Former Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano has been given back the $25,000 cash bond friends and family came up with last week for his jail bond.

State District Judge Stephen Pfeffer this week granted a bond-reduction motion filed by defense attorney Brooke Gamble, opting to shift Solano's $25,000 cash bond to an unsecured signature bond — meaning Solano owes the money only if he fails to show up for court.

District Attorney Matt Chandler, the Clovis prosecutor handling the case, did not oppose the bond reduction, according to court filings.

Solano was arrested Jan. 19 after being charged with more than 250 counts of embezzlement and one second-degree felony count of fraud for allegedly stealing county property and selling it on eBay. He was incarcerated at the Santa Fe County jail less than three hours after he posted bond.

"Since before Thanksgiving 2010, Defendant has cooperated with the police, retained counsel and offered to turn himself in weeks before the arrest warrant was served," Gamble wrote in her motion granting the bond reduction.

Gamble added that bond should reflect the defendant's past criminal history, whether the crime alleged is a violent offense and whether the defendant is a flight risk. Prosecutors and state police, it would seem, did not deem Solano a flight risk since they did not charge Solano for nearly two months after his public admission to the crime in a Nov. 24 resignation letter.

Gamble also wrote that when Solano learned Chandler had intended to issue an arrest warrant earlier this month, Solano "offered to turn himself in. That request was denied."

"Given the facts in this case, the present bond is unreasonable and unconstitutional," Gamble added.

The initial bond was set by State District Judge Sarah Singleton.

At a Jan. 19 news conference by Chandler to announce Solano's arrest, the prosecutor chose to issue the arrest warrant because that is how all felony cases are handled in his district. "A summons was not an option," Chandler said.

A rule pertaining only to criminal cases handled in District 1 — Santa Fe, Los Alamos and Rio Arriba counties — indicates Chandler's decision to issue an arrest warrant was actually not proper procedure in his handling of an embezzlement case in Santa Fe.

According to Local Rule 1-601 (Indictments and summons): "Upon the filing of an indictment, criminal complaint or criminal information, a summons shall be issued unless, upon the request of the district attorney or attorney general, the court determines a warrant is appropriate."

A request for an arrest warrant was not made by Chandler after filing the criminal complaint against Solano. The Ninth Judicial District, where Chandler normally prosecutes cases, does not have the same local rule as the First District.

Attorneys not involved in the Solano case said there are rarely sanctions for disregarding a local procedural rule.

Chandler has said the Jan. 19 news conference would be his last public comment on the case outside of the courtroom.

As expected, Solano, through another motion filed by Gamble Monday afternoon, waived his arraignment; a date for Solano's probable cause hearing before Pfeffer has not been scheduled. That hearing was scheduled for Feb. 3, but will need to be rescheduled as one of Solano's attorneys — it is unclear if it is Gamble or co-counsel Tom Clark — will be out of state.

Contact Geoff Grammer at 986-3076 or ggrammer@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog at SantaFeCrime.com.