When a Family Member Is Arrested for Domestic Violence in Michigan

When a relative is arrested for domestic violence in Michigan, the person stays in custody until a judge or district court magistrate arraigns them or sets an interim bond; the police cannot take bond at the station.^[1] What a family can usefully do in the meantime is find out where the person is and which court has the case, help arrange a lawyer and a place to live that complies with the release order, and stay away from anything that looks like contact with the protected person on the defendant's behalf.

If you are the person who was hurt or threatened, or you are afraid for your safety, help is available at any hour. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text "START" to 88788; it is free, confidential and open 24/7.^[9] Michigan's statewide VOICES4 Hotline is 1-855-864-2374, staffed 24/7.^[10][11] In an emergency call 911. See Where to get help in West Michigan.

Step 1: Find out where the person is and which court has the case

1. Call the arresting agency or the county jail. Ask whether the person is in custody, the charge listed at booking, and which court will hold the arraignment. Have the person's full legal name and date of birth ready.
2. Identify the court. The district court handles all misdemeanors, and felonies through the preliminary examination.^[12] Which district court generally depends on where the incident is alleged to have happened; the hub's county pages, such as Kent County and Ottawa County, list them.
3. Ask the court clerk when and how the arraignment will be held. For defendants in custody, the court rules make videoconferencing the preferred mode for district court arraignments.^[13] Ask whether the public can watch and how.
4. If the arrest was in a different county from the alleged offense, the court rule for felony cases requires that the person be promptly transported to the county of the offense or taken without unnecessary delay before the nearest available court.^[14]

If the person arrested is under 18, the case generally belongs in the family division of circuit court rather than adult criminal court.^[15] See Juveniles and domestic violence charges.

Step 2: Understand the hold

Three rules explain why the person was not simply released:

• A person arrested without a warrant for domestic assault may not be released on an interim bond or on recognizance by the police, and is held until arraigned or until a judge or district court magistrate sets an interim bond.^[1] The same applies to an arrest on a warrant where the listed relationship exists.^[16]
• The statute states no number of hours.^[2]
• The general limits still apply: arraignment without unnecessary delay, and after a warrantless arrest, a presumption that a delay of more than 48 hours before a judicial probable cause determination is unreasonable.^[3][17]

More detail is in How long are you held after a domestic violence arrest?

Step 3: Decide carefully about posting bond

At arraignment the court must order the defendant held, released on personal recognizance or an unsecured appearance bond, or released conditionally with or without money bail.^[18] Release on personal recognizance is the starting point unless the court finds it will not reasonably ensure appearance or will present a danger to the public.^[19] So money may not be needed at all.

If the court does require money bail, the rule gives the court two forms to choose from: one lets the defendant choose a surety bond or bail secured by a cash deposit of the full amount or of 10 percent of it, and the other has no 10 percent option.^[20][21] Before you put up money, know two things:

• What comes back. Where a 10 percent deposit is posted for a crime governed by MCL 780.66, the court returns 90 percent of the deposit at the end of the case if the conditions were met, and the entire deposit if the defendant is not convicted of the charged crime.^[22] Money deposited on a bail or bond executed by the defendant is first applied to any fine, costs or statutory assessments imposed, and only the balance is returned.^[21]
• What you risk. If the defendant fails to comply with release conditions, the court may revoke release and declare the bail forfeited, and if the defendant does not surrender within 28 days the court may enter judgment against the defendant and anyone who posted bail for up to the full bail amount plus costs.^[4] If forfeiture is ordered, the court must mail notice of the revocation order to anyone who posted bail or bond.^[21]

If the judge orders an electronic monitoring device, the defendant is released only on agreeing to pay the cost of the device and monitoring or to perform community service instead.^[23]

Step 4: Help with a lawyer

A person charged with a crime who faces possible jail is entitled to an attorney, and if the person cannot afford one the local funding unit must appoint one.^[24] At arraignment the court asks whether the defendant has a lawyer or needs one appointed, and a defendant who needs one fills out a form disclosing financial information.^[25] The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission asks appointed attorneys to visit clients in jail within three business days of appointment.^[24] Appointed counsel is not necessarily free of cost: a defendant found partially indigent can be required to contribute, and a court may impose the expenses of providing legal assistance on a defendant who pleads guilty or no contest or is found guilty.^[26][27]

A family can also hire a lawyer. If you are the one paying:

• When a lawyer has not regularly represented the client, the basis or rate of the fee must be communicated to the client, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after the representation begins.^[28] A lawyer may not charge a contingent fee for defending a criminal case.^[29]
• Paying does not make you the client. A lawyer may accept payment from someone other than the client only if the client consents after consultation, there is no interference with the lawyer's independent professional judgment or the client-lawyer relationship, and the client's information stays protected.^[30] The lawyer must abide by the accused's decisions on the plea, a jury waiver and testifying, and may not knowingly reveal the client's confidences or secrets to you unless the client consents or another exception in the rule applies.^[31][32]
• The State Bar of Michigan has a free online directory and a Lawyer Referral Service at (800) 968-0738.^[33][34]

The two routes are compared in Court-appointed or retained counsel, and a checklist for interviewing a lawyer is in Questions to ask before hiring a defense lawyer.

Step 5: Be careful how you talk with the person in custody

Treat every jail phone call, video visit and letter as something other people may hear or read. The standard for appointed counsel directs lawyers to advise clients not to discuss the circumstances of the arrest or the allegations with cellmates, law enforcement, family or anybody else without counsel present.^[35] Honor that advice from your side of the conversation:

• Do not ask what happened, and stop the person if they start to explain.
• Stick to logistics: the court date, the lawyer's name, where they will stay, who is caring for children or pets, what the employer has been told.
• Do not agree to pass along an apology or any other message. A court may make a no-contact condition effective while the defendant is still in custody, and a release condition can bar contact of any kind with the victim.^[5][6]

Step 6: Prepare for the release conditions

A judge or magistrate who sets an interim bond must consider a no-contact condition, and the court may impose other conditions at arraignment.^[6][36]

Possible condition	What the family can do
No contact with a named person[6]	Do not act as a go-between: carry no messages, apologies, check-ins, child-exchange arrangements or requests about belongings from the defendant to the protected person. If you are in touch with the protected person for your own reasons, keep the defendant and the case out of the conversation.
Stay away from a listed address, which may be the person's own home[36]	Offer or help find a place to stay. Do not drive the person to the address to collect belongings; see Getting your belongings during a no-contact order.
No purchasing or possessing a firearm[37]	If the person will stay in a home where firearms are kept, raise that with the defense lawyer before the person moves in.
No alcohol, testing, or electronic monitoring[36][23]	Do not offer alcohol; help with transportation to testing.
Appear at every court date[19]	Keep a shared calendar and provide rides. The court rule that makes a court wait 48 hours before issuing a bench warrant does not apply to a domestic violence offense as defined in MCL 764.3.[38]

A violation allows arrest without a warrant, and the court may revoke release and forfeit bail.^[39][4] The full list of conditions is in Bond conditions in domestic violence cases.

What not to do, and why

• Do not pressure, plead with or pay the complaining witness. MCL 750.122 says "a person shall not" give or promise anything of value, or use threat or intimidation, to discourage someone from attending or testifying, to influence testimony, or to encourage someone to avoid legal process or withhold testimony.^[7][8] It also bars willfully interfering with a witness's ability to attend or testify.^[40] A violation is a felony punishable by up to 4 years in the basic case, and by up to 15 years if it involves committing or attempting to commit a crime or a threat to kill or injure any person or to cause property damage.^[41]
• Do not coach anyone on what to tell the police. Offering anything of value, or threatening or intimidating a person, to influence a statement to an officer conducting a lawful investigation is a crime.^[42]
• Do not delete or "clean up" the person's phone, accounts or home. Knowingly and intentionally removing, altering, concealing or destroying evidence to be offered in an official proceeding is a felony.^[43]
• Do not post about the case or the complaining witness online. On credible evidence of intimidation by the defendant or at the defendant's direction, the prosecuting attorney may move to revoke bond.^[44]
• Do not assume the case will be dropped. In Michigan the prosecutor decides whether to prosecute and what to charge.^[45]

The statute is explained in Witness tampering and intimidation.

What you can do that helps

• Collect the paperwork: the release order, the notice of the next court date, any bond receipt, and any personal protection order that was served.
• Write down the names and phone numbers of people who saw or heard the events, and give the list to the defense lawyer.
• Gather pay stubs or benefit letters if the person will ask for appointed counsel. Indigency is decided no later than the first appearance in court.^[46]
• Let the person's employer know about an absence without discussing the allegation.
• Arrange care for children and pets in a way that does not involve contact between the defendant and the protected person.
• Read The first 48 hours after an arrest and What to bring to a first meeting with a lawyer with the person once they are released.

If you are also a witness, or the person named as the victim

A relative may also be a witness. If you saw or heard the incident, you may be contacted by the police, the prosecutor or the defense lawyer, and you may be subpoenaed. A person who fails to comply with a properly served subpoena may be held in contempt.^[47] Tell the truth to whoever asks, and do not rehearse your account with the accused.

If you are the person the charge names as the victim, you have rights of your own. In a serious misdemeanor case, which includes domestic assault, the prosecutor must offer you the opportunity to consult before finalizing a plea, dismissal or diversion, unless the defendant already pleaded guilty or no contest at the arraignment.^[48] Within 72 hours of the arrest the investigating agency must give you notice of the availability of pretrial release, the sheriff's phone number, and notice that you may contact the sheriff to find out whether the defendant has been released; in a felony case that notice is due within 24 hours after the arraignment.^[49][50] The Michigan Department of Corrections' MI-VINE service gives automated telephone notifications to registered crime victims and other concerned citizens when a prisoner is released; ask the service whether a particular county jail is covered.^[51] The decision to prosecute is not yours, and the no-contact condition does not bind you, but it does bind the defendant until a judge changes it.^[45][52][53] See If you want the charges dropped and What to expect as a witness.

What happens next

After the arraignment, a misdemeanor case may be set for a pretrial conference, which the district court may order on its own or on a party's motion.^[54] In a felony case the court sets a probable cause conference 7 to 14 days after the arraignment and a preliminary examination 5 to 7 days after that.^[55][56] The stages are laid out in the misdemeanor case timeline and the felony case timeline. Other sources of help for the accused are listed in Resources for people accused of domestic violence.