ROR / Release on Recognizance / Bond / Bail / Probation Warrant / Arrest Warrant / No Bond Hold / Probation Detainer / Surrender / AVVO / Michael A. Haber, Esq. **ARRESTED / **305DUI

That said, and if (“if”) what you say is true, that there is an arrest warrant with an ROR noted on it, then, in my experience, one of 2 things can happen:

1) You can be picked up or surrender at the jail, be booked and, assuming that corrections reads the warrant properly, you will be released on your ROR, or, at worst, when you are brought before a Judge (within 24 hours of booking) then the Judge will honor the ROR and order your release;

2) (And this is what I would do if you were my client and if this case were in Miami-Dade) Rather than going to jail, and before being picked-up, I would physically bring you before the Judge, “surrender” you in open court and ask the Judge to quash the warrant then and there.

Again, relying upon your facts above, if the Judge has already determined that you should be ROR’d then s/he has necessarily determined that you can be trusted to appear as ordered and merely needs for you to address your probation failure, and if your probation failure is merely a monetary and you have completed all other conditions, then the Judge simply needs to question you as to your ability to comply and then determine what, if anything, to do (but if you honestly cannot pay then you cannot be incarcerated – there is no debtor’s prison in the United States).

So, my advise to you is, if you have a lawyer, see #2 above – get this matter placed on calendar ASAP and there’s an excellent chance that you will never see the inside of the jail. If you do not have a lawyer then get one. If you cannot get one then (and this is always dangerous advise to give a civilian, but you are a full-time, well-pregnant, employed mom who is clearly able to think and communicate so….) call the Judge’s Chambers yourself, ask for the Judicial Assistant, and (politely and humbly) ask for the first available court date for you to surrender. (You can read them my answer if it is necessary for you to explain yourself – some JA’s are quick and responsive, others have no patience and are flat out rude… either way you need to be sweet, concerned and patient).

If you have the ability to get a lawyer on this (frankly if you were local, given your circumstances, I’d offer to do this for you pro bono – and I expect that there are plenty o other compassionate attorneys who will help you with this extremely limited and relatively simple task) then do so. Again, although I practice primarily in Miami-Dade County you are welcome to contact my office for a referral or two, or you can search the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers website by locality (please see http://www.facdl.org/ – and click on the “Find A Lawyer” tab).