The latest trend in Bexar County courts is to put people on House Arrest. Sometimes, people are restricted from going home because they cannot go back to the location of the crime. Judges put difficult conditions in place and people going through the hardest time in their lives find themselves dealing with a situation they don’t understand. Sometimes, the accused has to ask a pre-trial services officer for permission to go to work, to the grocery store, or to the doctor’s office. When you call your court-appointed attorney for help, they don’t return your call and you feel powerless and hopeless. Staying in this spot can be costly to your mental health, and you can find yourself self-destructing. You need a plan and a strategy to get the best result for your case and to minimize the consequences while you wait for your case to be finished.
PRE-TRIAL vs. PROBATION
There are two ways people who are accused of a crime are put on house arrest. The first is when they get arrested and make a bond. These folks are supervised by Bexar County Pre-Trial. After a bond is made they are given conditions. These conditions can include drug testing, reporting, or having no contact with other people who may be involved in the case. The second occurs when the accused accepts a plea bargain and is given a form of deferred adjudication or probation (now it’s called community supervision). When someone is on probation they make a deal with the judge. Sometimes, that deal includes spending time in jail or prison and sometimes people can avoid these options by choosing house arrest. Whether you are on House Arrest as a condition of pre-trial or a condition of probation an attorney can help you navigate these situations. Sometimes people become so frustrated with their situation that they cut their monitor off. Before you do this, give your lawyer a call.
FULL vs. PARTIAL HOUSE ARREST
There are three kinds of house arrest experienced by people accused of crime in San Antonio, Texas.
- Full house arrest. You have to ask for permission each time you leave the house. Many times, your pre-trial officer does not call you back and you miss scheduled doctor’s appointments, childcare duties, or work events.
- Partial house arrest. Partial house arrest allows you to do certain things but you have to inform your pre-trial officer in advance of anything you plan to do. This kind of house arrest prohibits people from working jobs like Door Dash or Uber. You can go to and from work and back home. You have to ask permission to change your plans and if you work in multiple locations you have to provide a schedule to the officer so they can be aware of where you are going to be.
- Tracking only house arrest. This is where the pre-trial officer only keeps track of your whereabouts without restricting when and where you go. If the GPS can’t be removed changing it to this will allow you to live your life with as little restriction as possible.
GETTING YOUR MONITOR REMOVED
There is no good reason to keep people on monitors while they await trial on their criminal cases. Many times, the State uses the monitor to force people to plead guilty. As their frustration mounts the pressure to plead guilty increases. Many times, your attorney can petition the court to remove your monitor, and if it can’t be removed, it can be modified to a less restrictive form of house arrest.
HOW HIRING A LAWYER CAN HELP
Being on house arrest sucks. There is no getting around it. When you are placed on GPS house arrest in Bexar County the only way to change your circumstances is for a lawyer to convince the judge to change the GPS restrictions. At The Locke Law Group we have a great deal of experience working with District Court and Court and County Court judges on removing GPS devices and changing the conditions so that our clients can live their lives as fully as possible while we position you for a successful outcome.