Expert: Robin Sexton - 6/20/2009

Question
in the state of louisiana from the time of the arrest and bond posted, how long by law do the courts have to bring yo in front of the judge to plea? is it 150 days or 180 days?on an arrest for a drug charge after bonded out of jail, is there a time fram to bring you before the judge?   thank you in advance

Answer
Glenn,

I am sorry i wont be able to be specific on your questions.  Every state has different laws on criminal procedure with lots of variables.  However i am very confused by what is going on.  Normally if a person is arrested and post bond they are given a hearing date. Normally 10-30 days, especially after being in jail.  This step is called arraignment.  After arraignment then the time frame really fluctuates because of court calendars, attorney schedules etc. A year in some cases is not uncommon.  So in most courts that i am familiar with you should have been arraigned already with court hearing scheduled or attorneys appointed.  One thing you may want to consider is that you missed a court date, accidentally and there could be a warrant out.  If this is a serious drug matter contact and attorney to check into things for you. If it is minor call the court yourself and see what is going on.

Hope this helped

robin