Bail bonds
When you are apprehended for a severe criminal offense, you will have to stay in prison while waiting for the bail hearing. At the bail hearing, the court will decide the bail amount that will get you released from prison. If you or a friend can raise the money, then everything is fine. However, if you don't have any funds available, you are forced to stay in prison while waiting for your court hearing -- a scary thing to contemplate. Luckily, there is a solution: You or your family can get assistance from a bondsman that can pay your bail to the court, get you released from jail.
But how do you contact a bondsman ? That's where this website can help: We can help you locate a trustworthy and reliable bail bond agent in Kalkaska County who can post the needed bail to allow you to get out of prison.
Why does a judge impose bail ?
The law allows the services of a bondsman to post a bail bond, also referred to as surety bond, to help a defendant get temporary freedom while waiting for their trial.
The judicial system allows two kinds of bail -- a criminal bail bond as well as a civil bail bond.
To make it clear, a court does not impose a criminal bail bond to punish you for your alleged criminal offense. You are still presumed innocent till proven guilty. Even so, the judge needs an assurance that you will show up at trial to face your accuser; therefore, the requirement to post bail. If you participate in all of your arranged criminal procedures as required, and you are eventually acquitted, the bail amount will be repaid to you. If you are found guilty, the bail will be used to cover the fines and penalties that the judge might enforce on you. If you miss the court appearances, the bail will be lost and you will be subject to arrest.
The same justification applies to civil bail bonds. The bail enforced on civil cases functions as a guarantee or a surety that the defendant will have the ability to pay the penalties and fines that the judge might impose on the accused after the trial.
How beneficial is a bail bond?
A bonding company is your best opportunity to not spend considerable time in prison in case you don't have sufficient cash available to post your bail. A bonding company usually requires a non-refundable rate of 10% of the total bail amount. That is no more than reasonable, looking at the risk the bail bondsman is taking in putting up the bail bond. Anyway, the most important thing is to get you out of prison, and for that to happen have to find a reliable bonding company in your area.
A contract with a bondsman is also valuable because the latter can help with your release from prison, simplifying a difficult judicial process. You can simply call a bondsman who can provide you an agreement and ask you to provide the relevant information about yourself, or an individual you would like to bail out of jail. When you accept the agreement, you can just relax and wait for the bonding company to put up the bail in your place.
Needless to say you still need to attend your trial. But now that you're out on bail, you can appear in court in civilian clothes. When you had stayed in prison because you could not afford to put up bail, you would appear in court in a prison jumpsuit -- and that does not make a good impression. A bail bondsman enables you to make a respectable appearance in court, which matters a whole lot since first impressions matter.
Here's how the bail bonds process works
In the event that you get detained and charged with a supposed criminal offense, the first thing that you need to do is to speak with a lawyer and someone, possibly even the lawyer himself, that can connect you to a bondsman to start the bail bonds procedure. You or your representative can deal with the bail bondsman that will ask you standard questions like the suspect's name, date of birth, and the place or city of the arrest. The bondsman will then offer you a deal for providing your bail bond. Upon your approval of the agreement, the bondsman will handle all the procedures to secure your release. With the help of the bail bondsman, you can walk out of prison and be in the c ompany of your family once again.
What info should I have when contacting a bonding company?
When getting in touch with a bondsman, make sure that you know:
- The full name of the offender
- The name of the jail the defendant is jailed in
- The booking number
- The charges
- Any other relevant information you can think of
Will the bail bondsman need collateral ?
Whether or not a bondsman requires collateral for putting up bail differs between cases, but it is commonplace in the business. As for the kind of collateral that is accepted, the list is simply way too long to mention all. Suffice to say that if a bail bondsman believes that something has value, it can be acceptable as collateral. Listed below are just some examples:
- House or land
- Vehicles, boats, yachts
- Jewelry or gemstones
- Shares, stocks or equities
- Bank accounts
- TV, appliances or other devices
- Antiques or art
- Farm equipment
And when available, you can also make use of payment options offered by a bondsman.
When you or a family member run the risk of remaining in prison for a long time because you are not able to come up with the bail amount, a bail bondsman is the only option that is left. On our site you can find a bonding company in Kalkaska County. Most of them are open for business day and night.
