Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution, and whenever during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is a detainer lodged against the prisoner by a law enforcement or prosecutorial agency of the state or its subdivisions, the Department of Corrections may do either of the following:
If a person has been retained in custody under this subdivision in response to the issuance of a warrant of arrest charging a particular offense and the defendant is released from custody following the retention period without pickup by the agency lodging the detainer, a subsequent court order shall be issued before the arrest of that person for the same offense which was charged in the prior warrant.
As used in this section "detainer" means a warrant of arrest.
Ca. Pen. Code § 4755