214-747-4110
163 Pittsburg Street, Suite A2, Dallas, TX 75207
940-383-4600
909 E. McKinney St., Denton, TX 76209
972-562-6057
1502 W. University Suite #101, McKinney, TX 75069
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Picked up on a criminal charge in the city of Wylie? The first course of action will be to make sure you're properly 'booked' (i.e., fingerprinted, photographed, charged, etc.). From there, it becomes a guessing game as to whether you'll be granted bail or what the amount of your bond will be. The next step rests squarely in the hands of the city's magistrate judge. He or she will hold a formal hearing. Here's what you can expect.
The Wylie Municipal Court is where most hearings will take place. If it's a less serious (class C misdemeanor) crime, then you'll likely be staying in the Wylie City Jail. Otherwise, you'll be held for a maximum of 72 hours and either released or transferred to the Collin County Detention Center. Within 24 hours of booking, however, the judge has a decision to make. And that's where the magistrate's hearing comes into play.
The Magistrate Judge will expect you to be on your best behavior and adhere to the court's rules of etiquette, which are available at this link. Some examples:
The Richardson Jail is located at 140 North Greenville Ave. If you end up here, one of two things will happen. You'll stay for the entire duration of your arrest and/or bonding period (class C misdemeanors only), or you'll be transferred to a county holding facility until those determinations can be made.
But what goes into determining your bond eligibility, and what should you do when/if bail is set? In the following article, we'll be examining the answers to these questions so if you or someone you love should ever need the 411 you'll have it. Let's go.
The Richardson Jail is located in the same area as the city's police department. Holding periods are short-term. They're not equipped to hold inmates for longer than 72 hours. To help speed along the process, the RPD will book you and set up an arraignment date at the municipal court nearby.
Your arraignment is a meeting with the judge to determine bond eligibility. Some probable disqualifying factors would include the following:
The North Texas city of Plano is one of the larger suburbs in the DFW Metroplex. Located just 20 miles north of downtown Dallas, it can sort of blend in. That can cause a degree of confusion if you get a call from your loved one telling you they've been arrested.
You probably think your loved one will know what your next steps to help them should be. But unless they're a veteran at being incarcerated, that's unlikely. Jurisdiction can be a confusing thing, so we've put together a handy-dandy blog post to help out. Here's what you can do to find out if your loved one is in the Plano City Jail as well as what you should do about getting them out.
Despite the city's substantial size, the city jail is just a short-term detention center. You're not meant to be here for any longer than 72 hours, regardless of the crime. If your loved one has been picked up for something like small-scale theft (less than $50, a class C misdemeanor), then they'll be staying here for the duration until bonded out or a hearing date can be set.
Northlake is a nicely-kept secret in Denton County. Located just northwest of Grapevine Lake, it's a quiet place with less than 2,000 people and beautiful scenery. Nevertheless, it's not completely trouble-free, and if you find yourself in the middle of it, you may need a bail bondsman to help take care of the problem.
Chances are you know how it works if you live here. But when you're trying to help a loved one who's been incarcerated from out-of-town or out-of-state, you may not know how everything works. In the following article, we'll be shedding light on it.
Given the small size of Northlake, many bail bondsmen don't bother providing service there. Most of the action is in the metropolitan areas, so that's where they turn. We look at it a little differently here at Doc's. People everywhere need a helping hand, especially when they've been charged with a crime (either justly or unjustly).
It's our duty to provide service everywhere, and we've taken the time to learn the system inside and out. If you are acting on someone else's behalf, here's what you do.
Lewisville is a town of about 105,000 in the DFW Metroplex. Like many of the suburban communities in the area, it houses a city jail designed for short-term incarceration. If you are charged with a crime, you can expect to stay from 1-3 days before you're either released on your own recognizance or transferred to the Denton County Detention Center.
For most inmates, each day spent in jail is a day too long. It's the Doc's mission to help you limit your time away from family, work, and other obligations. So, if you need bail services at either detention facility, here's how to go about getting it.
Doc's Bail Bonds is a company with a long history of being able to navigate the bail bond system. That said, you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble if you have certain information available ahead of time. Here's what we're looking for in order to expedite the request:
The Justin City Jail located at 415 North College Ave. is a part of the city's police department. It's not designed for long-term holding, but it can still be a tough way to spend a night. If you have been picked up on charges, you want to spend as little time there as possible. But many are intimidated by the bail bond process because they're not sure of how it works and big numbers are thrown around when discussing costs.
In the following article, we're going to pull back the curtain on what you can expect to pay, particularly regarding felony charges. But first...
If you have been picked up on a felony charge, don't expect to spend very long at the Justin City Jail. It's a three-day max 'vacation.' Except it's not a vacation. It's a high-security facility as the JPD keeps it fully staffed at all times. You'll be held there for as long as it takes to get a release on your own recognizance or to post bond. If you can't afford to post bond and you're unwilling to hire a bail bondsman, then your next stop is the Denton County Detention Center.
The city of Aubrey is home to just under 3,000. As such, it's the type of place where you can get around quickly. That fast pace carries over into the bail bond system. If you have been picked up and charged with a crime, you can expect a short stay before being shipped off to the county detention center or released on your own recognizance.
Either way, one day inside of a city jail is too many. And the faster you can get the paperwork filled out and the bond paid, the better.
So just how long does it take to bail your loved one out of city jail (or get yourself bailed out)? The answer varies, but it depends largely on how quickly you can reach out to the Doc. At Doc's Bail Bonds, we are equipped to pursue a speedy release through a combination of knowing the bail system and having an extensive network within the law enforcement community.
We know many officers in Aubrey and the larger Denton County. If you're staying at Aubrey, it's a super simple fix. Denton County is a little more complicated, but still well within our purview.
The Allen Police Department handles all crime committed within the city limits, but that doesn't mean you'll end up staying at the city jail. Your ultimate 'resting place' is going to depend on the crime you've committed, the length of your stay as determined by a judge, and your ability to pay the bond.
But it all starts with the booking process. In the following article, we'll address what you can expect if you're unfortunate enough to get arrested and charged with a crime. Let's boogie.
Allen is not a terrifically huge city. The population is around 85,000. People formally charged have two choices as far as places to stay are concerned, and neither of them is particularly charitable. The first is the city jail itself, housed at the same location as the police department. The address is 205 West McDermott. You'll be here for about three days for a class C misdemeanor. After that, you'll either be released or transferred to the Collin County Detention Center.
There are competing views bail reform in the state of Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott recently threw his support behind the Damon Allen Act, named for the Texas Department of Public Safety State Trooper, who was killed in the line of duty in November 2017.
Abbott's support for the bail reform measure states a goal of keeping the most violent felons from being released. But critics have argued it could go too far and end up keeping nonviolent persons in jail longer than the current system.
While considerations are still underway — you can read more about the Abbott measure here — it highlights a growing desire to see the process changed. This desire stems from some in our industry who work to take advantage of underprivileged individuals who find themselves under arrest and facing charges.
Too often, bail bondsmen are in it solely for the money. This is something we've actively fought against at Doc's Bail Bonds. But the reason we have to fight against it is that the threat is real. Bondsmen don't act in the best interests of their clients.
In 2002, Ru-El Sailor was convicted of murdering Omar Clark. Sailor allegedly shot Clark to death. His sentence: 25 years to life in prison. Thankfully, the Ohio Innocence Project — through mountains of research, evidence, and testimonies — were able to connect the dots and prove Sailor innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Stories like Sailor's are all too common in the justice system. You might dismiss them as rare, but you could probably do a Google News search every week and find a newly-unearthed example or two.
It's easy to dismiss stories like Sailor's with a cavalier attitude. We convince ourselves that, while he may not have been guilty of that crime, he had to have been guilty of something to be close enough to the heat where police could pin it on him.
Never mind there are countless cases of mistaken identity that end with horrific convictions and years-long stays in a state penitentiary. This type of attitude is not one that belongs in a civilized society. If you're innocent of a crime, you should not be doing the time. And if you are doing the time, that means someone else is getting away with something.
With six offices in 5 counties, Doc's Bail Bonds serves the following areas, including but not limited to Dallas, Denton, McKinney, Bonham, Garland, Sherman, Allen, Frisco, Richardson, Carrollton, Irving, Mesquite, Farmers Branch, Flower Mound, Lewisville, The Colony, Dallas County, Fannin County, Denton County, Collin County, and Grayson County.
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