Information about bail bonds in Houston for Class A and B Misdemeanors and Felony arrest and release.
1. Arrest and taken directly to the Harris County Jail
- Already existing open warrant
- A brand new case
2. Arrest and taken to the City of Houston Jail
- Already existing open warrant
- A brand new case
3. Arrest and taken to another municipality within Harris County i.e. small municipalities such as the City of Bellaire, the City of Pasadena, the City of Humble, etc.
- Already existing open warrant
- A brand new case
1. When someone is charged with a Class A or B misdemeanor or a felony and taken directly to the Harris County Jail.
The Harris county jail is one of the largest county jails in the United States. The booking process can take between 2 and 12 hours or longer depending on whether a person is fully booked into jail or partially booked into jail which depends on a variety of circumstances.
a. If the person is arrested on an open warrant and information for bail already exists in the Harris County Justice Information Management System then it may be possible to begin the bonding process before someone is fully booked into the Harris County Jail. The bond can be presented to the Harris County Sheriff’s Bonding Department within 2 hours of arrest and they may accept the bail bond and begin the releasing process. They may however explain that the person is not far enough along in the process of getting in the jail to do this and tell you that you can wait and present the bond again later.
b. If the person is arrested on a brand new case the process to get them out will typically take between 8 and 12 hours or more before you can begin to try and post bail. It typically takes this long for a person to be formally charged with something in Harris County. Once a person has been formally charged a bail bond may be accepted and the time frame for release is between 4 and 18 hours. Therefore, the typical time frame of being booked then released on a new case is between 12 and 24 hours or longer.
Bail bonds in Houston for Class A & B misdemeanors and Felony cases typically range from $500.00 to $50,000.00 or higher.
2. When someone is charged with a Class A or B misdemeanor or a felony and taken to the City of Houston Jail.
a. If the person is arrested on an open warrant and information for bail already exists in the Harris County Justice Information Management System then once the person is booked into the City of Houston Jail (4-5 hours usually) then the process of posting bail can begin.
b. If the person is arrested on a brand new case the process to get them out will typically take between 8 and 12 hours or more before you can begin to try and post bail. It typically takes this long for a person to be formally charged with something in Harris County. Once a person has been formally charged a bail bond may be accepted and the time frame for release is typically between 1 and 5 hours. Therefore, the typical time frame of being booked then released on a new case for someone in the City of Houston Jail for these types of offenses is between 12 and 17 hours or longer.
The process of getting the defendant released from the City of Houston jail for these types of offenses (must) first go through and begin with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department at 49 San Jacinto. This is the Bail Bond Division of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department in downtown Houston. It is possible to obtain a release for the City of Houston and other jails for these types of offenses but the bond (must always) first be taken to 49 San Jacinto.
For example if a person is in the City of Houston Jail at 61 Riesner Street and they are charged with one of these types of offense then that person is being held temporarily at the City Jail. The reason they were taken to the City Jail originally was because they were arrested by the City of Houston Police Department. Anytime a person is arrested by a police officer that officer must take that person directly to the city jail of that particular city police department. Likewise, if a person were arrested by a police officer in the City of Humble or the City of Pasadena then that police officer would have to take the person to their corresponding jail.
There is a distinction between a police officer that is employed by a particular municipality i.e. The City of Houston Police Department, The City of Bellaire Police Department etc. and other officers that patrol Harris County. The Harris County Sheriff’s Department, The Harris County Constables Department, and The State of Texas Department of Public Safety can make arrests within the City of Houston, or The City of Bellaire or any other municipality within Harris County and they will take a person that they have arrested to the Harris County Jail (not to a local city jail).
The arresting officer files a formal complaint with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The complaint is either accepted or denied by the District Attorney. If the complaint is accepted then formal charges are filed and the person arrested will (if being detained in a local city jail) then be transferred to the Harris County Jail; if the charges are denied then the person will be released from custody. The time frame for someone to be formally charged is typically between 8 to 12 hours after arrest, the process can take much longer.
If the person is in the City of Houston Jail and charges have been accepted by the District Attorney that person is put on a list of people to be transferred by van along with others to the Harris County Jail, this list is referred to as (the drag list).There are a few hours during the transfer process once someone has been formally charged wherein the person can be released from the jail that is currently holding that person. And, because the city of Houston has a very large jail and multiple people are transferred periodically throughout each day and it takes time to process all of these people the time frame can be longer or shorter depending upon current jail population.
If you are going to try and get a person released from the City of Houston Jail before they get transferred to the Harris County Jail then the bond is taken first to 49 San Jacinto and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department will call the City Jail and tell them to hold the prisoner at the City Jail. The City Jail will not hold a prisoner for anybody else; they will only hold the prisoner for the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.
3. When someone is charged with a Class A or B misdemeanor or a felony and taken to a municipal jail in Harris County other than the City of Houston municipal jail.
a. If the person is arrested on an open warrant and information for bail already exists in the Harris County Justice Information Management System then once the person is booked into the Jail of the smaller municipality which would include all municipalities in Harris County except the City of Houston the time frame to begin processing them out could be a little as one hour. The smaller municipalities such as the City of Bellaire, the City of Pasadena, the City of Humble, etc. are much smaller and typically have a small jail population so the booking and releasing process can be much quicker than with the Harris County Jail or the City of Houston Jail.
b. If the person is arrested on a brand new case the process to get them out will typically take between 8 and 12 hours or more before you can begin to try and post bail. It typically takes this long for a person to be formally charged with something in Harris County. Once the person has been formally charged the release time to get the person out of jail in a small municipality could be a little as one hour.
If a person is in custody in another smaller local municipality (a local city jail i.e. Bellaire, Pasadena, Humble, Baytown, etc.) then once a charge has been accepted by the District Attorney a police officer from that municipality will transport the prisoner to the Harris County Jail. Many of the smaller municipalities will hold a prisoner if contacted by a bail bond company and the bonding company is certain that they are posting a bail bond to get the person released.
To attempt to get someone released from custody before that person is transferred to the Harris County Jail then you must move quickly after someone is formally charged otherwise they will be transported to the Harris County Jail. Bail Bonds in Houston for Class A and B misdemeanors and felony cases in Houston can be confusing if you have any questions please call Bada Bing Bail Bonds, we are here to help.