Bond Court

Ever been to Bond Court at the McHenry County Jail?

I was there this morning to see what I could do to help out a young man who has found himself in hot water.

In order to gain access to the viewing area, one surrenders his ID card to a jail security officer and is given a key and directed to a locker, where everything is to be placed - wallet, keys, everything. I was permitted to take pen and a notepad to the viewing area.

Visitors are escorted to the courtroom viewing area, which is separated from the courtroom by a wall and window. At first I thought the window might be one-way glass, but I later learned that those on the "inside" can see that there are people in the viewing area.

Court is to start at 8:15AM; this morning it started a little earlier. Prisoners are escorted to a seating area off the courtroom but visible to the judge, others in the courtroom and to those in the visitor viewing area. The judge, who did not introduce himself so far as I could tell, opened the proceedings and said rather quickly and without particular emphasis to the prisoners, "You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one may be appointed for you."

Now that got my attention, because I have always heard the rights read as "You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you." He didn't bother with the other Miranda rights; presumably, they were all read to, and consented to by, the prisoners before they were jailed.

There is a big difference between "may" and "will", but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference this morning. The Public Defenders' office won't have to worry about running out of business. They may all die from over-work, but they won't run out of business.

Although it was somewhat difficult to understand the judge through the amplified sound piped into the visitor viewing area, it was impossible to hear what any of the defendants said. There was a microphone on a stand to the side of the podium behind which they stood; it should have been in front of them, so that they spoke into it when answering the judge's questions.

There didn't seem to be much effort given to helping a prisoner figure out how to bond out. He either could or could not afford the bond on his bail.

I wonder how much money the McHenry County Jail (and taxpayers) would save if someone assisted the prisoners in exhausting every means to bond out.

The judge sets the bail and then the prisoner can bond out, if he can come up with 10% of the bail, plus $28 for the jail officers to push a few papers around a desk.

The female prisoners were called first, and then the men were called up individually.

While I was there, I picked up a copy of the Visiting Hours. One particular rule jumped out at me as rather Draconian. "All detainees/inmates eligible for vistation (sic) will receive a thirty (30) minunte (sic) visit each week."

So much for keeping a prisoner connected with society, so that there will be a better chance that, when he is released, he'll stay out. I'm a proponent of rehabilitation and for that, a person must stand connected with family and his community. Thirty minutes out of 168 hours doesn't provide much chance for connectivity.

When I first skimmed the Notice of visiting hours, I blew right past the typos. After looking at it more carefully, I wondered why a Notice distributed by a County office contains typos. This particular version has been in use probably for almost six months, because the visiting hours changed last January 6.

Visitation is misspelled twice as "vistation".
Minute is spelled "minunte".

© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT