If you check out San Bernardino County’s bail schedule, you’ll be looking at up-to-date guidelines for how much bail can be set for various felony and misdemeanor charges. However, they are still just guidelines. You could look through the bail amounts set for different charges and do the math, but that still wouldn’t guarantee that you’ve figured out the amount that has to be paid in order to bail someone out of jail. A magistrate can still decide to change the amount of bail to whatever they feel is appropriate, or they can deny bail altogether, depending on the case.
When there is an arraignment hearing, judicial officers will hear from both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer (if applicable), looking at the case and the defendant’s history as a whole before determining bail accordingly, and they can do so outside of what the bail guidelines have set forth.
So how is bail determined in San Bernardino County? Depending on the case, bail can be:
- Preset and included in the arrest warrant;
- Determined by calling a magistrate to decide on the amount;
- Set at the arraignment hearing; or
- Determined by following the official bail schedule.
How Bail Amounts Are Decided for Felony Charges in San Bernardino County
If bail is set for a felony charge according to San Bernardino County’s bail schedule, instead of by a judge or magistrate, one simply has to look up the alleged offense in the bail schedule to find out how much it will cost to spring someone out of jail.
Before getting into specific charges, a felony charge that carries a maximum sentence of:
- 3 years in county jail or state prison would carry a $30,000 bail amount;
- 4 years in prison could mean $40,000 bail, at increments of $10,000 per additional year, up to a 15-year max sentence;
- 15 years in prison often means $150,000 bail;
- 16 years or more could mean $500,000 bail;
- Life in prison would usually mean $1 million bail; and
- Life without parole, or capital punishment, would mean no bail.
In general, violent felonies often carry a $100,000 bail amount, while a violent felony with a potential life sentence would mean $1 million for bail. Serious felonies that count as strike offenses often carry a $50,000 bail amount.
Some specific bail amounts for felonies in San Bernardino County include:
- Involuntary manslaughter - $50,000 bail
- Child endangerment with injury - $50,000 bail
- Domestic violence with injury to a cohabitant or spouse - $50,000 bail
- Domestic violence with injury to a cohabitant or spouse and with a prior - $75,000 bail
- Felony stalking - $150,000 bail
- Felony stalking with a prior - $300,000 bail
When someone is charged with a serious felony or a violent felony, or if they make a threat of violence, they cannot be released on bail, on their own recognizance (OR), or released at all until they have had a hearing with a judge. Bail will not get set any earlier in the process.
In cases where multiple counts or charges are involved, this can involve additional calculations.
San Bernardino Bail Amounts When Multiple Charges Are Involved
If someone was accused of committing a robbery, got pulled over for a fix-it ticket, and during the traffic stop was accused of resisting a police officer, the accused would be looking at separate counts of robbery and resisting a police officer. This could mean tallying up the bail amounts for each count ($100,000 for robbery and $10,000 for resisting a police officer), and this would mean that the full amount that has to be paid for bail will be $110,000. This is because each of the charges are separate alleged crimes, which occurred at different times.
If, however, someone is facing multiple counts in one case, then the highest bail amount is the only one that would need to be paid. An example of this could be someone who was arrested on a DUI charge in a crash where someone was seriously injured. The bail amount for a first-time DUI is $10,000, but bail for DUI causing injury is $250,000. Bail in this case would be set at $250,000, not $260,000.
This is because all those charges are related to the same event, or are said to have happened at the same time to the same victim. The only exception to this way of calculating bail would be if every single count involved is a violent felony. When every count is a serious or violent felony, then each bail amount would have to be paid.
Again, these amounts only apply in cases where the San Bernardino County bail schedule is followed. In other cases, a magistrate may look at a defendant’s criminal record and determine that they are a flight risk, and deny them bail altogether. In other instances, they may use their discretion to determine that the defendant can be released on their own recognizance, that is, without paying bail.
What Are Enhancements That Can Add to the Bail Guidelines?
If a defendant has a prior strike conviction on their record, the bail enhancement would be $50,000, meaning that this enhancement amount would have to be added to whatever the bail amount is for the current criminal charge. A second prior strike conviction would mean that the defendant would be hit with another $50,000 enhancement, a $100,000 total addition to bail. However, this is true if and only if the current charge that this defendant faces is not another strike but is instead a non-violent charge. If the defendant with two or more prior strike convictions on their record faces yet another serious or violent felony charge, then this could mean bail will be $1 million.
Some other enhancements that would add to the bail amount in San Bernardino County include:
- A charge that includes the use of a deadly weapon, which could mean a $50,000 enhancement to bail.
- If great bodily injury is inflicted, this could be a $100,000 enhancement.
- If the charge was leveled against someone who was out on bail, this would mean an enhancement of $250,000.
In other cases, an arresting officer might be able to request an increase in bail from a magistrate. If a magistrate approves this petition within eight hours, bail can be raised accordingly.
How Are Bail Amounts Decided for Misdemeanors in San Bernardino County?
There are specific bail guidelines for some misdemeanors, but barring these specific charges and amounts, bail is often not set for misdemeanors. However, if someone is facing multiple misdemeanor charges, this can mean that multiple amounts of bail would have to be added up and paid before the defendant can be released from jail.
If the bail amount is going to diverge from the guidelines for misdemeanors, then a hearing is required to order that changed amount.
Some examples of misdemeanor bail amounts in San Bernardino County include:
- Vehicular manslaughter - $25,000 bail
- Spousal battery - $25,000 bail
- Misdemeanor stalking - $50,000 bail
- DUI with no priors and no injuries - $10,000 bail
- 2nd DUI with no injuries - $20,000 bail
- 3rd DUI - $100,000 bail
- Violation of misdemeanor probation: $25,000
If someone was charged with even a misdemeanor or a non-violent crime while on probation for a felony, it can be safe to assume that there will be no bail set in this case (though a court order could still allow for a bail amount).
In fact, in many cases, the bail guidelines for San Bernardino County can be disregarded by the officials involved in the case. This can mean that someone could be released without paying bail after all, or a magistrate could set bail well beyond what the guidelines set forth. Whatever your situation is that has you searching for bail amounts, a licensed bail bondsman in San Bernardino can help you get specific answers.
If you have questions about bail being set and paid for a loved one who was arrested in San Bernardino County, don’t hesitate to contact Dan's Bail Bonds. Our phone lines are open 24/7—we can help you any time of day or night.