Penal Code § 459 Burglary
Defines burglary as entering a structure or locked vehicle with intent to commit theft or any felony.
What the code actually says
459. (a) Every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, shop, warehouse, store, mill, barn, stable, outhouse or other building, tent, vessel, as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, floating home, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 18075.55 of the Health and Safety Code, railroad car, locked or sealed cargo container, whether or not mounted on a vehicle, trailer coach, as defined in Section 635 of the Vehicle Code, any house car, as defined in Section 362 of the Vehicle Code, inhabited camper, as defined in Section 243 of the Vehicle Code, vehicle as defined by the Vehicle Code, when the doors are locked, aircraft as defined by Section 21012 of the Public Utilities Code, or mine or any underground portion thereof, with intent to commit grand or petit larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary. As used in this chapter, “inhabited” means currently being used for dwelling purposes, whether occupied or not. A house, trailer, vessel designed for habitation, or portion of a building is currently being used for dwelling purposes if, at the time of the burglary, it was not occupied solely because a natural or other disaster caused the occupants to leave the premises. (b) The fact that the structure entered has been damaged by a natural or other disaster, or the extent of that damage, does not preclude conviction. (Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 533, Sec. 1. (AB 468) Effective January 1, 2026.)
Read on leginfo.legislature.ca.govWhat a report needs to survive this charge.
Knowing the code is the easy part. Cases get kicked when the narrative never documents an element the prosecutor has to prove.
- Entry into a structure, room, or locked vehicle
- Intent to commit theft or a felony existed at the time of entry
- The degree turns on whether the structure was inhabited
- Entry was without consent of the owner or occupant
- Intent at the time of entry is inferred but never articulated
- Point of entry and method are not documented
- Inhabited status of the residence is left unclear
Abbreviated for reference. Report960 runs the full element and defect checklist against your narrative and quotes the exact passage behind every finding. This page is not legal advice.
Charges that travel together.
Every element, checked.Every finding, quotable.
Paste or upload your narrative and Report960 flags the burglary elements you left undocumented, grounded in the verbatim statute above.