For this tutorial we will walk you through providing jail support for people arrested at a political demonstration in Seattle, WA. Aspects of this write up can be used in other scenarios as well though. The information here is current as of the writing, but jail policies are subject to change really at any time. And as always, we are not lawyers and we are not offering legal advice.
Scenario: There is a demonstration in downtown Seattle and you witness a total of 6 arrests. You know 3 of the people arrested and have their legal names because they filled out an arrest will before hand. The other 3 are people you don’t know and don’t have the legal names of.
Arrest Will: A document that is filled out before a possible arrestable scenario like a demo or protest. The document is held off-site from the action and helps guide the people doing support about the arrested persons needs and wants. They include (but are not limited to) -Legal Name on your ID, important medical info including any any DAILY life saving meds, the contact of who to call if you are in jail past a certain point (Boss, Partner, Teacher etc.) whether you want to be bailed out, and under what circumstances? any needs to be taken care of at home (Pets, car moved, etc.)? The contact of who can make decisions for you if you are unreachable?
At the end of the demo, the 6 people arrested are transported by SPD away from the scene to be processed. When they are booked into jail they will eventually show up in the Jail Inmate Lookup Service online database. There is a specific guide for using JILS. The process of being booked and showing up in the database can take several hours, and the time will lengthen depending on the chaos of an arrest situation. Additionally, there are some scenarios where someone will not show up in JILS:
- If someone requires emergency medical care due to an arrest, often they are taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, and then the jail – they will not appear in the online database while receiving medical care at Harborview.
- Catch and Release: Sometimes arrestees are first transported to the closest police precinct and held there, then released without being booked.
Of the 3 people whose names you do know, and can easily look up in JILS you see that 2 are being held on misdemeanors, and one is being held on a felony. The 2 people with misdemeanors are each being held on $500 bail. In King County bail at the misdemeanor level is set automatically in $500 increments based on the offense. It is very common for people charged with misdemeanor offenses to be released from the jail overnight on Personal Recognizance (PR).
Personal Recognizance (PR) is when someone is interviewed in the jail by a third-party “PR screener” to ascertain if they are either a “flight risk” or present a “danger” to the community.
If someone is released on PR they do NOT need to pay bail to be released that night and they will receive a court summons in the mail for their next court date. This not a complete certainty, and there is no guarantee on a timeframe. What this does mean however is that it is often unnecessary to post bail for someone who has been arrested for a misdemeanor crime – they are often released from jail without bail within a manner of hours. The only way to be made aware of this happening is a combination of watching the online database, and sitting outside the jail in a jail-support capacity. The jail roster will often initially show a bail amount for misdemeanor arrests, which will later change to PR. The process for arrestees to get screened for PR can happen quickly after booking but can also take several hours.
If someone has been arrested and the police are accusing them of a felony, they will be held in the jail under an Investigative Hold (INV), in this scenario they can not be bailed out until they see a judge who sets bail- usually the next day. Those arrested Monday through Friday will typically see a judge the next day, as long as the arrest occurred before midnight. Those arrested on Saturday will have court on Monday. The maximum amount of time they can be held without seeing a judge is 48 hours. Typically when they have their first court date, the district court judge will either release them on PR or set a bail amount.
