Bail Sometimes Isn’t Required to Get out Of Jail

When you are arrested for any criminal charge, your focus will usually turn to getting out of jail. Everything else will likely come in second after that. Before you can get out of jail, you will have to find out about a bail amount.

Bail is the amount of money or assets that you will have to put up to the court as a way of guaranteeing that you are going to show up at your future court dates. If you have a bail hearing, there is a chance that you won’t have to put any money or assets up if you can convince the judge to release you on own recognizance.

Being released on your own recognizance is sometimes referred to as being released O.R. In this case, your word and signature are the guarantees that you are going to show up for court. Because this is a big step in trusting you, the court has to consider this type of release carefully.

The type of charge you are facing has an impact on whether you can get an O.R. release. Your job, ties to the community and criminal history also play a part in this decision.

If the court does give you an O.R. release, you should make sure that you do show up to your court dates. If you don’t, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. In this case, the court might deny bail or might set it high as a way to make sure that you do appear to face the charges that were placed against you. Additional charges for the failure to appear are also possible.

Source: FindLaw, “‘Own Recognizance’ Release,” accessed July 13, 2017