I was curious about the bail amount and did some research. While the amount of $50,000 seems low to us, it was not an arbitrary amount just for this case. When a District Attorney recommends bail amounts in Harris County for the accused they must abide by the following:
2.3. Application of Bail Schedule by District Attorney
2.3.1. In all cases, the District Attorney shall:
2.3.1.1. follow the bail schedule;
2.3.1.2. provide the District Clerk with a signed order from a judge or judicial officer setting bail at a different amount; or
2.3.1.3. request in writing a higher bond on a form provided for that purpose and attach it to the court’s file.
Source: Harris County Criminal Courts at Law Rules of Court (As amended through February 9, 2017)
www.ccl.hctx.net/att orneys/rules/rules.p df The first section of the aforementioned bail schedule covers the amount we all saw listed. It also covers situations when bail can be increased beyond the normal amounts, such repeat offenders, multiple counts, and in relation to amounts of drugs or stolen property. There is only one situation listed when bail can be set at a Judge's discretion, however, I also could not find any information stating Judges were limited by this schedule, only that it limited District Attorneys.
District Court Bail Schedule
All capital felonies No Bond
All murders not particularly specified below $50,000.00
All first degree felonies not particularly specified below $20,000.00
All second degree felonies not particularly specified below $10,000.00
All felony DWI's not particularly specified below $10,000.00
All third degree felonies not particularly specified below $5,000.00
All fourth degree felonies not particularly specified below $2,000.00
Source:
www.justex.net/Juste xDocuments/0/Distric t%20Court%20Bail%20S chedule_2014.pd The information I presented is limited in scope to a quick review of those two documents from Harris County. If you need more details, please use the source links I provided above and research it further.
