1. Why is it So Cold in Here?
So, right or wrong, you’ve been arrested. You’ve been handcuffed, put in the back of a police car, you may or may not have been read what are known as the Miranda warnings (story for another day), taken to jail, photographed, fingerprinted, and given a nice grey and white stylish outfit to wear that does nothing to keep out the drafts. Overall, not what most people consider a fun way to spend some hours.
The next thing that happens is something called magistration. That’s where a judge will review an Affidavit of Probable Cause to determine if there is enough evidence to continue keeping you in jail (most likely yes) and sets a bond. In misdemeanor cases, a bond must be set within 24 hours. In felonies, the bond must be set within 48 hours. Typically, magistration will occur somewhere between 4 and 6 hours after you get to jail. This is not the time for you to express your moral outrage at the injustice of your situation. You want to keep anything you say limited to “Yes, ma’am/sir/Your Honor.” Or “No, ma’am/sir/Your Honor.” Anything else is likely to result in you failing the attitude test (an important test throughout the legal process) which in turn may lead to you staying there longer or having a higher bond.
What’s a bond, you say? Well, the easy answer is that it is an amount of money that you or someone else will have to put up now or at a later time to help make sure you come back to court. There are three main types of bonds: the personal (or personal recognizance) bond, the surety bond, and the cash bond. The amount of the bond can be somewhat of a gauge on how serious your case is. Typically, misdemeanors are lower and felonies are higher. It is also influenced by known criminal history, whether or not there is a victim, and the above mentioned attitude test.
You should also know that the judge might set conditions on your bond, no matter the type. The typical conditions include classes (alcohol, drug, family violence), alcohol monitoring devices (DWI’s), or location monitoring devices (serious cases involving violence). Make sure you comply with these conditions to the letter. If you don’t, the judge can revoke your bond and throw you back in jail even if you’ve gone to every court date. I wish it didn’t need to be said, but don’t commit any additional crimes while on bond. That will get your bond revoked as well.
Oh, and it’s cold because deputies wear lots of layers. Those bulletproof vests don’t really breathe for some reason. Therefore, they turn the AC down real low. On top of that, jail outfits are made of really thin cloth. It’s not a combo that leads to comfort for inmates, but you’ve got bigger problems at the moment. You need to get the hell out of there.
2. It’s Not Personal
The most common way that someone gets out of jail is the personal bond, sometimes called the personal recognizance bond. A personal bond is basically you promising to come back to court. You will receive a date to return to an office called Court Administration. There you will be told when and where your case has actually been assigned. If you don’t return to court, then the county can and will sue you for the amount of the bond.
Now once you actually get to the jail and are booked in, an office called Pretrial Services will probably interview you. They are trying to gauge whether or not you are a risk of not returning to court. Once they are done interviewing you, they will call the contacts that you provide them to see if you really do live where you said you live. If they can verify your info, you don’t have a huge criminal record and you pass the attitude test, then you should get out of jail on a personal bond in a matter of a few hours.
If Pretrial Services does not sign off on you getting a personal bond, it is still possible to get one. However, you will most likely have to hire a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer tells the court that you are putting some money down and are more likely to come back for your court date. Whether or not you hire a lawyer or get out on your own with a personal bond, you will still have to pay the $20 fee to Pretrial Services. Make sure you do that right away.
3. Bail Bonding is Not Quite Male Bonding (sorry)
The second most common way for someone to get out of jail is through a surety bond. The vast majority of surety bonds are handled by bail bondsmen (not trying to be sexist here, I’ve never seen the word bondswoman before). Basically, you pay a bail bondsmen an amount of money (on average between 10 and 15% of the bond amount, but it varies). The bondman then basically promises the court that you will return to court whenever you’re supposed to be there. If you stop going to court, then the bondsman will be on the hook for the entire amount of the bond. They don’t like that and may send someone to personally make sure you come back (bounty hunter).
Understand, however, that any amount you pay to a bondsman for a surety bond is their fee. You will not be getting that back. Ever. Case gets thrown out before you ever get to court. Not getting it back. Case gets dismissed. Not getting it back. You go to trial and are acquitted. Not getting it back. That is just one of the many costs of law enforcement getting involved in your life.
4. In God We Trust, All Others Must Pay in Cash
The easiest (and generally most expensive) way to get out of jail is the cash bond. A cash bond is exactly what it sounds like. You (or generally a family member, friend, or really awesome boss) bring the entire amount of the bond to the sheriff’s office. They prefer cash (hence the name), although certified funds like a cashier’s check or money order will do as well. They will not accept a credit card or personal check. The nice thing about the cash bond is that when the case is resolved (even if it results in a conviction), the money is sent back to the defendant.
You can also tell the clerk’s office to send the money to someone else, typically the person who paid the money (family member, friend, or really awesome boss). This can be useful in paying your attorney. Many lawyers will accept an assignment of the funds as payment or partial payment of their fees. So if you do get out on a cash bond, make sure you tell your attorney about it for we are greedy and like to get paid.
Although it is rare, I have heard of supposed bail bondsmen who ask for the entire amount of the bond in order to help get someone out of jail. This is a scam. They are not going to put up a surety bond. They are going to put up a cash bond, but they will assign the bond to themselves so they get paid the entire amount when the case is over. If you can come up with the entire bond amount, for heaven’s sake, go give the money to the sheriff directly and then use that bond to pay your lawyer.
5. If It’s Just a Ticket, Do I Still Have to Show Up?
There are a few crimes out there (Driving While License Suspended, Possession of Marijuana, Shoplifting) where the police have the option of doing something called Cite and Release. Basically, the officer writes you a ticket, just like he would if you were caught committing a Class C misdemeanor such as speeding or creating an obnoxious odor (my favorite Class C, by the way). Either the Austin Municipal Court or one of the various Justice of the Peace courts around town typically handles class C tickets.
Cite and Release cases are different. They are typically Class B crimes that used to mean a ride to the station and all the fun from Section 1 up there. Now, an officer has the option to right what appears to be just a ticket, which is why some people don’t take them seriously. Those people are making really bad decisions. If you don’t show up and go through the personal bond process they have set up for these, not only will you have a warrant for the original charge, the County Attorney’s office will file bail jumping charges as well.
So, right or wrong, you’ve been arrested. You’ve been handcuffed, put in the back of a police car, you may or may not have been read what are known as the Miranda warnings (story for another day), taken to jail, photographed, fingerprinted, and given a nice grey and white stylish outfit to wear that does nothing to keep out the drafts. Overall, not what most people consider a fun way to spend some hours.
The next thing that happens is something called magistration. That’s where a judge will review an Affidavit of Probable Cause to determine if there is enough evidence to continue keeping you in jail (most likely yes) and sets a bond. In misdemeanor cases, a bond must be set within 24 hours. In felonies, the bond must be set within 48 hours. Typically, magistration will occur somewhere between 4 and 6 hours after you get to jail. This is not the time for you to express your moral outrage at the injustice of your situation. You want to keep anything you say limited to “Yes, ma’am/sir/Your Honor.” Or “No, ma’am/sir/Your Honor.” Anything else is likely to result in you failing the attitude test (an important test throughout the legal process) which in turn may lead to you staying there longer or having a higher bond.
What’s a bond, you say? Well, the easy answer is that it is an amount of money that you or someone else will have to put up now or at a later time to help make sure you come back to court. There are three main types of bonds: the personal (or personal recognizance) bond, the surety bond, and the cash bond. The amount of the bond can be somewhat of a gauge on how serious your case is. Typically, misdemeanors are lower and felonies are higher. It is also influenced by known criminal history, whether or not there is a victim, and the above mentioned attitude test.
You should also know that the judge might set conditions on your bond, no matter the type. The typical conditions include classes (alcohol, drug, family violence), alcohol monitoring devices (DWI’s), or location monitoring devices (serious cases involving violence). Make sure you comply with these conditions to the letter. If you don’t, the judge can revoke your bond and throw you back in jail even if you’ve gone to every court date. I wish it didn’t need to be said, but don’t commit any additional crimes while on bond. That will get your bond revoked as well.
Oh, and it’s cold because deputies wear lots of layers. Those bulletproof vests don’t really breathe for some reason. Therefore, they turn the AC down real low. On top of that, jail outfits are made of really thin cloth. It’s not a combo that leads to comfort for inmates, but you’ve got bigger problems at the moment. You need to get the hell out of there.
2. It’s Not Personal
The most common way that someone gets out of jail is the personal bond, sometimes called the personal recognizance bond. A personal bond is basically you promising to come back to court. You will receive a date to return to an office called Court Administration. There you will be told when and where your case has actually been assigned. If you don’t return to court, then the county can and will sue you for the amount of the bond.
Now once you actually get to the jail and are booked in, an office called Pretrial Services will probably interview you. They are trying to gauge whether or not you are a risk of not returning to court. Once they are done interviewing you, they will call the contacts that you provide them to see if you really do live where you said you live. If they can verify your info, you don’t have a huge criminal record and you pass the attitude test, then you should get out of jail on a personal bond in a matter of a few hours.
If Pretrial Services does not sign off on you getting a personal bond, it is still possible to get one. However, you will most likely have to hire a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer tells the court that you are putting some money down and are more likely to come back for your court date. Whether or not you hire a lawyer or get out on your own with a personal bond, you will still have to pay the $20 fee to Pretrial Services. Make sure you do that right away.
3. Bail Bonding is Not Quite Male Bonding (sorry)
The second most common way for someone to get out of jail is through a surety bond. The vast majority of surety bonds are handled by bail bondsmen (not trying to be sexist here, I’ve never seen the word bondswoman before). Basically, you pay a bail bondsmen an amount of money (on average between 10 and 15% of the bond amount, but it varies). The bondman then basically promises the court that you will return to court whenever you’re supposed to be there. If you stop going to court, then the bondsman will be on the hook for the entire amount of the bond. They don’t like that and may send someone to personally make sure you come back (bounty hunter).
Understand, however, that any amount you pay to a bondsman for a surety bond is their fee. You will not be getting that back. Ever. Case gets thrown out before you ever get to court. Not getting it back. Case gets dismissed. Not getting it back. You go to trial and are acquitted. Not getting it back. That is just one of the many costs of law enforcement getting involved in your life.
4. In God We Trust, All Others Must Pay in Cash
The easiest (and generally most expensive) way to get out of jail is the cash bond. A cash bond is exactly what it sounds like. You (or generally a family member, friend, or really awesome boss) bring the entire amount of the bond to the sheriff’s office. They prefer cash (hence the name), although certified funds like a cashier’s check or money order will do as well. They will not accept a credit card or personal check. The nice thing about the cash bond is that when the case is resolved (even if it results in a conviction), the money is sent back to the defendant.
You can also tell the clerk’s office to send the money to someone else, typically the person who paid the money (family member, friend, or really awesome boss). This can be useful in paying your attorney. Many lawyers will accept an assignment of the funds as payment or partial payment of their fees. So if you do get out on a cash bond, make sure you tell your attorney about it for we are greedy and like to get paid.
Although it is rare, I have heard of supposed bail bondsmen who ask for the entire amount of the bond in order to help get someone out of jail. This is a scam. They are not going to put up a surety bond. They are going to put up a cash bond, but they will assign the bond to themselves so they get paid the entire amount when the case is over. If you can come up with the entire bond amount, for heaven’s sake, go give the money to the sheriff directly and then use that bond to pay your lawyer.
5. If It’s Just a Ticket, Do I Still Have to Show Up?
There are a few crimes out there (Driving While License Suspended, Possession of Marijuana, Shoplifting) where the police have the option of doing something called Cite and Release. Basically, the officer writes you a ticket, just like he would if you were caught committing a Class C misdemeanor such as speeding or creating an obnoxious odor (my favorite Class C, by the way). Either the Austin Municipal Court or one of the various Justice of the Peace courts around town typically handles class C tickets.
Cite and Release cases are different. They are typically Class B crimes that used to mean a ride to the station and all the fun from Section 1 up there. Now, an officer has the option to right what appears to be just a ticket, which is why some people don’t take them seriously. Those people are making really bad decisions. If you don’t show up and go through the personal bond process they have set up for these, not only will you have a warrant for the original charge, the County Attorney’s office will file bail jumping charges as well.
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