Glossary topic

Bail hearing vocabulary in Spanish and English for court interpreters

A bail hearing is short, fast and full of numbers. Defense counsel argues the defendant's ties to the community and record, the prosecutor argues risk, and the judge sets an amount and a list of conditions. For the interpreter, that means dollar figures, dates of prior cases, and a cluster of terms (fianza, caución, fiador, bajo palabra, incomparecencia) that look alike and are not.

Renditions come from the Washington, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Alabama glossaries. A few terms the exam scripts use but those four glossaries do not list (surety, danger to the community, pretrial services, bail schedule) are taken from the New Jersey and California court glossaries and marked as such.

The moment

The judge opens: "We are on the record in case number CF 2026 4417. This is a hearing on the defendant's motion to reduce bail." Defense counsel speaks in long stretches you must hold in memory: eleven years in the city, full-time work at a landscaping company, sole provider for a wife and two children, no prior felony convictions, a request to reduce bail from $7,500 to $2,000. The prosecutor answers that the defendant failed to appear in a 2023 misdemeanor case and the victim fears for her safety. The judge turns to the defendant and you interpret the warning that if he is released and fails to appear, a warrant will issue and his bail will be forfeited. Bail is reduced to $4,000 with no contact with the alleged victim and surrender of his passport within 48 hours.

English	Spanish	Sources
Bail	fianza AL, CT, WA and WI agree. CT also lists caución.	ALCTWAWI
Bail bond	caución WA. The New Jersey glossary uses escritura de afianzamiento, contrato de fianza for the document itself.	WANJ
Bond (noun)	caución	ALWI
Cash bond	fianza en dinero efectivo CT. AL and WI render full cash bail as fianza completa de dinero en efectivo.	CTALWI
Surety bond	fianza avalada por un fiador / fianza de caución / fianza de garantía	CT
Non-surety bond	fianza de promesa / fianza sin garantía / fianza sin caución	CT
Surety	fiador / garante Not in the WA, CT, WI or AL lists; taken from the New Jersey glossary.	NJ
Bailor	fiador	CT
Post bail	depositar una fianza / poner una fianza	WA
On bail	bajo fianza	CT
Bail schedule	programa de fianza Not in the WA, CT, WI or AL lists; taken from the California glossary.	CA
Bond argument (request to reduce bail)	petición de rebaja de la fianza	CT
Reduce	rebajar / reducir	WA
Own recognizance	bajo palabra WA and the California glossary (OR) agree.	WACA
Released on own recognizance (ROR)	libertad provisional bajo caución juratoria (o bajo palabra o bajo promesa de comparecer) New Jersey glossary. Bajo palabra is the shorter form WA and CA use.	NJ
Personal recognizance	bajo palabra	WA
Promise to appear	promesa de comparecer	CT
Conditions of release	condiciones para ser liberado / condiciones para ser puesto en libertad WA. New Jersey: condiciones de la liberación antes del juicio.	WANJ
Pretrial release	liberación antes del juicio	NJ
Pretrial detention	detención preventiva	NJ
Pretrial services	servicios antes del juicio California. New Jersey: Programa de Servicios antes del Juicio; the officer is agente de servicios antes de juicio.	CANJ
Pretrial report	informe previo al juicio	CT
Danger to the community	peligro para la comunidad (para la sociedad) Not in the WA, CT, WI or AL lists; taken from the New Jersey glossary.	NJ
Endanger	poner en peligro	WA
Criminal record / history	antecedentes penales WA, AL and WI agree.	WAALWI
Conviction	condena / fallo condenatorio AL, WI and CT agree on both forms.	ALWICT
Failure to appear (FTA)	falta de comparecencia / incomparecencia	WACT
Appear (in court)	comparecer (ante el tribunal)	WA
Bail jumping	huir bajo fianza / quebrantar la fianza	WA
Bench warrant	orden judicial de arresto (o) de captura WA. CT: orden de arresto, mandamiento de arresto. New Jersey: orden de busca y captura.	WACTNJ
Arrest warrant	orden de detención / orden de arresto / orden de aprehensión	WA
Forfeit bail	perder la fianza WA. CT renders forfeited bond as fianza decomisada o perdida.	WACT
Forfeiture	decomiso AL, CT and WI agree; CT also lists pérdida.	ALCTWI
Reinstatement of bond	reposición de la fianza	CT
Revoke	revocar	CTWA
Revocation	revocación	WA
Electronic home monitoring	arresto domiciliario electrónico / monitoreo electrónico en el hogar	WA
Electronic monitor	monitor electrónico	CT
House arrest	arresto domiciliario AL, WA and WI agree; WA also lists arraigo domiciliario.	ALWAWI
Curfew	toque de queda / hora obligatoria de llegada	CT
Monitor (verb)	vigilar / monitorear / controlar	WA
Violate	quebrantar / infringir / contravenir	WA
In custody	estar detenido / arrestado	WA
Commit (to jail)	encarcelar / recluir	WA
Booking	ficha policial	WA
Motion	petición / pedimento / moción CT and WA: petición, pedimento. AL and WI add moción.	CTWAALWI
Hearing	audiencia	ALCTWAWI
Indigent	indigente	WA

How raters score these

Bail arguments are where consecutive memory gets tested. Counsel will pack four or five facts into one breath (years in the area, employer, dependents, record, requested amount) and every one of them is a potential scoring unit. Raters check the dollar amounts twice: the current bail and the amount requested. They also listen for the distinction between fianza (the bail itself) and caución or fiador (the bond and the person guaranteeing it), and for incomparecencia rather than a paraphrase when the prosecutor says the defendant failed to appear. Keep the judge's warning about forfeiture formal and complete; dropping "and your bail will be forfeited" is a missed unit even if the arrest warrant part is perfect.

Common questions

What is the difference between fianza and caución?

Fianza is bail, the amount or promise that secures release, and all four core glossaries agree on it. Caución is the bond instrument (Alabama, Wisconsin and Washington). Connecticut accepts caución for bail too, so if you hear it from a Spanish speaker, render it as bail or bond according to context.

How do I interpret released on own recognizance?

Washington and California use bajo palabra. New Jersey spells it out as libertad provisional bajo caución juratoria, with bajo palabra and bajo promesa de comparecer as alternatives. Bajo palabra is short and accepted; use the longer form only if the passage calls for the full legal phrase.

Is flight risk in the official glossaries?

Not in the Washington, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Alabama, New Jersey or California glossaries checked for this page, so no rendition is listed here. Danger to the community is in the New Jersey glossary (peligro para la comunidad). Check your own state's glossary before committing to a form for flight risk.

Why are dollar amounts so important in bail passages?

Numbers are a scoring-unit category on the consortium exam. A bail passage usually contains two or three amounts, and each one is scored on its own. Practice saying US figures in Spanish at speed: siete mil quinientos, cuatro mil, ciento noventa y cinco mil.

Keep going

Sources