If you have a vacation coming up, but you or a travel companion of yours is currently out on bail, you will need to make sure that their release terms and court appearances are not going to conflict with the travel plans. Unfortunately, you will need to prioritize the court situation over your vacation, even if it was planned months ago. By doing this, you and your loved ones are showing the court that you are serious about taking care of this important situation, and that you do not want to cause any additional issues or delays.
First, you will need to know if the judge is even allowing the defendant to travel while out on bail. If there are no travel restrictions, then the defendant is free to move forward with their upcoming vacation. However, the judge may impose certain travel restrictions. For example, the defendant may only be allowed to travel within the state, or among certain states. Then there are some defendants who are not allowed to travel at all. These defendants will even be required to hand their passport over to the court.
No matter what travel restrictions there may be, there is one thing that applies equally to all defendants: they must appear for court as scheduled. If the defendant fails to show up for court or is late, their bail falls into jeopardy and the defendant runs the risk of being taken back into custody. This could lead to paying more, and losing any pledged collateral.
For defendants who are allowed to travel and plan to do so, they should let their bail agent, and lawyer, know ahead of time. They will also need to make sure they are back in time for their next court date. If they need to return early, so be it. Traveling is great but if they skip court, they will not get the luxury to travel again for a very long time.
