By Jake Donovan

Jermain Taylor continues to wait out an assortment of criminal trials, but for the first time since being released from prison on bond has been granted permission to stay in his home state of Arkansas.

The troubled former two-time middleweight champion appeared before a Polaski County Circuit Court judge on Monday, where Judge Leon Johnson - who previously set bail at $25,000 for Taylor's release earlier this year based on a prior mental evaluation - ruled that he be allowed to return to Arkansas during the week of his next trial, which is set for Thursday, December 3.

Arkansas Online was first to report the news.

Prior to Monday's hearing, the 37-year old has been staying in Ocala, Florida, where has been in training camp and under 24-hour supervision including that of Taylor's original head trainer Pat Burns, who is once again in charge of his career - and these days, his freedom. Taylor is also required to submit to weekly drug testing while in camp, as per the conditions of his release.

Three legal cases are pending against the once mighty fighting pride of Little Rock, Arkansas.

In the first case, Taylor was accused of shooting his cousin outside Taylor's Arkansas residence last August, occuring just two months prior to his fighting for - and regaining - a middleweight title in a 12-round win over Sam Soliman last October.

His first title defense was slated to take place versus Sergio Mora this past February in Biloxi, Mississippi. Those plans were torched in flames after charges of Taylor opening fire and threatening a family after a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Little Rock in January.

The aforementioned Dec. 3 trial date is directly related to charges stemming from said incident on Martin Luther King Day.

Mora was forced to settle for a 12-round bout with late replacement Abraham 'Abie' Han, scoring a narrow decision in their ESPN2-televised bout. He went on to face Daniel Jacobs for a separate middleweight title, trading opening round knockdowns before suffering a freak broken ankle injury as he was going down again in round two.

Taylor, meanwhile, responded to a warrant for his arrest, surrending to Pulaski County officials. From his imprisonment came a third case, with Taylor allegedly beating up a patient at his rehabilitation center, where he was sent for extensive psychiatric evaluation to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

The boxer was held without bail at the Pulaski County jail, until he was released on bail and permitted to head straight to South Florida to be permitted to train, though remaining under 24-hour supervision.

Nothing in the way of a scheduled fight has yet materialized for Taylor (33-4-1, 20KOs), who scored a major upset in his first win over Bernard Hopkins to win the undisputed middleweight championship in July '05. Four successful defenses followed - including a repeat win over Hopkins - before suffering the first loss of his career, a 7th round knockout of Kelly Pavlik in their terrific Sept. '07 slugfest.

The setback marked a rough career stretch for Taylor, who suffered four losses in the span of five fights. The most brutal defeat came in the first wave of bouts in the Showtime Super Six round robin tournament. Taylor was knocked out in the closing seconds of his 12-round bout with then-unbeaten Arthur Abraham, suffering a concussion and short term memory loss, thus prompting his retirement from the sport.

It didn't take, as he was granted a clean bill of health by the famed Mayo Clinic prior to his ring return in Nov. '11. He has won five straight since coming out of retirement, including his aforementioned title-regaining effort over Soliman more than a year ago.

His next fight will be for his ultimate freedom, as he awaits the Dec. 3 trial. Between now and that point, he will return to training camp in Florida. While not training for a specific fight, Taylor managed to put in good work with middleweight contender Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan, who is in training for a Dec. 12th title eliminator versus Chris Eubank in London, England.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox