Montana § 46-9-206 - Setting Bail -- Appearance Or Use Of Two-Way Electronic Audio-Video Communication

§ 46-9-206. Setting Bail -- Appearance Or Use Of Two-Way Electronic Audio-Video Communication

Setting bail -- appearance or use of two-way electronic audio-video communication. The requirement that a defendant be taken before a judge for setting of bail may, in the discretion of the court, be satisfied either by the defendant's physical appearance before the court or by two-way electronic audio-video communication. The audio-video communication must operate so that the defendant and the judge can see each other simultaneously and converse with each other, so that the defendant and the defendant's counsel, if any, can communicate privately, and so that the defendant and the defendant's counsel are both physically present in the same place during the two-way electronic audio-video communication. The defendant may waive the requirement that the defendant's counsel be in the defendant's physical presence during the two-way electronic audio-video communication. A judge may order a defendant's physical appearance in court for the hearing of an application for admission to bail.