The Iowa Supreme Court has established a uniform bond schedule to provide for the release of a defendant charged with a non-forcible felony prior to an initial appearance if court is not in session. The uniform bond schedule is also sometimes used by defense lawyers to argue that a bond is unreasonably high—and that it thus serves as a uniform benchmark for bonds at initial appearance or a bond review hearing. Judges are free to set reasonable bonds that depart from this schedule in Iowa criminal cases and, indeed, bonds must not be excessive pursuant to Article I Section 17 of the Iowa Constitution. This uniform bond schedule does not mean this will be the exact amount of your bond during your prosecution as bond may vary.

The uniform bond schedule is available at the website for the Iowa Supreme Court here and is as follows:

"Violation of §124.401(1)(a) & (b) (class "B" felony charge for manufacture or delivery of certain controlled substances, counterfeit substances, or substitute substances, including heroin, cocaine, and meth)—$100,000.

Violation of §124.401(1)(c) (class "C" felony charge for the above type crimes)—$50,000

Other class "B" felony—$25,000

Other class "C" felony—$10,000

Class "D" felony—$5,000

Aggravated misdemeanor—$2,000

Serious misdemeanor—$1,000

Simple misdemeanor (non-scheduled violation)—$300

Scheduled violations—amount established in State of Iowa Compendium of Scheduled Violations and Scheduled Fines"

If you or a loved one has been arrested for a crime in Iowa, contact David A. Cmelik Law PLC at 319-389-1889 or https://www.daclawfirm.com for a free initial consultation. However, remember that a blog is not legal advice and that sending unsolicited information to an attorney over the Internet does not establish an attorney-client relationship.