What You Need To Know About Bond And Pretrial Release

When you are charged with a crime, a Court is going to decide whether or not they’re going to release you, and if they do, what the conditions of your pre-trial release are. In most cases, the Court allows clients to be released on bond.

The purpose of bond is to assure that you return to court and to follow all of the conditions of your release. The Court may ask for some amount of money to be posted prior to your release. Other times they request what’s called a signature bond. With a signature bond you don’t pay any money up front, but you agree to forfeit that amount of money if there is a violation or a nonappearance in the future.

Conditions of bond depend on the crime charged. If there is a victim in your case, the bond typically includes a no contact order with the victim, or sometimes a no abusive contact order. If alcohol or drugs are involved, conditions typically include absolute sobriety and sometimes alcohol or drug testing. Other conditions may include no contact orders with certain locations, prohibitions on your actions, or limitations on your privileges.

Prior to setting bond, you and I will talk about your relationship to the community, your ability to post cash bond, and what conditions may look like. Talking with me about the conditions of your bond and what you do in your day-to-day life will help me argue to the Court for a bond that limits the infringements on your rights.

One thing to remember, once you have signed a bond you are required to follow all of the rules of your bond. If you violate your bond, you can be charged with bail jumping. So, after the bond is set we will discuss the bond again to make sure that you understand it and all of the rules that you must follow.