At arraignment, a judge can release a person accused of a crime on their own recognizance (ROR), release them to pretrial supervision (supervised release), set bail, or remand them to jail custody.

Although bail is most commonly set for people charged with violent felonies, it can also be set for people charged with some misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. When bail is set, most people cannot afford to pay it and remain in jail. Note that this table excludes cases where nominal bail is set (defined as less than $500). Nominal bail is often set when the person is held on a concurrent case based on another charge, parole violation, or warrant. The judge sets bail so that the person will receive credit toward time served on the current charge.

The bench warrant issuance rate is the rate at which people released pretrial miss at least one court appearance. The bench warrant issuance rate, however, is an imperfect measure of “failure to appear” because a single missed court date is not indicative of an attempt to “flee.” Additionally, the bench warrant issuance rate does not account for people who had a bench warrant issued but later returned to court of their own volition.

Vera calculated the rearrest rate by identifying the number of people who were arrested for a new charge (within six months of arraignment) while they were released pretrial on the original charge. This rate is based on arrests, not disposition, so it includes people whose new charges are dismissed or disposed of at arraignment.