| Summary |
Under current law, a court is required to release a person on a
personal recognizance bond if the person was charged with an offense for
a violation with a maximum penalty that does not exceed 6 months'
imprisonment, and the court cannot require the person to give security of
any kind for their appearance for trial other than their personal
recognizance, unless certain conditions exist. The bill clarifies these
provisions apply in both state and municipal courts. The bill adds to the
conditions for which a person may be required to give security that the
defendant previously failed to appear in court 2 or more times in the
present case.
Existing law prohibits a court from imposing a monetary condition
of release for a defendant charged with a traffic offense, petty offense, or
comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense for which there is
no comparable state misdemeanor offense, with specified exceptions. The
bill adds exceptions for:
•
A petty offense for theft, criminal mischief, or arson, or a
comparable municipal offense, or a municipal offense
involving threats of violence, injury, or property damage,
if the defendant has previously failed to appear in court 2
or more times in the present case; and
•
Any other petty offense, traffic offense, or a comparable
municipal offense or a municipal offense for which there is
no comparable state offense, if the defendant has
previously failed to appear for a court proceeding 3 or more
times in the present case and has another pending charge
for the same offense in the same jurisdiction.
The bill applies the exceptions involving previous instances of a
defendant's failure to appear for a court proceeding only when, prior to
issuing a warrant for the arrest of the defendant for the previous failure
to appear, the court conducted a search to determine whether the
defendant was being held in a correctional facility or county jail, and at
the time of the previous failure to appear, the court had certain processes
in place governing failures to appear.
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