If you have a loved who has been arrested and is in jail the first thing you want to determine is whether or not you want to bail the individual out. I’ve had some clients or parents of a child or a spouse or a loved one who’s loved one has recently been arrested and is in jail, and frankly, it’s a sigh of relief for them. Because they know that now given the lifestyle that this person was leading out on the street, they’re not safe, and they can do no more harm to themselves.

So sometimes the decision will be made to not bail the person out, let them stay in there for a while. Or perhaps they need if they’re a drug addict or have alcohol or drug problems maybe they need a period there that’s a force sobriety and then contemplate getting them out and into a program. The other thing to do simultaneously is to consult with a lawyer.

And if you have limited funds, you’re going to have to make a decision on whether you want to put your money behind a lawyer to defend your loved one or whether you want to spend your limited resources on bailing them out. Another possibility is to have a lawyer go in and ask for a bail reduction to see if there’s a possibility to reduce the amount of bail so that you can afford both to bail the person out and to hire competent counsel.