When someone is arrested, the court usually sets a bail amount in their case. Bail is set at a certain dollar value in an attempt to ensure that the defendant will appear at their assigned court date. If the defendant does not appear on their assigned court date, the court forfeits the bail money and issues a warrant for their arrest.
If someone has been arrested or is in jail, and bail has not been addressed or set, we urge you to contact our office immediately. The Law Offices of Stull & Stull are very experienced at reducing the bail amount set by the court, or getting clients out of jail on an “O.R.”, or “own recognizance” release. The own recognizance release means no money is posted, and the client agrees to appear at court on their own promise. We are able to get an O.R. or own recognizance release mainly with individuals who have no prior criminal record, or is being charged in misdemeanor case.
In Orange County, our firm has the ability to contact 24 hour Magistrate at the jail about reducing the bail amount or allowing for an own recognizance release.
In order to set the appropriate bail, the court looks at three factors; these factors are as follows:
- The type of crime and danger to the public;
- The defendant’s ties to the community (ie: work, family, owns home and lengthy of time at current address, etc.), and;
- Criminal record history and past acts.
The court will assess these three factors and determine whether the defendant is a flight risk. Depending on the flight risk of the defendant, the court will set an appropriate amount, according to the bail schedule. The bail schedule in Orange County is located on the following website page:
http://www.occourts.org/criminal/JCbailschedule2005.pdf.
Typically, in a misdemeanor case, bail is set anywhere from $500 to $10,000. For felony charges, bail can be set anywhere from $1,500 to $100,000. Some crimes that are egregious or violent (for example, crimes involving serious injury or large amounts of drugs will carry bail amounts of up to one million dollars – these high bail amounts can also apply if the client has prior felony probation violations. Contact us immediately and we can educate you on bail and hopefully save you some money.
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