If you are the type of person who wonders if it’s at all bad to violate a direct court order, then being in an institution under constant supervision might not be the worst thing that can happen in your life. Don’t ever do it, even slightly, even if you think nobody would notice. Call your lawyer. They will tell you the same thing. Courts are not known for humor and are never lenient to people who make their job harder.
Your bail agreement is a court document. You have said something under oath. Breaking that will always be terrible for you, and more often than not, it will be worse than the original issue you had with the law. Don’t end up for months in jail if it all started with a $100 fine, please!
The consequences range from minor, where you will just lose some of the privileges you had. Take note that this happens for people in enough good social standing to have privileges in the first place; wonder if you are one of them because most of us aren’t.
Then, there is the most common consequence, which is the annulment of your bail agreement and throwing you back to jail to await trial. This is annoying and usually causes a spiraling effect where you also lose your job and have other problems, but it is not the worst thing that can happen.
Finally, there is being held in contempt of court for violating bail, which otherwise only happens if you flee from your trial. In those cases, not only could you be left in jail until your court date, but even if exonerated, you can return to jail to serve the contempt charge.
How to Violate Your Bond Conditions?
Most breaches of bail have everything to do with the person not taking the terms seriously and thinking that they know better than the court. Others happen because the accused doesn’t know how to communicate with the court or the bail bondsman. This doesn’t mean being respectful, which is expected in polite society, but rather answering the phone.
Such a negative approach usually leads people to make small mistakes that would be brought to court and make them violate their bail agreement. This is why every single lawyer and every single legal professional will tell you to follow it to the letter.
Money Bonds
These are hard to breach, but they still happen. In most cases, the payment of the 10% you need to give to the bail bondsman just bounced, and you need to pay it in another way again. It’s always best to just bring cash, as that would solve everything immediately with the least amount of paperwork.
If you have a signed bond, your co-signer might have also revoked their signature, in which case, if you answer your phone or email, you will have enough time to bring a different co-signer.
Curfews
As any girl-dad will tell you, 10:15 is not the same as 10:00. A court curfew is not optional, and if you have an anklet, it will be triggered for even a minute. Also, if the curfew says you need to be in your residence after a certain time, that doesn’t mean a different residence, or your parent’s house, or a friend’s.
If you are only allowed to go to work, take out Starbucks on the work break, not on the way there or back. Follow the letter.
Sobriety
Technically, this means not to get drunk, so you would think that one drink would be okay? Right? Wrong!
If you get reported, and an officer comes and tests you, it’s always best to have 0.0 alcohol content. Those who have received a sobriety restriction are presumed alcoholics, unfortunately, so you shouldn’t give the court any viable reason to revoke your bail.
Travel Restrictions
You will notice in the bail agreement with the court, which has some travel restrictions, that there is no “unless.” So you can’t leave town for just a bit, just to see a friend, and you’ll be back.
If you are under house arrest, it will explicitly say where the end of your allowed domain is, usually to the bound of your property. This means no crossing the street to see the neighbors. It might seem negligible, but it’s all the same for your agreement.
No-Contact Orders
There are too many people who believe that sending social media messages and iMessages is not contacting because you are not calling. A no-contact order means no communication with that person whatsoever – no message, no email, no phone call, no letter in a bottle for all it’s worth.
Horrible Legal Record
Your current judge will be familiar with your case. He will hear the facts and allow you bail because of your otherwise clean record. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.
But, if you have on your record that you have violated the terms of the bail, even if you weren’t held in contempt or returned to jail, it will look horrible for any other altercation with the law you might have in the future.
A future judge will know nothing else about you but that you have violated your bail before. And in those cases, even if they allow you bail at all, it will be underway on worse terms than you would get otherwise.
Slap on the Wrist
If you officially violate your bond conditions and that is recorded by the court, the best thing you can hope for is just stricter bail conditions. More money, a tighter curfew, or giving your phone to the court can all be considered slaps on the wrist.
The best thing about them is that they also don’t have long-term consequences, so you can just reflect on how you breached your bail terms and ensure you don’t do it in the future.
Back in the Hole
By far, the most common result, as well as one coming at you instantly, is getting back to jail. This will be recorded and have lasting consequences, not to mention being disruptive to your life and livelihood.
It may not be terrible if your court date was close, but you should still appeal it and see if the violation can be expunged and removed from your record. It would be cheaper and easier if you never find yourself in such a situation, but once you’re there, you’ll need to play with the cards you’ve been given.