September 2011 brought some significant changes to the way the Las Vegas Township Justice Court operates, in the form of an updated, streamlined, and more expensive bail schedule. In cooperation with the city police force, the Justice Court Criminal Process Committee led by Judge Joe Bonaventure devised a simple and clear bail schedule that it says provides many advantages over the old system.
For the past seven years, each individual felony charge has carried its own bail amount, set by the Nevada legislature. The new schedule assigns the same bail to all felonies under each category, with exceptions for some attempted murder, DUI, and Category A charges. One effect of this consolidation has been that the bail amounts for some offenses are now as much as four times higher than they were just a month ago, before the new schedule took effect. While police anticipate that these drastic increases will discourage crime and keep offenders behind bars, it also seems clear that it will be very difficult for some individuals awaiting trial to take care of employment, family, and personal responsibilities because they cannot post bail.
There are a number of ramifications of the new schedule that make it more critical than ever that an individual facing charges enlists the help of an attorney with extensive local experience and personal relationships with the prosecutors and Judges working within the Township Justice Court's jurisdiction. To cite just one example, a lawyer who is able to have the charges reduced from a Category C to a Category D or E felony can lower the bail by half, from $10,000 to $5,000. Often that reduction could be enough to allow the client to get his job and family affairs in order before facing trial.
The largest bail increases are in the area of auto theft charges, and were requested specifically by Las Vegas police officers to help with the city's growing theft problem. Depending on the value of the vehicle in question, bail could be set as high as $20,000. Should a person arrested under these charges trust a discount or court-appointed lawyer to have a handle on these brand new bail requirements? Probably not. A lawyer who has spent years in the Las Vegas area and is familiar with the Township Justice Court's operations, however, brings considerable skills to the table that can help to get bail set at a reasonable level.
