Bail bonds
In its essence, a bail bond is a kind of promise that you will show up at your hearing at the specified date. In return, you will be permitted to remain free even though you are still undergoing trial for a criminal or civil charge. Otherwise, you will sit in prison while awaiting the court to decide on a verdict. A bonding company can put up bail for you and get you released from jail.
Depending on the charge, the amount of bail can be steep. Few defendants have the ability to put up the bail bond. There's a reason why the penal system is overloaded. However, there's a legal solution to gain your temporary release even if your case is on-going. With our website you can search for a trustworthy bail bondsman in Madison County.
Why does a judge impose a bail bond ?
The law allows the services of a commercial bonding company to post a bail bond, also referred to as surety bond, to help a defendant gain temporary freedom while awaiting their court appearance.
The legal system allows two kinds of bail bond-- a criminal bail bond and a civil bail bond.
To make it clear, a judge does not require a criminal bail bond to penalize you for your alleged criminal offense. You are still presumed innocent until proven guilty. That being said, the judge needs to have a guarantee that you will appear at trial to face your accuser; thus, the need to post bail. If you attend all your arranged criminal procedures as required, and you are eventually found not guilty, the bail amount will be repaid to you. In the case that you are condemned, the bail money will be used to cover the fines and penalties that the judge might enforce on you. If you skip the court hearings, the bail will be lost and you will be subject to getting arrested.
The same reasoning applies with the civil bail bonds. The bail imposed on civil cases functions as an assurance or a surety that the offender will have the ability to pay the fines and penalties that the judge can impose on the accused after the trial.
Why should I care about bail?
Unless you want to remain in prison, you need to get out on bail. At the same time, very few individuals have the money available, which is why a bonding company is of utmost importance to anyone who would like to await their trial outside of jail.
The exact amount of bail {will vary|depends on a lot of different aspects. As an example, two individuals that committed the same criminal offense can have very different amounts of bail. This can happen because the judge will look into your financial circumstances, previous arrests, your roots in the community, and whether you are a flight risk.
In nearly all states, the rate charged by the bonding company is usually 10-20% of the overall amount of bail, and this is non-refundable.
Additionally, the bonding company can assist you with the complicated judicial proceedings. It's more convenient to employ their services then to deal with the court by yourself.
How does the bail bonds process work?
To start the bail bonds procedure, you first have to search for a bail agent. You can do that in person, over the phone and even online. Given the strict adherence to professionalism, a bail bondsman will happily walk you through the bail process and straighten out any reservations that you may have.
Time is of the essence during this procedure. Once the bail agent answered all of your questions to your satisfaction, the bail bondsman will deal with all of the procedures needed to get you or your loved one released from prison.
To ensure all goes smoothly, a bail bondsman needs to know the offender's name, birthdate, and the location or city of the arrest. With this info, the bondsman will be able to gather additional details from the prison system needed to secure the release. After managing all the procedures, the bondsman will go over to the jail to get the offender out.
Using a bondsman to bail out yourself or somebody you love is that straightforward, you can be out of prison and reunited with your loved ones in a few hours.
Going to meet with a bondsman?
You need to have the following information handy when talking to the bondsman:
- The defendant's full name
- The jail, city, and county where the suspect is committed
- The offender's booking number
- The charges the accused is facing
- The amount of money of the bail
Will the bondsman need collateral ?
Whether or not a bail bondsman will ask for collateral for posting bail differs between cases, but it is commonplace in the business. Regarding the sort of collateral that is acceptable, the list is just too long to mention all of it. But if a bail bondsman thinks that an item has value, it can be acceptable as collateral. Below are just a few examples:
- House or land
- Vehicles, boats, yachts
- Jewelry or gemstones
- Shares, stocks or equities
- Bank accounts
- TV, appliances or other devices
- Antiques or art collections
- Farm equipment
And if available, you can also take advantage of payment plans provided by a bail bondsman.
If you or a family member run the risk of remaining in prison for quite some time simply because you can't raise the amount of money, a bail bondsman is the only course of action that is left. On our website you can find a bondsman in Madison County. Most of them are open for business 24x7.
