In most practice areas, a fuzzy date on an intake note is a nuisance. In criminal defense, it can be a missed appearance. If intake writes down "court sometime next week" and nobody follows up, your attorney finds out the real date when it's already passed.
Court dates and bond details are the two things on a criminal intake call that most need to be right. Here's how to capture them on the first call, and how to check them before they cause trouble.
Why the first call is the best shot
The caller has the information right now. The person in custody just heard it at booking. The family member is holding the bond receipt or the release papers. Tomorrow, that paper is in a drawer, the caller is less reachable and maybe talking to another firm.
So don't treat these as "we'll get it at the consult" items. Get them now, write them down exactly, and mark anything uncertain as uncertain.
The court date fields
"Next Tuesday" isn't a court date. Capture each piece separately:
| Field | What to write | Example note | |---|---|---| | Date | Full date, not a weekday | March 4 | | Time | Exact time if given | 8:30 a.m. | | Court | Name of the court | County court, criminal division | | Location | City, and building if known | Downtown courthouse | | Courtroom | Room or department number | Room 204 | | Type of hearing | What the paperwork calls it | First appearance | | Case number | Exactly as printed | Copy every character | | Source | Where the caller got it | Release papers, read aloud | | Confidence | Confirmed or uncertain | Uncertain, caller from memory |
The last two columns are the ones firms skip, and they matter most. "From paperwork, read aloud" and "the defendant thinks it's the 4th" are very different notes. Your attorney needs to know which one they're looking at.
Ask for the paperwork, every time
Callers remember dates badly when they're scared. Paper is better.
"Do you have any paperwork from the court or the jail? A release form, a citation or a bond receipt? The date is usually printed on it. Can you read it to me exactly?"
"Is there a case number on there? Could you read it one character at a time?"
If they don't have paper, ask how they know the date.
"Who told you that date? Was it the officer, the jail or the judge?"
Then record the answer in the source field. Don't upgrade a guess to a fact.
The bond fields
Bond is where intake notes get vague fast. Rules and terms vary a lot by state and county, so intake's job isn't to interpret anything. It's to record what the caller knows in plain words.
- Status. Not set yet, set, posted, denied, or released without bond. Use "unknown" if the caller doesn't know.
- Amount. Exactly as stated. If there are separate amounts for separate charges, write each one.
- Type, if stated. Write the caller's words or what the paper says. Don't translate it into your own terms.
- Who posted it, if posted. A family member, a bail bond company, the person themselves.
- Conditions, if known. No-contact orders, check-ins, travel limits. Just list what the caller was told.
- Holds. Anything keeping the person in custody besides the bond, like a hold from another county or a probation issue.
"Has a bond been set? Do you know the amount? And has anyone posted it yet?"
"Did they tell you about any conditions, like places he can't go or people he can't contact?"
Conditions matter more than they seem. A family member who doesn't know about a no-contact order can accidentally put the client in violation. Get the details in front of the attorney fast.
When the person is in custody
If you're talking to the person on a jail phone, remind them the line is often recorded and keep them on logistics only. Then collect, in order:
- Name and date of birth.
- Facility and booking number.
- Court date and time, if known.
- Bond status and amount, if known.
- An outside contact who can call you back.
If the call drops after item 4, you still have what matters most. We cover the full flow in how to handle jail calls after hours.
Confirm it before the consult
Whatever intake captured, someone on your team should verify it before the attorney relies on it. Many courts and jails have public online case or inmate lookups. Coverage varies by county, and some are slow to update, but where they exist they're the fastest check.
A simple verification routine:
- [ ] Look up the case number or name in the court's public search, if one exists.
- [ ] Look up custody status and bond in the jail's inmate search, if one exists.
- [ ] Compare to the intake note and fix any mismatch.
- [ ] Change "uncertain" to "confirmed" only after it matches.
- [ ] If a court date is within a few days, flag the lead for the attorney today.
The person doing this check should be named. "Someone will look it up" is how dates get missed.
Put the court date at the top
Don't bury the court date in paragraph three of the intake note. Put it at the top of the lead record, where nobody can miss it. Same with any bond condition that affects contact with other people.
If your CRM lets you sort or filter leads by an upcoming date, use that every morning. A lead with a court date in 48 hours and no booked consult is your most urgent call of the day.
A copy-ready intake block
Paste this into your intake form or notes template:
Court: date / time / court name / courtroom / hearing type / case number / source / confirmed or uncertain
Custody: in custody or released / facility / booking number
Bond: status / amount / type as stated / who posted / conditions / holds
Outside contact: name / relationship / phone
For the rest of the call, pair it with the full list in intake questions for arrest and charge calls.
What intake shouldn't do with this info
Intake records. It doesn't advise. Callers will ask whether the bond is high, whether they should post it, whether they can skip the court date if they hire a lawyer, or whether the judge will lower it.
"Those are good questions for the attorney. What I can do is make sure they have every detail before you talk."
That last part is the real value. An attorney who walks into a consult already knowing the court date, custody status and bond can spend the time on the case instead of collecting paperwork.
Where IntakeGenius fits
Our AI voice agent asks for court and bond details field by field, asks the caller to read from their paperwork, and books the consult before the call ends. The lead lands in IntakeCRM with those details in one place, and the five-touch consult reminders make sure the caller actually shows up. See how we set it up for criminal defense firms.
Want to walk through it with your own intake form? Book a 15-minute demo. We skip the slides.