Interviewer: Will bail ever be set, if a person is arrested and put in jail?
Brian Sloan: Yes. Under Arizona law, just about everyone is entitled to a bond. There are only a few exceptions in Arizona where someone is not allowed to be bonded out or provide a bond. If someone is an illegal immigrant charged with a class I, II or III or certain class IV felonies, they can be held non-bondable.
If someone has committed a sex crime or a murder, I want to say, they can, technically, be held non-bondable. Of course, there’s no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a person who is suspected of committing these crimes is guilty of these crimes but the burden is proof evident or presumption great that these people committed these offenses.
There are also certain people, if they were released on some other felony offense, and are alleged to have committed a new felony offense, they are to be held non-bondable, on the new felony offense.
Most DUI Charges Are Misdemeanors and Might Not Require a Bond
Almost everyone charged with a misdemeanor is eligible for a bond but will not have a bond. If they do have a bond, it usually may be only a few hundred dollars. I rarely have seen anything more than two thousand dollars.
The only real reason to put a bond on someone is if they have previous failure to appears’ or if they’ve done something during the arrest that gives the impression that they’re going to run away or be a danger to society.
That’s really what a bond is supposed to be, to ensure that someone shows up to the court appearance or because there’s some concern that they are a threat or menace to society.
Felony DUI Charges Will Incur Higher Bonds
With felony DUIs, it’s kind of a 50/50 split whether or not a bond will be issued. Half the people get released on their own recognizance or they get released to Pretrial Services, which basically means they just need to keep in contact with the Pretrial Services officer, which is a division of the Probation Department.
Other people do get bonds, for whatever reason, and usually those are in $1200 to $2500 range. I did have one client who had a $100,000 bond for no apparent reason. I still have no idea why the judge did that but the judge did.
