Arrested in Mesa? What Happens Next

What happens after a Mesa Police arrest depends first on the charge. The city describes the Mesa Police holding facility as a processing center run by the department's own detention officers, and its web page sorts the people brought there into two groups: those held on City of Mesa misdemeanor charges, and everyone else.

Someone booked on a city misdemeanor stays at the facility until a Mesa Municipal Court judge holds the initial appearance, and those hearings take place every morning, holidays included. Relatives can follow a weekday session on screens at the 1st Avenue courthouse; Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holiday sessions are shown in the lobby of police headquarters. The court's in-custody flyer adds that private attorneys may attend the weekend and holiday sessions, and it gives the holding facility's number, 480-644-2323, for instructions on joining virtually.

Felonies, and charges belonging to other courts or agencies, take a different route. Those arrestees are processed in Mesa and then transported to ITR, the Sheriff's Intake, Transfer and Release facility in Phoenix, where the county's initial appearance court sits every day of the year. The Sheriff's Office notes that Mesa holds its own initial appearances on city charges, so someone sent on to ITR is generally facing a case the County Attorney or another court will decide.

Whichever path applies, the first hearing has to come within 24 hours of the arrest under Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 4.1. At a county initial appearance, the Sheriff's Office says, the judge tells the person what is alleged, explains the right to counsel and appoints a lawyer when the person cannot afford one, sets release conditions and gives a next court date, usually in a justice court or Superior Court. The same page points out that the County Attorney has not yet looked at or accepted the case at that stage.

The release decision follows a statute. Under A.R.S. § 13-3967, a person charged with a bailable offense is released on their own recognizance or on bail in an amount the judge sets, after the judge considers factors such as the victim's views, the nature of the offense, the weight of the evidence, family ties, employment, prior record and history of showing up for court. Conditions can restrict travel, contact, alcohol or weapons, or add supervision, and a lawyer who can describe a job, children at home and a stable address gives the judge something to weigh.

On a felony, the right to counsel attaches, and the initial appearance judge appoints a lawyer for someone who cannot pay for one. Mesa Municipal Court works on a narrower rule. Its public defender page says appointment waits until the first appearance, depends on the judge's view of whether the case qualifies, and turns on the person's finances.

Avoiding jail is not the same as avoiding a conviction. Someone desperate to get out may want to resolve a city charge at the first chance, but a guilty or no contest plea still ends in a conviction, and its background check, licensing, firearm and immigration consequences can outlast any time in custody.