Quick answer: After an arrest in Montgomery County, a defendant is first brought before a District Court Commissioner — typically at the county’s Central Processing Unit in Rockville, which operates around the clock — who decides whether to release the person and on what terms. If the commissioner denies release, sets bail the defendant can’t afford, or isn’t legally authorized to grant release at all for certain serious charges, the defendant has the right to a bail review hearing before an actual District Court judge, usually within a day or two. At that hearing, the judge independently weighs the offense, the defendant’s record, flight risk, community ties, safety, and any release plan, and can impose anything from release on personal recognizance to a secured money bond — or deny release altogether.
What Happens After Someone Is Arrested?
In Montgomery County, most people arrested on criminal charges are brought to the Central Processing Unit (CPU) at the Montgomery County Detention Center, 1307 Seven Locks Road in Rockville. The CPU operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, specifically so that the first step in the process — an appearance before a District Court Commissioner — doesn’t have to wait for regular business hours.
A commissioner isn’t a judge. Commissioners are trained court employees, not necessarily attorneys, who staff this initial-appearance role around the clock precisely because arrests happen at all hours. At this initial appearance, the commissioner determines whether probable cause supports the charges, informs the defendant of the charges and the allowable penalties, and decides the terms of pretrial release — release on personal recognizance, release with bail, or continued detention. Since the Maryland Court of Appeals’ 2013 decision in DeWolfe v. Richmond, an indigent defendant has a state constitutional right to counsel — provided by the Office of the Public Defender if necessary — even at this early commissioner stage, not just at later court hearings. Our guide to how the Rockville District Court handles criminal cases covers what happens once a case formally moves into the court system after this initial stage.
For certain more serious charges, Maryland law goes further and takes the release decision out of the commissioner’s hands entirely. Under Md. Code, Criminal Procedure § 5-202, a commissioner cannot authorize release for a defendant charged with:
- Escape from a correctional facility or other place of confinement;
- Certain “drug kingpin” charges;
- A crime of violence, where the defendant has a prior conviction for a crime of violence;
- Certain enumerated offenses (including arson, burglary, child abuse, weapons offenses, or manslaughter by vehicle) committed while already released pending trial on a similar charge;
- Violating a temporary or final protective order;
- Certain firearms offenses, where the defendant has a prior violent-crime or firearms-offense conviction;
- Being a registered sex offender, or someone required to register, charged with a new qualifying offense; or
- An offense eligible for life imprisonment.
In each of these situations, only a judge — not a commissioner — can authorize release, typically alongside bail and specific conditions, and Maryland law builds in a rebuttable presumption that release would create a flight or safety risk. Practically, this means the commissioner’s appearance can result only in continued detention for these charges, and the case moves directly toward a bail review, since that’s the earliest point at which release becomes legally possible at all.
What Is a Bail Review Hearing?
A bail review hearing is a fresh, independent look at the release decision — this time by an actual District Court judge rather than a commissioner. It isn’t an appeal in the traditional sense of arguing the commissioner made a legal error; the judge simply considers the same underlying question again, with full authority to reach a different conclusion, impose different conditions, or reduce (or increase) a bail amount the commissioner set.
Any defendant held in custody after a commissioner’s determination is generally entitled to have that decision reviewed by a judge, and in Montgomery County this can happen quickly. Because the CPU’s Pretrial Services Unit is equipped to connect by closed-circuit video directly with the District Court, bail reviews can often be conducted this way on business days, without waiting for the defendant to be physically transported to the courthouse. Exact timing can vary with the court’s schedule, but a bail review is typically held within a day or two of the commissioner’s determination. Our Maryland bail bond hearings page covers the broader bail process this fits into, including the different forms a bail bond can take.
What Does the Judge Consider?
Maryland court rules direct the judge to consider a specific set of factors in deciding whether — and under what conditions — to release a defendant, guided by the general principles governing Maryland’s bail system:
- The seriousness of the offense — both the specific charge and the underlying facts alleged.
- Criminal record — prior convictions, and particularly any history of failing to appear for court or violating release conditions in the past.
- Flight risk — how likely the defendant is to appear for future court dates if released.
- Community ties — employment, family, length of residence in the area, and other connections that make someone less likely to flee.
- Safety — whether release would pose a danger to an alleged victim, a witness, or the community generally.
- Release plan — where the defendant would live, how they’d get to court, and what support (employment, treatment, a responsible third party) would be in place if released.
No single factor is automatically decisive; the judge weighs all of them together, and the weight given to each can shift significantly depending on the charge and the individual’s circumstances.
What Release Conditions Can the Court Impose?
If the judge decides release is appropriate, Maryland law favors the least restrictive conditions that still reasonably address flight risk and safety concerns. Depending on the case, that can include:
- Release on recognizance (ROR) — release with a promise to appear, no payment required.
- Unsecured bond — a bail amount is set, but no payment is required up front; the full amount becomes due only if the defendant fails to appear or violates a condition.
- Secured (cash or property) bond — payment of cash, or posting of property as collateral, is required before release.
- Supervised pretrial release conditions — regular check-ins with a pretrial services agency, drug or alcohol testing, electronic or GPS monitoring, or home detention.
- Case-specific restrictions — no-contact orders with an alleged victim or witness, surrender of firearms, travel restrictions, or other conditions tailored to the facts of the case.
A judge can combine several of these — for example, a secured bond alongside a no-contact order and regular check-ins — rather than choosing just one.
Can Family Members Attend?
Generally, yes. Bail review hearings are public proceedings, and family members are typically welcome to be present, whether the hearing takes place in the courtroom itself or the defendant appears by closed-circuit video from the detention center while family and counsel appear in person at the courthouse. Family presence can matter for more than moral support: a defense attorney can call on a family member to testify or otherwise support the case for release — for instance, confirming that the defendant has stable housing available, a job to return to, or a relative willing to serve as a responsible third party during pretrial release.
What Information Can a Defense Attorney Present?
This is often where a bail review hearing is won or lost. A defense attorney can proffer — meaning describe to the court, backed by documentation where possible — information the commissioner may never have had, including:
- Verified employment, housing, and length of time in the community.
- Family support, including a relative or friend willing to serve as a custodian or ensure court appearances.
- Enrollment in, or a plan to begin, substance abuse or mental health treatment, when relevant to the case.
- Corrections to the defendant’s criminal history, if the record the commissioner relied on was incomplete or inaccurate.
- Context about the alleged offense itself — challenging the strength of the evidence or the way the charge has been characterized — to argue that the risk the state is describing is overstated.
- A concrete release plan addressing exactly how the court’s safety and flight-risk concerns would be managed.
Because a bail review is often the defendant’s best — and sometimes only — early opportunity to present this kind of context to an actual judge, having counsel prepared with documentation and specific proposals, rather than general assurances, tends to make a meaningful difference in the outcome.
What Happens if Release Is Denied?
If the judge denies release at the bail review, the defendant remains in custody while the underlying criminal case proceeds — though the case continues to move forward on its own track regardless of custody status, and Maryland’s speedy trial protections still apply. Denial at one bail review isn’t necessarily the final word: a defendant can request a subsequent review if circumstances genuinely change — for example, new information becomes available, a co-defendant’s case resolves in a way that affects the evidence, or a release plan that wasn’t available at the first hearing (such as a confirmed treatment bed or a newly available custodian) becomes available. In more extreme situations involving an unusually prolonged detention or a clear legal error, further relief may be available through a higher court.
Because being held in custody makes it significantly harder to assist in preparing a defense — communicating with an attorney, gathering evidence, or maintaining employment and housing that a future judge may want to see — pursuing every available avenue for release, promptly and with well-prepared documentation, is almost always worth the effort even after an initial denial.
It’s also worth understanding that a bail review isn’t necessarily a one-time event tied to a single hearing date. As a case moves through the Montgomery County court system — additional hearings, new discovery, negotiations with the State’s Attorney’s Office — new opportunities to revisit custody status can arise even without a dramatic change in circumstances. An attorney familiar with how Montgomery County’s District Court and detention facilities actually operate is often better positioned to recognize when the timing and preparation are right to ask again, rather than treating an initial denial as the end of the conversation. Our criminal defense practice page covers how our office handles Montgomery County cases from arrest through resolution, including custody and bail issues that arise well after the first hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long after arrest is someone taken before a commissioner in Montgomery County? Montgomery County’s Central Processing Unit operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, specifically so this initial appearance can happen promptly regardless of when the arrest occurs, rather than waiting for standard court hours.
What’s the difference between the commissioner’s decision and a bail review hearing? A commissioner is a trained court employee, not a judge, who makes the first release decision, often within hours of arrest. A bail review hearing is a subsequent, independent review by an actual District Court judge, who can reach a different conclusion and has broader authority — including in cases where a commissioner isn’t legally permitted to grant release at all.
Can I request a bail review even if I already have a lawyer arguing before the commissioner? Yes. A bail review is a separate proceeding before a judge, distinct from the commissioner’s initial determination, and is available to defendants who remain in custody regardless of what happened at the commissioner stage.
Will I definitely be released if I get a bail review hearing? No. A bail review guarantees a fresh, independent look by a judge — it doesn’t guarantee release. The outcome depends on the offense, the defendant’s record and circumstances, and how effectively the case for release is presented.
Can bail be increased at a bail review, not just reduced? Yes. Because the judge is making an independent determination rather than simply reviewing the commissioner’s decision for errors, it’s technically possible for conditions to become more restrictive, not less — though the more common scenario is a defendant seeking a more favorable outcome than the commissioner provided.
