however, if the paper you received states detention only then, under California law, it is not considered an arrest. If the document you received further states no further proceedings then that tells me that no charges will be filed against you. This advise is, of course, predicated on the notion that the factual statements you provided below are accurate. If the facts as you describe them are correct, you should count yourself lucky and try to refrain from putting yourself in a situation that would result in you being arrested.

If the papers your received from the police do not show a court date, the chances are you lucked out and will not be prosecuted and will not have a criminal record. However, the D.A. can still file charges against you within 1 year of your arrest. If they do, you will receive a letter from the court telling you when and where to appear in court.

You paperwork should have a court date on it. If it doesn't, then you don't need to go to court unless you receive notice from the court or the DA. Rather than have attorneys online guess about your situation, you should just contact a criminal defense lawyer in your area for a consultation.

Sounds like the case was not charged.

I cannot tell you go to the DA's office nearest the city where you were arrested to find out if charges are being filed.

Check your citation to see if there is a court date. If there is then yes you need to be in court (or your attorney does).

If you were not given a date upon release, then check your mail as sometimes they just send notice of a court appearance by mail.

You are correct. The form confirms that you were only "detained" and that you were never actually arrested, even though they took ou into custody. No charges will be filed and you can truthfully answer that you were not arrested in this matter. No court appearance will be necessary.

You lucked out. They decided to cut you a break and release you pursuant to Penal Code 849(b). That means you were taken in, sobered up and they aren't going to forward the case over to the DA for prosecution.

Well, it's hard to tell. Were you given a notice to appear in court? Usually when you are detained/arrested the police officer will cite you and give you a date to be in court. This isn't always he case however, the police officer may very well release you without requiring you to sign a promise to appear in court and just forward his report to the local district attorney's office. That office may very well decide to charge you with being drunk in public and you may get a notice to appear in court in the future. If you are not contacted by the district attorney's office within one year of the date you were detained/arrested, then you shouldn't worry. If you are actually charged with being drunk in pubic fight the case. The law on drunk in public is one of the few areas of law that is difficult for a district attorney to prove in court. I say fight it.