DUI Jail Release in Loudon County: A Primer

Most law enforcement offices in Northern Virginia have mandatory DUI arrest policies. If officers have probable cause to believe a driver is impaired, they must arrest that driver and take him/her to jail. The days of “go forth and sin no more” DUI warnings are gone. So, jail release is always part of the DUI defense process. It’s an important part of this process as well. Extended pretrial detention essentially transforms the presumption of innocence into a presumption of guilt.

Because DUI jail release is so important, the job of a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer begins before a DUI or other criminal case officially goes to court. In addition to jail release, attorneys address matters like evidence review and collection. The more time a Loudon criminal defense lawyer has to prepare a response, the better that response will be, and the better the results will be.

What Happens After a DUI Arrest

After law enforcement officers take subjects into custody, they transport them to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Leesburg. At the facility, you may be asked to take a breath or blood test to determine your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). Then you’ll be held until you are sober enough for further processing.

You have a right to refuse this test. However, that refusal may be admissible in court as an implication that the defendant had something to hide. To blunt this conclusion, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer proposes alternative scenarios (e.g. Phil didn’t take the test because he believed it was biased).

Once sober, which usually means a 0.00 portable breath test result, you will be brought before a magistrate. The magistrate evaluates whether you are eligible for release, and under what conditions.

Types of Release After a DUI

Magistrates often release first-time simple DUI arrests on their own recognizance. Defendants promise to appear in court on the scheduled first appearance date without paying bail. Pretrial release conditions, which also apply in bail matters, include avoiding additional trouble with the law and remaining in the state. Failing to comply with release conditions can result in bail revocation and re-arrest.

Jail release in subsequent DUI arrests or aggravated DUI arrests (collision, minor passenger, high BAC, etc.) is more complex. If the magistrate sets a bond amount, you must post bail to get out of jail. These options are:

• Cash bail, or paying the full amount to the detention center, via cash, money order, or cashier’s check, and
• Surety bond, or hiring a bail bondsman who posts the bond for a fee (typically 10-15 percent of the total).

In more serious DUI cases, such as accidents with injury, or if your identity or residence can’t be verified, the magistrate may order you held without bond until a judge reviews your case.

How Much is Bail for a DUI in Loudoun County?

Unlike fixed schedules in some counties, there’s no one set amount for DUI bail in Virginia. A bail amount for a first-time DUI varies, but typical ranges for DUI bail in Virginia are $500 to $2,500 or more depending on the circumstances. These circumstances usually include the defendant’s criminal record and the severity of the charged offense.

If you or your attorney believes the bail is unreasonably high, you can request a bond hearing to ask the general district court for a reduction. At this hearing, the judge considers additional factors to better comply with the Eighth Amendment’s reasonable bail requirement.

Reach Out to a Hard-Hitting Loudoun County Lawyer

There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.

Source:

dcjusticelab.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Mandatory-arrests-by-state.pdf