Can You Get Bail On a Felony Charge?

Understanding Felony Bonds

When someone faces an felony criminal charge, it can be a frightening situation. Many people, especially first-time offenders, aren’t familiar with the legal process. As a result, they run into the subject of felony bail bonds and other legal challenges without knowing how to react.

Today, we’re going to dig into bail and other crucial topics related to felony charges. By the end, you should have a solid starting point from which to plan your reaction. Make sure you (or your charged loved one) have a trustworthy criminal defense attorney to coordinate your case!

Felony Bail Bonds – Key Facts

Felonies, in general, come with more narrowed guidelines regarding bail amounts, convictions, and potential penalties. With that being said, there is still plenty of varying factors that affect each individual case. Two individuals charged with the same felony crime may experience very different bail outcomes depending on their character, criminal history, employment, and overseeing judge.

Bail Pricing

How Much is a Bail Bond for a Felony?

Felony bail amount hinges on a variety of factors. Most common felonies have a predetermined price based on the applicable county’s automatic bail schedule. While judges still maintain the ability to change the price of bail at their discretion, most will not stray too far from the established amount.

In some Kansas counties, low-grade felonies have a predetermined price of $1500. These crimes may include felony theft, felony criminal damage to property, and felony possession of stolen property. You can talk with your personal defense attorney to learn more about your area’s bail schedule.

If you purchase a bond from a local bonding agency, you can expect to pay a small percentage of the total bail price (often 10 to 15%). Though this amount is non-refundable, it’s usually a small price to pay for staying out of pre-trial lockup and continuing employment with interruption.

Bail Denial

Felony No Bail

There are certain crimes where bail may be denied. These include violent crimes, such as murder (typically grounds for automatic denial), aggravated assault and battery, and aggravated domestic violence. A judge will frequently deny bail for individuals they believe poses a credible threat to the safety of the public.

Bail Violations

Felony Bail Conditions and Violations

Because felony crimes have a heavier weight in the court of law, many judges create a strict list of mandatory bail conditions that must be carried out to avoid pre-trial lockup. These may include staying away from illicit drugs, refraining from interacting with certain individuals, meeting with a counselor, not possessing a lethal weapon, and other crime-related activities. Failure to obey these conditions could lead to heavy penalties, including a charge of felony bail jumping.

What is Felony Bail Jumping?

When a person is accused of a felony and provided with bail conditions, disobeying those conditions may result in a felony bail jumping charge. Even if that person is cleared of their original felony charge, they still face a felony charge for breaking their terms of bail. Individuals charged with jumping may also forfeit the privilege of remaining out of pretrial lockup and be forced to pay the full price of their felony bail bonds.

As as side note: if you believe that you may have a warrant for failing to appear in court, make sure you find a arrest warrants help service to resolve the issue.

Additional Questions Regarding Felonies

Dropping Charges

Can Felony Charges Be Dropped?

There is often confusion between the terms dropped and dismissed. If an arresting officer or case prosecutor decide they have insufficient evidence to prove their case, they may choose to drop charges before or after they have been filed. After charges have been filed, the case prosecutor or the judge may dismiss them (again, due to insufficient evidence).

Probation

Can You Just Get Probation for a Felony?

Probation is an outcome that criminal attorneys often pursue when their defendant is a first-time offender. This allows the convicted individual to remain free, assuming they fulfill the requirements laid out for them. It’s left to the discretion of the judge involved in the case. For higher-tier felonies, probation is fairly unlikely. However, judges may offer probation for low ranking felonies.

Record Expunging

How Do You Get a Felony Removed From Your Record?

If an individual’s crime is eligible, many courts will allow citizens to expunge (erase) an incident from their criminal record. This can be done through the following steps…

• Consult with a trusted defense attorney.
• Make sure sufficient time has passed since your conviction.
• Collect applicable arrest, police, and court records.
• Fill out the appropriate forms for expungement.
• Submit the forms and pay any related fees.
• Attend court hearing (if required).

What Felonies Cannot Be Expunged?

Not all crimes may be removed from the record. Many of the exceptions are violent crimes, which remain as a warning for the public.