General Question

[jadewtch]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin

Hi, I'm just looking for some general information on state laws for a story I'm writing. If anyone can help me out It would be greatly appreciated. Also, if it matters, the time frame is about 30 years ago.

I'll start with the easy stuff

1.) How long can somone be held in jail without a lawyer?
2.) What's the max sentence for tresspassing? destruction of property?
3.) What's the difference between the county Sherriff and City Police? (ie. is the Sherriff an elected office?)
4.) Who do you call if your "problem" goes out of your city/county/area (besides ghostbusters)

Thanks for any help you can give, I know I'm totally ignorant. Even if someone could point me to a good website that would be great. I'm just writing fiction, so it will be inaccurate anyway. I just want to make sure I know what I'm talking about before I mess it up

...::grumble:: I know I'll hit "submit" and realize I forgot something...

[mlane58]

If we assist, do we get a cut of the profits?

[amelia21]

This is the answers to your questions in Texas, and probably isn't too different in your state.
You can be held for 72 hours without anything being done, then, depending on the crime you are released with a court date, or a bond is set. You can either pay the bond, hire your own lawer, or have one appointed. To have one appointed, you have to be pretty poor, or you will be told to hire one even if it means selling everything you own.
The max jail time for tresspassing is 180 days, and for destruction of property, it depends on the dollar amount of the damage, usually no more then one year.
In Texas, not only is the Sherriff an elected official, his jurisdiction is the county he runs which is outside of any city limits, and within those city limits at the request of the city police. So, in Dallas County there are lots of cities. The Sherriff's Dept. patrols everything in the county that is not is a city unless asked. City police have jurisdiction within the city they work.
The department with jurisdiction of an offense is the city where the offense originated. If someone takes your stuff from your home and goes to the next state, your city would have jurisdiction.
Hope this helps a little