A person charged with a crime in another state can be arrested across state lines and transported back to that state. Surrendering with a lawyer is done with the goal of minimizing the amount of time spent in jail. Below are answers to common questions about out-of-state charges, arrests across state lines, and how a surrender is handled.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I am being charged with a crime in another state?
If you’re being charged with a crime in another state and you are not in custody, then you need to make arrangements to surrender yourself.
The best possible situation is to have a lawyer representing you. If you’re in South Carolina and you think you’re going to be arrested in another state, contact us and we can refer you to a lawyer in that state and help you make sure that the surrender goes as well as possible.
The goal of a surrender is to minimize the amount of time that you spend behind bars. The way that’s done is: if we’re surrendering you here in South Carolina, what we do is we contact the court, we contact the prosecutor, we contact the police officers, and the victim’s advocates office (which is an arm of the prosecutor in the jail).
That way, if there’s an alleged victim involved, we go ahead and start the notice process, because once you’re in jail you cannot have a bond hearing unless the alleged victim has been notified. That could be a property crime, it could be an assault, it could be anything that you’re accused of.
There are certain steps that must be taken to keep you from spending the night in jail. Sometimes people may spend, say, 36 hours in jail on a case, that if we do the surrender, the jail time is reduced to about 4 hours. And our major goal is to make sure that you do not spend the night in jail.
So, we arrange our surrenders early, at 7:00 in the morning, and have people out, usually, by 11:00am. If you think you’re in this situation, contact us at the Complete Legal Defense Team, arrange a consultation, and we can show you how you can make this as good as it can get in terms of the consequences and effects it has on you.
Can I be arrested across state lines?
People often ask if they can be arrested across state lines. The answer is: yes. One state can arrest you and transport you back to the other state. So, it happens frequently. It usually applies to felony-level cases, but there are other cases where a misdemeanor could possibly be extradited. What happens is, a person is arrested in one state and then is transported back to another state.
It’s very close to the idea of the fugitive warrant or governor’s warrants, the same type of concept. If a person is arrested, there are steps that can be taken for the person to be released. So, if there is a warrant for you in another state, you need to realize that you can be arrested in your home state, and you certainly want to avoid that.
You want to turn yourself in and surrender, with a lawyer, with a bond hearing being set up to minimize the amount of time in jail. Many times, we surrender people and they’re in jail about four hours. The other side of that is that other times people are arrested without lawyers, without surrendering themselves, and they may be in custody for weeks; they could be in jail literally for weeks before they’re released.
So, it’s very important. If you think that applies to you, contact the Complete Legal Defense Team and we can explain to you how to properly handle that procedure.
Why Choose Greg McCollum for a Charge in South Carolina
Facing a criminal charge from another state can be stressful, and the steps taken early can affect how the process unfolds. Greg McCollum brings approximately 30 years of experience to criminal defense in South Carolina, and as a former prosecutor, he understands how the other side of the courtroom approaches a case. The Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team can talk with you about your situation and the options that may be available.
If you have questions about being charged with a crime in another state, call the Greg McCollum Complete Legal Defense Team at (843) 626-5480. Consultations are confidential.