A Douglas County judge on Wednesday refused to reduce bond for a woman charged with killing two highway workers and injuring a third in a hit-and-run incident south of Lawrence last year.

During her first appearance in district court on charges of reckless second-degree murder and aggravated battery, Ramona I. Morgan, 48, told Judge Jean Shepherd that she wanted to get out of jail so she could take care of personal business and be with her daughter, who is living in Lawrence.

Assistant District Attorney Brenda Clary opposed the bond reduction, noting that Morgan had sold her home in Washington state and was only passing through Douglas County on Sept. 11, 2007, when the two highway workers were killed. Morgan has no strong ties to the community even though her daughter lives here, Clary said.

Shepherd agreed and left Morgan’s bond at $200,000.

Morgan will return to court today for the setting of a preliminary hearing during which prosecutors will present evidence against her.

Morgan was arrested last year after a pickup truck drove past a flagger at a one-lane restricted construction zone on U.S. Highway 59 south of Lawrence. The highway workers were then hit.