District Court
BAIL FORFEITURE PROCEDURE
Certain kinds of cases can be processed without trial. For these cases, instead of having a hearing, you can choose to "forfeit bail". By this procedure, you do not have to admit guilt, but you will agree to pay the amount designated as "BAIL", and forfeit (let the Court keep) the bail. This is called "posting and forfeiting bail". This signifies that you are willing to pay the bail amount as a penalty for the offense without admitting guilt. A record of the bail forfeiture may, however, be made a part of your driving or other record and may serve as basis for increasing penalties for repeated violations.
If you wish to use this procedure, when your case is called, come forward and tell the Judge you wish to post and forfeit bail. If you use this procedure, you will not have a hearing, and your case will be completed when you have paid the bail and it is forfeited. THE COURT WILL NOT DEVIATE FROM THE ESTABLISHED BAIL SCHEDULE FOR YOUR OFFENSE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ASK TO HAVE THE BAIL AMOUNT REQUIRED "LOWERED".
Not all cases can be completed by the "bail forfeiture" procedure. Only two categories of cases qualify for this procedure. They are listed below:
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NON-MANDATORY CASES. For this type of case, the bail amount will ordinarily have been written in the space on the citation (ticket) form called "penalty/bail". If your citation shows a dollar amount, you can pay that amount to the clerk under the procedure outlined above, and you will not have to appear further on the case, and the case will be completed.
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MANDATORY CASES. Even though the term "MANDATORY" has been written on your citation, certain types of cases may be resolved using the "bail forfeiture" procedure outlined above, if this is your first charge of the type listed. Bail forfeiture for these cases will only be allowed if you meet certain other requirements. This type of case and the bail and additional requirements are:
SPECIAL NOTE: IF A WARRANT HAS BEEN ISSUED ON ANY CHARGE BECAUSE YOU FAILED TO APPEAR AS ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED, THE STANDARD BAIL AMOUNT WILL BE INCREASED $25 FOR THE FIRST WARRANT AND $50 FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT WARRANT ISSUED.
IN NO CASE ARE YOU REQUIRED TO USE THE "POST AND FORFEIT" PROCEDURE. YOU MAY ALWAYS HAVE A HEARING ON THE CHARGE ON A PLEA OF EITHER "GUILTY" OR "NOT GUILTY". If such a hearing is held, and if you are convicted, the Court will sentence you without regard to the established bail amount, and the amount of penalty assessed following such hearing may be more or may be less than the established bail amount.