Elk County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

1. Phone 620-374-2108 to confirm the booking, learn the charge and hear whether bond has been set.
2. Find out which payment types Howard takes and when the window is staffed.
3. Note the case number and the first court date.
4. If you plan to use a bondsman, remember that a paid surety needs written approval from the 13th Judicial District's chief judge in El Dorado to write bonds here (K.S.A. 22-2809b). Ask the company to show that approval.

Bond comes from the 13th Judicial District bench serving Butler, Elk and Greenwood counties. Elk has its own magistrate judge seated in Howard. By K.S.A. 22-2901, an arrested person goes before a magistrate promptly after booking, where the judge reads the charge, sets release terms and asks about a lawyer.

K.S.A. 22-2802 lets the judge pick from:

• recognizance: a signed promise, no money up front;
• cash: the full amount, held by the court;
• surety: a bail agent posts it and keeps a fee you never get back;
• property: real estate pledged, with a sworn statement of its value and what is owed;
• deposit: 10 percent of a bond of $2,500 or less, only for defendants the statute allows.

Call 620-374-2108 first. The sheriff's office at 100 N. Cedar Street, Howard, KS 67349 (mail: P.O. Box 127) takes bond for people in its jail. On weekdays the district court clerk in the courthouse at 127 N. Pine (620-374-2370) can explain the written bond order. If the person was moved to another county's jail, ask where that jail wants the money. Money for snacks and phone time is different from bond; see our money guide and commissary page. Calls from the jail are covered on our phone page.

Expect some of these:

• no contact with the alleged victim, which Kansas sets at 72 hours or more for crimes against a person;
• no new charges, alcohol or illegal drugs;
• check-ins with court services;
• staying in Kansas unless the court allows travel;
• a drug or alcohol evaluation on felony cases.

Breaking a condition can bring a new warrant and the loss of the bond.

Each amount is the judge's call; the jail at 620-374-2108 can read it to you once set. As a rough guide, city tickets and traffic cases carry small bonds or a signature bond. DUI and petty theft run a bit higher. Felony burglary and drug-sale bonds tend to run into the thousands, and violent felonies higher still. Kansas also sets a floor of $50,000 cash or surety for a charge of making a controlled substance unless the judge finds a reason to go lower. For the actual figure, call 620-374-2108.

Yes, by asking. A person still locked up because the terms are out of reach may have a lawyer file a motion in the Elk County District Court. If money is the problem, a lawyer may be appointed through the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense (contact list, 785-296-6631).

Once the case ends and every court date was kept, a cash bond is released. The court may first take out fines, court costs or restitution. A missed court date leads to forfeiture and a warrant (K.S.A. 22-2807). A bondsman's premium stays with the bondsman.

• Elk County District Court, Elk County Courthouse, 127 N. Pine, P.O. Box 306, Howard, KS 67349; 620-374-2370.
• A city ticket stays in that town's own court; its city office keeps the docket.

Charges from Howard, Moline or anywhere else in Elk County are filed with the federal court's Kansas City office, where the clerk is at 500 State Ave., Room 259, Kansas City, KS 66101, 913-735-2200. Release is decided by a U.S. magistrate judge, and a county bond does not cover it. Immigration custody can be checked on the ICE detainee locator.

Yes. Paying the Kansas bond leaves an ICE Form I-247A detainer in place, and the Howard jail may then keep the person "up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released" (8 CFR 287.7(d)). After pickup, ICE may move the person to the Chase County Jail in Cottonwood Falls (620-273-6313) or another site. Search the ICE detainee locator, and see our inmate search help.