Reader’s Question:

We are trying to find out all the options that we have to help release a friend of mine from jail after being arrested for DUI in Houston, Texas. Aside from posting a bond, is there any other way that she can be released?

Amber

Houston, TX

Aside from posting bond, your friend who has been arrested for DUI in Houston, Texas could be released through a pretrial release program or through ROR or Release on own Recognizance. In a pretrial release program, the magistrate judge who your friend appeared before within 24 hours of her DUI arrest could choose to monitor her release. This would require her to report to some kind of a probation officer who works for the Department of Corrections. There would be some restrictions such as confining her to the county in which she was arrested and/or surrounding counties. Restrictions could also include the disallowing of any alcohol or narcotics. A more restrictive pretrial release could require that she wear an electronic monitor. Violating the terms of her release could result in her having jail time until such time as her DUI case is disposed.

Under ROR or Release on own Recognizance, the judge may find at the magistrate hearing that your friend is not a flight risk nor a threat to the community, and therefore choose to release her outright without the requirement of posting a bond or the restrictions of adhering to a pretrial release program.