Ask why; always ask why

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
April 20, 2010

Last night a driver in Woodstock was arrested on a DUI charge, and his family was told that his bail would be $1,328, because of a prior DUI. The family called me about 8:15AM.

The bond was calculated this way:

$ 300 (10% of standard $3,000 bond)
$ 28 sheriff's fee
$1,000 additional bail due to prior DUI

The problem? The driver claimed he had never had a prior DUI.

I called the Jail for the family and learned that a slight identification error had occurred originally, with the result that incorrect information about the required bail was given out. I was told that his bail would be $128.

I notified the family and they headed over to bail him out. Then I realized that the correct bail ought to be $328, and I called the jail back for confirmation. At that time I learned that the family was already there with the bail, but there is an Immigration hold on him.

So it goes from bad to worse. Apparently, his application to I.C.E. for documented status was accepted and he was just waiting to be notified to pick up his approved registration.

Will he now become a "guest" of I.C.E. for $90.00/day in the immigration wing at the Jail? And for how long?

If it turns out that his application status is valid and that he is legally in this country, pending approval of his application, what disruption in his life will occur as the result of initial confusion about an alleged prior DUI or an Immigration hold?

Let's hope that MCSD has an inside track with I.C.E. and that they don't have to call an agent in the Chicago Field Office of I.C.E. and wait days for an agent not to bother to call back. I can just imagine that a pending application for anything is stuck in a pigeon hole on someone's desk.