When prisoner may be committed to jail, or let to bail.
Section 542
SEC. 542. When prisoner may be committed to jail, or let to bail. — When the prisoner is confined or detained in a legal manner, on a charge of having committed a crime or offense which is bailable, the judge or court shall, in his or its discretion, recommit him to confinement, or "let him to bail;" if he be let to bail, the judge shall cause him to enter into a recognizance, with sufficient surety, in such a sum as he deems reasonable—the circumstances of the prisoner, and the nature of the offense charged, considered—conditioned for his appearance at the court where the offense is properly cognizable; the judge shall certify his proceedings, together with the recognizance, forthwith to the proper court; and if the person charged fail to enter into such recognizance, he shall be committed to prison by the judge.