---
source: https://cannabissuretybonds.com/hemp-bonds/california/
site: Cannabis Surety Bonds, a Surety One, Inc. platform
author: C. Constantin Poindexter, MA, JD, CPCU, AFSB, ASLI, ARe, AINS, AIS, CPLP, CICS
last_reviewed: 2026-09-21
---

# California county industrial hemp bonds

California registers hemp growers through county agricultural commissioners, and the counties decide whether a grower must post security for the cost of destroying a crop that tests hot or is abandoned. Several do, and the amount is almost always tied to acreage.

- **Penal sum:** Set by county, usually by acreage

- **Obligee:** The county, or the State of California on some county forms

- **Authority:** Cal. Food & Agric. Code div. 24; county hemp ordinances

## Why California hemp bonds are county bonds

Division 24 of the Food and Agricultural Code requires a hemp grower or seed breeder to register with the agricultural commissioner of the county where the crop will be planted. State law sets the testing rules and orders the destruction of any crop whose THC concentration exceeds the legal limit. It does not say who pays when the grower walks away. Counties answered that question themselves. Many adopted industrial hemp ordinances that require a bond or other security equal to the county's estimated cost of abating a non-compliant or abandoned crop, and several make the county permit a prerequisite to the state registration.

**California county hemp bond requirements we have confirmed**

| County | Ordinance | Bond amount |

| Lake County | Ordinance 3087 | $5,000 under 10 acres; $10,000 at 10 acres or more; plus $1,000 per acre for sites of 25 acres or more |

| Stanislaus County | Ordinance C.S. 1293 (County Code ch. 6.85) | $2,500 up to 10 acres; $4,500 up to 20; $7,000 up to 30; $9,000 up to the 40 acre cap |

| Tehama County | Ordinance 2101 | $2,500 per acre registered |

## Lake County

Ordinance 3087 regulates hemp cultivation in the unincorporated county. Every commercial grower must obtain a Lake County Industrial Hemp Permit from the County Agriculture Department before receiving a state registration. The bond is a compliance obligation, and a close reading of the code it guarantees includes the grower's duty to destroy waste hemp and byproducts as the agricultural commissioner directs. Applications, the bond and the fee go to the Department of Agriculture, 883 Lakeport Boulevard, Lakeport, CA 95453.

## Stanislaus County

Chapter 6.85 of the County Code caps cultivation at forty acres and scales the bond in four steps. The county's form recites that the bond covers one hundred percent of the County's estimated costs arising from the applicant's licensing or cultivation activity, including the cost to fully abate a crop that does not meet the requirements for legal harvest, and that the commissioner may require an increase if acreage grows after the license is issued. No license is issued until the commissioner has issued the state registration. Filings go to the Agricultural Commissioner, 3800 Cornucopia Way, Suite B, Modesto, CA 95358.

## Tehama County

Ordinance 2101 requires zoning approval, a county permit and a bond of $2,500 for each acre the applicant seeks to register. A ten acre site therefore carries a $25,000 bond, which is the top of our application only range, and a forty acre site carries $100,000 and is underwritten on financial statements. Unused or undelivered hemp and production byproducts must be destroyed as the county instructs. Filings go to the Tehama County Agricultural Commissioner, 1834 Walnut Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080.

## Other counties

The same structure appears across the state with different numbers. Kings County asks for security equal to one hundred percent of an estimated abatement cost of $200 per acre. Sutter County's license application lists a bond, cash or a letter of credit as acceptable abatement security under its Ordinance 412. Santa Barbara County considered security of $2,800 per acre when it adopted its ordinance. Ordinances are amended often and some counties have placed moratoria on hemp altogether, so ask the commissioner's office for the current ordinance and bond form before you plant, and send both to us.

## What the bond guarantees and how a claim arises

A county hemp bond is a compliance and abatement guarantee. The typical claim is simple. A pre harvest sample tests above the legal THC limit, the commissioner orders destruction, the grower lacks the money or the will to disc forty acres under, and the county does it and bills the bond. The surety pays the county's documented cost up to the penal sum and recovers it from the grower and the indemnitors. Because the loss is a defined, bounded cleanup cost, these bonds are straightforward to underwrite when the amount is modest.

## Choose the bond over cash or a letter of credit

Where a county accepts cash or a letter of credit as well, the bond is the better instrument. Cash deposited with a county sits idle for the whole season and comes back slowly. A letter of credit consumes bank credit for the full amount and can be drawn without any inquiry. A bond costs a small fraction of the amount, keeps planting money in the operation, and gives the grower notice and a chance to cure before anything is paid.

## How we underwrite it

Bonds of $25,000 or less are written on the application and a soft inquiry credit report for each owner. Larger acreage bonds add financial statements and a look at the grower's variety selection and testing history, since a hot crop is the loss event. California cannabis license bonds are separate and are covered on the [California cannabis bond page](https://cannabissuretybonds.com/states/california/).

## A bond is not insurance for the hemp business

A surety bond is a three party agreement among the principal (your business), the obligee (the agency or county) and the surety. It protects growers and the public, not the principal. If the surety pays a valid claim, it recovers the payment from the principal and the individual indemnitors under the general indemnity agreement signed at issuance. That is why underwriting looks at credit and working capital, and why paying growers on time and testing early are the cheapest risk controls a hemp operator has.

## The federal backdrop

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 removed hemp, defined as Cannabis sativa L. with no more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis, from the Controlled Substances Act and let states run their own production plans under USDA approval. Congress revised the federal definition in late 2025, with changes scheduled to take effect in November 2026 that narrow the market for intoxicating hemp derived products. Fiber, grain and compliant cannabinoid operations continue, and so do the state and county bond rules described here. Processors of finished cannabinoid products should review their product lines with counsel.

## What to send us

- The completed [online application](https://cannabissuretybonds.com/apply/), or the [cannabis and hemp license bond application (PDF)](https://cannabissuretybonds.com/downloads/cannabis-license-bond-application.pdf), with the name, home address and Social Security number of each owner

- The bond amount the agency or county has given you, and its bond form if it uses its own

- For bonds above $25,000: a personal financial statement from each owner of ten percent or more and current business financial statements

## Four steps to a filed bond

- **Apply.** Online in a few minutes. Review and quoting are free.

- **Confirm the amount.** We check the penal sum and form against the current rule.

- **Bind.** You approve the quote, pay the premium and sign the indemnity agreement.

- **File.** We deliver the executed bond to you, and to the obligee where it accepts electronic filing. Originals are sent overnight when a wet signature is required.

Questions? Call toll free [(800) 373-2804](tel:+18003732804), reach an underwriter at [(919) 859-5294](tel:+19198595294) or write to [Cannabis@SuretyOne.com](mailto:Cannabis@SuretyOne.com).

## Primary sources

Official texts behind this page. We link to citation based addresses on legislature, code and agency sites because those are the least likely to move.

- [Cal. Food & Agric. Code, Division 24, Industrial Hemp (California Legislative Information)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayexpandedbranch.xhtml?tocCode=FAC&division=24.&title=&part=&chapter=&article=)
- [California Industrial Hemp Program (CDFA)](https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/industrialhemp/)
- [Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, H.R. 2, 115th Congress (Congress.gov)](https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2)
- [7 U.S.C. § 1639o, hemp definitions (Office of the Law Revision Counsel)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title7-section1639o&num=0&edition=prelim)

Regulator: [California Industrial Hemp Program](https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/industrialhemp/). Confirm the current amount and form with the regulator before you file.

## California hemp bond questions

**Q: Does the State of California require a hemp bond?**

No. The state registers growers through county agricultural commissioners. The bond requirement comes from county ordinances.

**Q: How much is a California hemp bond?**

It depends on the county and your acreage. Confirmed examples: Lake County $5,000 to $10,000 plus $1,000 per acre at 25 acres or more, Stanislaus County $2,500 to $9,000, Tehama County $2,500 per acre.

**Q: What triggers a claim on a county hemp bond?**

Usually a crop that tests over the THC limit or is abandoned, where the county pays to destroy it because the grower did not.

**Q: My county is not listed. Can you still write the bond?**

Yes. Send us the ordinance and the county's bond form and we will review the language and quote it.

**Written and reviewed by [C. Constantin Poindexter](https://www.linkedin.com/in/constantinpoindexter/), MA, JD, CPCU, AFSB, ASLI, ARe, AINS, AIS, CPLP, CICS.** Founder of Surety One, Inc., Cannabis Insurance Coverage Specialist, attorney and surety underwriter for more than thirty years. Author of [The Contractor's Guide to Surety Bonds](https://constantinpoindexterauthor.com/). [View his cannabis insurance credentials.](https://cannabissuretybonds.com/about/) Last reviewed September 21, 2026.

## Need your California hemp bond?

Application review and quoting are free, and there is no obligation to buy. Bonds of $25,000 or less are usually issued the same business day.

[Apply for a bond](https://cannabissuretybonds.com/apply/)[Talk to an underwriter: (919) 859-5294](tel:+19198595294)[Toll free (800) 373-2804](tel:+18003732804)