Magistrate Judges in Fort Bend County (the people who set the amount of bond and who assign bond conditions) have become especially punitive in imposing oppressive bond conditions over the last few years. Bond conditions are pesky things that, while out on bond during the pendency of your case or cases, you must affirmatively do or not do. Often, bond conditions create a situation in which a Defendant, though presumed innocent under the United States Constitution as well as the Texas Constitution, is treated as if he or she is guilty from the get-go and must be punished immediately.
Common bond conditions imposed by Magistrate Judges in Fort Bend County include:
- remain within Fort Bend County and contiguous counties,
- submit to random drug and alcohol testing (at your expense),
- only drive if you have an interlock ignition device installed on your vehicle (very common in Fort Bend County DWI cases),
- submit to satellite monitoring (at your great expense), which tells your pretrial services officer where you are at any given moment,
- refrain from speaking with codefendants,
- no contact at all with the complainant and the family members of the complainant (very common in Assault & Harassment cases),
- remain a certain distance from where the complainant lives or goes to school (very common in Assault & Harassment cases),
- remain a certain distance from places children commonly gather (very common in Sexual Assault cases), and
- meet in person with a pretrial services officer at least once a month
- pay $40.00 per month to pretrial services (a cash cow for pretrial services – they love taking your money).
This list is not exclusive. The Magistrate Judge can apply any bond condition he or she thinks will make it more likely that you will show up for court or that is in the interest of the community being protected while you are out on bond. Unfortunately, Magistrate Judges in Fort Bend County have taken this power too far and now routinely impose bond conditions, especially on DWI, Assault Family Violence and all felony charges, that result in you
- being kicked out of your house,
- being prohibited from contacting your significant other, even though that may not be what your significant other desires,
- losing your job because you cannot comply with the daily hassle of being on call for random drug and alcohol testing,
- having to pay hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars, to ensure that any satellite monitor condition is complied with, and
- losing your job because of geographical restrictions.
This list too is not exclusive. The ways in which bond conditions can ruin your life are innumerable.
At my law firm, I know how to draft, file, set, and argue an application for writ of habeas corpus, which is the legal instrument whereby your bond conditions can be removed or modified. I can usually obtain a hearing on these matters within two weeks or less, and I have been successful in removing even the most onerous bond conditions in the appropriate cases.
If you are out on bond for a case or cases and you feel, even though you are innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, like you are unfairly already on probation because you have been languishing under unfair bond conditions, contact me today so that I can attack any unreasonably oppressive bond condition.