For Detroiters, helping a loved one who has been arrested can be a confusing and complex process. 

Finding information about why they’ve been arrested, the offenses they’ve been charged with and who will represent them in court can involve contacting multiple departments. 

Related:

• What happens when a court officer comes knocking during an eviction?

Why are they being detained? When will they be released? How much will it cost to bail them out? 

Here are some resources on what to know and where to start:

Locating your loved one

The first step when someone is incarcerated is to figure out where they are being held. In Detroit, that can depend on the age of the person. The Detroit Police Department houses people 17 or older at the Detroit Detention Center in Detroit. 

Per the Detroit Police Department’s website, detainees are held for no longer than 72 hours before they are arraigned in the 36th District Court or 34th District Court, which are located at the following addresses: 

• 36th District Court: 421 Madison Street, Detroit, MI 48226 Phone: 313-965-2200
• 34th District Court: 11129 Wayne Road, Romulus, MI, 48174 Phone: 734-941-4462 

About three years ago, the 3rd Circuit Court took over all weekend and holiday arraignments.

For adult detainees who can’t remember a phone number, DPD will allow the use of their cell phone to find a number when they arrive at the Detroit Detention Center. For minors, arresting officers will contact the parents or guardians and notify the desk supervisor of who they called and when.  

Determining case status

When someone is arrested, a bystander can question why an arrest is being made, but police officers aren’t required to respond, said Rubina Mustafa, senior staff attorney at the Detroit Justice Center. At that moment, she said, it’s fine to ask the officers simple questions about why the arrest is being made or where the subject will be held, but don’t push back too hard.

“To ask questions is fine. Demanding answers isn’t going to really get you anywhere. And, potentially, this is where they use resisting or obstructing charges against people,” Mustafa said. 

The Detroit Police Department confirmed that civilians who interfere with an arrest could be arrested for resisting and obstructing, felonious assault against a police officer or assault and battery, depending on the circumstances.

To view charges filed against someone in custody, Mustafa suggested the Wayne County Sheriff’s website. The information can also be obtained by contacting the criminal division of the district court (313-965-2200 for 36th District Court and 734-941-4462 for 34th District Court). 

The arrestee will learn about the charges filed against them at an arraignment, which is generally held in district court, said Robin Dillard-Russaw, director of the Indigent Defense Services Department. At that point, they will be paired with an arraignment attorney, which is required during the proceeding, Dillard-Russaw said.

Adults detained for misdemeanors can request a court-appointed attorney to handle their case, Dillard-Russaw said. For felonies, adults head to circuit court and are paired with another attorney, in addition to the arraignment attorney, to manage their case, she explained.

The Neighborhood Defender Service is another resource to connect with an attorney representing a loved one if the nonprofit is handling the case, said Kristine Longstreet, managing director of the nonprofit. The Neighborhood Defender Service is a vendor contracted with Wayne County to handle 35% of felony cases, Dilliard-Russaw said. 

Here’s how Detroiters can contact both entities:

• Neighborhood Defender Service: 1333 Brewery Park, Suite 350, Detroit, MI 48207 313-474-3200
• The IDSD declined to share its address with BridgeDetroit, because it “is not accessible to the general public.” However, the public can call the following number for general inquiries: 313-202-7103. 

Attorneys can speak generally about the status of a case, but can’t share every detail due to attorney-client privilege, Dillard-Russaw said. 

Posting bail

At the arraignment, defendants will find out whether they can be released on a personal bond, Mustafa said. Personal bond, formally known as releasing someone on their own recognizance, means detainees must pay money if they fail to show up to court as promised. There’s no money required to be released, but a cash bond would be required later if they don’t come to court. Depending on the circumstances, the court could also set a cash bond amount, which must be paid by someone else, such as a friend, relative or a bail bond agency, or the person could be transferred to a treatment, evaluation or medical facility, Mustafa explained. 

What can become a headache for families, she said, is not only coming up with the funds to post bail but also determining where else their loved ones might have outstanding arrest warrants.

If, for example, someone is arrested in Detroit and has warrants in Dearborn and Warren, their loved ones can post a bond in the city of Detroit, but the police department will give the other departments several days to pick up the person for the other outstanding warrants, Mustafa said. Per state law, someone who’s been arrested instead of being issued an appearance ticket must be charged by the prosecutor or released no later than 3 p.m. the following day when arraignments can take place. 

“Unless the family wants to post bond in Detroit and then post the bond in Dearborn and post the bond in Warren … they’d have to go to all three different jurisdictions to make sure they’ve posted the appropriate amount of bond for all of those cases, and then they can be released from custody,” Mustafa said. 

If a person is in custody in one jurisdiction, has warrants in other areas and someone else pays those bonds, the courts will set an arraignment or pre-trial hearing for the detainee, Mustafa says. 

The amount of time it takes to transport an arrestee from the Detroit Detention Center to a suburban department where they have an outstanding warrant depends on the seriousness of the alleged offense and the individual’s warrant status, according to the Detroit Police Department.

Mustafa also warned of another surprising hurdle to bailing someone out: cash. Some courts accept credit cards and take payments online, but others only take in-person cash payments for bail, she said. The Detroit Police Department confirmed that it only accepts cash payments for posting bonds.

Retrieving property

Longstreet said locating and retrieving   an impounded vehicle following an arrest “is not necessarily an easy task.” In addition to providing counsel for Wayne County court cases, the Neighborhood Defender Service provides defendants with social workers, investigators and administrators to help with mental health care, communications with landlords, retrieving items like birth certificates, identification cards, car seats and other possessions from their vehicles if they can’t afford impound fees, Longstreet said.  Towing charges can vary from $125 to $300, plus additional fees of $15 to $20 per day, depending on the weight of the vehicle, the Detroit Police Department noted.

Here are the addresses for the Detroit Police Department’s tow lots:

• 11631 Mt. Elliot Court, Detroit, MI 48212 
• 10750 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, MI 48204
• 9425 Grinnell, Detroit, MI 48213

After detainees are released from the Detroit Detention Center, the Detroit Police Department will return their personal property as long as it isn’t evidence of a crime, the agency said in a statement.