Montmorency County Jail Inmate Bail & Bonds

Check Montmorency County Inmate Search first. Montmorency stopped running its own jail after the commissioners voted to close it and send inmates to Alpena. News reports from 2021 describe the plan but do not confirm a move date, so the safe plan is to assume the person is at the Alpena County Jail.

If the search shows nothing, the booking may be only minutes old. Wait a short while and look again. For a question the search cannot answer, call the Alpena desk at 989-354-9830 and pick option 4 for Corrections.

Alpena County lists its Sheriff's Office at 4900 M-32 West, Alpena, MI 49707. Its page says the front desk is staffed Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and that bonds may be posted there "at any time." Call 989-354-9830 before you drive if it is evening or a weekend.

Bring a photo ID, the full legal name, and the bond amount shown on the record.

The Alpena County page lists cash, a debit or credit card through the JailATM website, and an approved bondsman when the bond type allows one. Cash carries a $2 transaction fee. A card costs $2.50 or 10 percent, whichever is greater. A booking costs $12, and an arrest on a warrant adds $10.

Those fees are charged by the jail, and they are not part of the bond. Ask the desk for the total before you pay.

PR means the person may leave on a written promise to appear. If the charge involves drugs or alcohol, the jail waits until the person is sober. NO BOND means a judge has not set an amount yet, or has refused one. CASH ONLY must be paid in cash. A 10% bond lets you pay the stated percentage in cash or use an approved bondsman. CASH/SURETY allows a bondsman to post it.

The Alpena page asks families not to call just to ask about a NO BOND entry, so look at Montmorency County Inmate Search for updates.

It depends on whose name is on the paperwork. Alpena says money paid in the inmate's name goes toward that person's fines and costs, and you do not get it back. Money paid in your own name, with the third-party depositor section signed, comes back after the court process ends. If the person misses court, it is forfeited.

The state court rule says a cash bond put up by the defendant is used first for fines, costs and assessments. A bond posted by someone else is returned unless the person skips court. Keep the receipt.

The 88th District Court sits in Atlanta at 12265 M-32, P.O. Box 789, Atlanta, MI 49709. Call 989-785-8035 for hearing dates and for the clerk. Misdemeanors and the first steps of a felony begin there.

Felony trials move on to the circuit court. Alpena County lists the 26th Circuit Court at 989-354-9573, and the court at the Atlanta number can tell you where your case is.

Michigan does not have one state license for bail bond agents. The Department of Insurance and Financial Services licenses them only as insurance producers, and each court decides for itself which agents it approves. For this area, Alpena County says the approved list is posted on the 26th Circuit Court resources page. The court administrator's office is at 720 W. Chisholm Street, Suite 1, Alpena, and the 26th Circuit Court answers at 989-354-9573.

No fee percentage for bondsmen was found in state law, so ask any agent for the price in writing and read the contract before you sign.

Yes, but only in narrow cases. The Michigan Constitution lets a judge deny bail before trial for murder, treason, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, armed robbery, or kidnapping for ransom, when the proof is strong. It also covers a person charged with a violent felony who has two earlier violent felony convictions, or who is on probation, parole or bail for a violent felony.

If bail is denied, the trial must start within 90 days unless the defense caused the delay. A probation hold or a warrant from another place can also keep someone in custody.

Michigan law says without unnecessary delay. A person arrested without a warrant generally cannot be held longer than 48 hours without a judge deciding there was cause for the arrest. Arraignment may be done by video, which matters when the jail is in Alpena and the court is in Atlanta.

At the arraignment the judge picks release on a promise, conditions, or money bail. Ask the district court at 989-785-8035 for the date.

Michigan's court rule allows real property if the court agrees and the owner proves its value and ownership. Whether it must lie inside Montmorency County, or can be out of state, is not stated on any court page. Call the district court at 989-785-8035 and ask before you pay for an appraisal or a title search.

Since October 2021 a person under 18 cannot be held in an adult jail unless completely kept apart from adults. The Montmorency juvenile detention center was not named on any county page.

Call the 88th District Court at 989-785-8035 or the 26th Circuit Court at 989-354-9573 and ask where the young person is and when the hearing is. A juvenile will not appear on the adult search.

Each Michigan county runs its indigent defense system under the state Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. A judge asks about a lawyer at the first hearing, and you fill out a form on your income. No Montmorency public defender office number was posted, so ask the clerk at 989-785-8035. The state commission answers at 517-657-3066 and can name the county plan.

The judge can issue a warrant and order the bond forfeited. A bondsman is told within 7 days, and gets a hearing date to show why judgment should not be entered for the full bond. The person has 28 days after notice to surrender before judgment may be entered against the bond.

Call a lawyer and the clerk right away. If the person is picked up within a year, the court can undo a forfeiture when justice has not been harmed and the county is repaid its costs.

Nobody at the sheriff's desk or the court takes gift cards, crypto, or a wire to a stranger. Hang up on a rushed call and dial 989-354-9830 or 989-785-8035 yourself.