ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Earlier this week, the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of two different men on bail jumping charges, saying they failed to show up at court appearances.

New York State Bail Reform guidelines have changed over the past several years, limiting the number and types of crimes where a judge can set bail. Livingston County Sheriff Thomas Doughtery says those changes are prompting his investigators to take some extra steps.

“We will continue to utilize all existing tools within the law to bring suspects to justice. These
bail jumping sections you are seeing us charge over the last several months allow the judge to set bail. It is obviously more work on our members, but we will continue to work within the law to make Livingston County as safe as possible and hold suspects accountable for their crimes against victims,” Sheriff Dougherty stated in the announcement of the arrests.

According to Sheriff Dougherty, too many people charged with crimes are being released on an appearance ticket, or if they are arraigned, the judge is required by law to set them free. These same suspects often commit the same offenses repeatedly.

“There’s no skin in the game,” Sheriff Dougherty told News 8. “There’s no money being held that makes them come back.”

One example Sheriff Dougherty used was in petit larceny, saying someone could commit petit larceny several times and still not show up in court.

“If we are being proactive and using everything under the law, including bail jumping to hold these people who are accused of crimes accountable to the court, where they at least have to go and answer to it, and a judge can determine if they’re guilty or not,” Sheriff Dougherty said. “They have to answer to that charge and not just sit back and say Yeah, it’s okay. We know they’re not coming back to court, and we’re not going to do anything about it.“

Sheriff Dougherty says it does add more thorough work for investigators.

“There’s no doubt our investigators are putting a lot of time in to follow back up with courts and say, Did this person come back? If they did not? Does it fit the criteria to have a bail jumping charge?” Dougherty said. “It primarily is on to our criminal investigators to follow up with these charges and hopes that our victims are feeling heard.

Dougherty says that after looking at more significant charges, especially those that involve victims, they decided to go through the bail jumping classifications.

So, what is “bail jumping?”

Under the New York Penal Law, failure for an individual to appear for a court appearance on their criminal case can result in additional criminal charges for them. These charges are called New York bail jumping. Under New York Law, there are three different degrees of bail jumping.

New York Penal Law Section 215.55 (New York Bail Jumping in the Third-Degree):

• By court order he has been released from custody or allowed to remain at liberty, either upon bail or upon his own recognizance
• Upon condition that he will subsequently appear personally in connection with a criminal action or proceeding, and
• When he does not appear personally on the required date or voluntarily within thirty days thereafter.

Bail Jumping in the Third Degree is defined as a Class “A” misdemeanor. The charge is punishable by up to one year in jail, probation, conditional discharge (with the sentencing court determining what the conditions are – such as community service), unconditional discharge (no conditions imposed by the sentencing court), or time served (even if time served is minimal, like a few hours)

New York Penal Law Section 215.56 (New York Bail Jumping in the Second-Degree):

• By court order he has been released from custody or allowed to remain at liberty, either upon bail or upon his own recognizance,
• Upon condition that he will subsequently appear personally in connection with a charge against him of committing a felony, and
• When he does not appear personally on the required date or voluntarily within thirty days thereafter.

This charge, according to the New York Penal Law, is different from bail jumping in the third degree in that bail jumping in the second degree requires that the offense that the individual does not appear in court on is a felony. New York Bail Jumping in the third degree applies to all cases, not just felonies.

Bail Jumping in the Second Degree is a Class “E” felony, according to the New York Penal Law, and is punishable by indeterminate sentence up to one-and-a-third to four years in prison, a determinate sentence of up to one year in prison, a split sentence (up to six months jail, rest of the time on probation,) probation, conditional discharge (with conditions set by the court), unconditional discharge (no conditions set by the court)

New York Penal Law Section 215.57 (New York Bail Jumping in the First Degree):

• By court order he has been released from custody or allowed to remain at liberty, either upon bail or upon his own recognizance,
• Upon condition that he will subsequently appear personally in connection with an indictment pending against him which charges him with the commission of a class A or class B felony, and
• When he does not appear personally on the required date or voluntarily within thirty days thereafter.

Unlike the other bail jumping charges, New York Bail Jumping in the First Degree only applies to missed court appearances for Class “A” or Class “B” Felonies. Under New York Penal Law, Bail jumping in the First Degree is a Class “D” Non-violent felony and is punishable by up to two-and-one-thirds to seven years in prison, a determinate sentence of one year or less, a split sentence (up to six months jail, rest of the time on probation,) or probation.

“If you don’t do it, I think the long term is think about if you reported a crime that you felt vulnerable about, and you felt like, I’m going to do the right thing. But then you feel unprotected, because that person is arrested, released and now is out roaming,” Sheriff Dougherty said. “You don’t know if you’re safe or you’re not safe. I would think the next time you think about reporting a crime, you might say, Well, why do it? There was no accountability for that person.“

Sheriff Dougherty says he already sees positive effects in utilizing bail jumping. In Governor Kathy Hochul’s recent State of the State address, she mentioned the least restrictive means that play into bail.

“If that leeway is going to be given in Hochul’s new budget, and give judges more discretion, that’s certainly a great thing for public safety,” Sheriff Dougherty said.