Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in More Hot Water - Spends night in Jail

After spending a night in jail, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick faces new felony charges even as a judge ruled Friday that he could go free if he wears a tracking device and doesn't leave town.

Kilpatrick's lawyers are negotiating his surrender on charges of assaulting or obstructing two police officers who attempted to serve a subpoena, Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said.

If convicted, Kilpatrick could face up to two years in prison, Cox told reporters. He also would be unable to serve as mayor.

"In almost 20 years as a prosecutor and now as attorney general, I cannot recall one case where someone has assaulted a police officer who was attempting to serve a subpoena," Cox said.

Kilpatrick's latest legal skirmish began July 24 when two officers attempted to serve a subpoena on a friend who was a potential witness in Kilpatrick's pending perjury case, Cox said. He alleged that an "irate and angry" Kilpatrick grabbed one of the officers and shoved him into the other, screaming at both of them and using abusive language.

One of the mayor's lawyers, James Thomas, told reporters he would fight the new charges with "law and common sense."

Earlier, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled Kilpatrick could be released from jail if he posted a $50,000 cash bond, wore a GPS device and didn't travel outside the Detroit area.

Kilpatrick was jailed Thursday after a judge found he had violated terms of his bond by taking an unauthorized trip to Canada last month. Watch how Detroit's mayor wound up behind bars »

Kilpatrick, who is facing felony charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct of office, had been free on $75,000 bond.

Under the terms of his bond, Kilpatrick was required to give the court 48 hours' notice for business travel, District Court Judge Ronald Giles noted Thursday.

The mayor has been snarled in a public scandal since January, when the Detroit Free Press reported he exchanged romantic text messages with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, indicating the two were involved in an affair.

He and Beatty, testifying last fall in a whistle-blower trial, had denied they had been having an affair.

The lawsuit and another unrelated case was settled for about $8 million, the officer's attorneys said. Critics have said Kilpatrick settled the case in part to keep the affair with Beatty secret.

Earlier Thursday, Kilpatrick and Beatty waived their preliminary examination and agreed the case could be forwarded to Wayne County Circuit Court's Criminal Division.