Yes. But, you can also have it raised by the judge.
In a Cincinnati or Hamilton County Felony case, bail is typically looked at three times by three different judges. First, a municipal court judge will set the bail at the initial appearance. Second, the common pleas magistrate will review it at the felony arraignment. Finally, the trial judge who will preside over the case may also review it.
Under Ohio Criminal Rule 46(E), the judge may, at any time, order additional or different types, amounts, or conditions of bail. This is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you can have your bail reduced at any time in the proceedings. Even if the judge denies the motion, there is nothing preventing it from being brought up again.
On the other hand, the judge can also raise your bail. This can happen if the charges are more serious than they first appeared. If you have a prior record that the judge who set your bail was not aware of, or any number of factors.
One of the worst things that can happen, is you are out on bail and ask the judge to lower it or change it to OR (own recognizance) and the judge decides instead to raise it! This results in you being locked up when earlier that day you were out!
I believe that if bail has been set, and you’ve been able to post it, then leave it alone! Don’t ask to have it reduced since you always run the risk of the judge reevaluating the bail and increasing it to a point where you cannot post it.
If you need first-rate criminal defense representation in Cincinnati, give Suhre & Associates a call at 513-333-0014 – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year – and we’ll take a few minutes and answer your questions and see if we can help.
