Bail bonds
When you have been arrested for a major criminal offense, you will have to remain in jail while awaiting the bail hearing. At the bail hearing, the court will set the amount of bail that will get you released from prison. If you or a friend can raise the money, then there's no problem. However, if you don't have any available funds, you are forced to remain in jail while waiting for your court hearing -- a scary thing to contemplate. The good news is, there is a solution: You or your family can seek help from a bail bondsman that can put up your bail to the court, get you released from jail.
But how can you connect with a bail bond agent ? That's where our website can assist you: We will help you find a trustworthy and reliable bail bondsman in McDonald County who can put up the needed bail to allow you to get out of jail.
Use a bail bond to gain temporary freedom after an arrest
The law allows a bondsman to post a bail bond, also known as surety bond, to help individuals arrested and accused of a criminal offense gain temporary freedom while waiting for their court hearing.
The law allows two kinds of bail bond-- a criminal bail bond and a civil bail bond.
To be clear, a judge does not require a criminal bail bond to penalize you for your alleged criminal offense. You are still presumed innocent up until proven guilty. Even so, the judge needs to have an assurance that you will appear at trial to face your accuser; therefore, the need to post bail. If you participate in all your scheduled criminal proceedings as promised, and you are eventually acquitted, the bail amount will be given back to you. In the case that you are condemned, the bail money will be used to take care of the fines and penalties that the court may enforce on you. When you skip the court appearances, the bail will be forfeited and you will be subject to getting arrested.
However, the civil bail bonds enforced on civil cases serve as a guarantee or a surety with the court where the debts, claims, and costs imposed on the defendant can be taken from.
How useful is a bail bond?
A bail bondsman is your biggest hope to not spend too much time in jail when you don't have enough cash available to pay your bail. A bondsman usually charges a non-refundable fee of 10% of the bail. That is no more than fair, looking at the risk the bonding company is taking in providing the money. Anyway, the most pressing concern is to get you released from prison, and for that have to search for a reputable bondsman in your area.
A deal with a bondsman is also valuable due to the fact that the latter will assist in your release from jail, simplifying a complicated judicial procedure. You can just contact a bondsman who will offer you a deal and ask you to provide the relevant info about yourself, or a person you want to bail out. If you approve the contract, you can simply relax and wait for the bondsman to put up the bail on your behalf.
Needless to say you still have to show up at your court hearing. But now that you're out on a bond, you can appear before a judge in civilian clothes. If you had remained in jail because you could not put up bail, you would appear in court in a jail uniform-- and that's not a pretty sight to see. A bail bondsman enables you to make a decent appearance in court, which matters a lot because first impressions count.
How the bail bonds process works
To start the bail bonds process, you first need to look for a bonding comany. You can do that in person, over the phone and even online. Given the strict adherence to professionalism, a bondsman will gladly walk you through the bail bond process and straighten out any reservations that you might have.
Time is of the essence throughout this process. As soon as the bail bondsman answered all of your questions to your satisfaction, the bail agent will deal with all of the procedures vital to get you or your loved one released from prison.
To ensure all goes well, a bail bondsman needs to know the offender's name, birthdate, and the location or city of the arrest. With this info, the bail bondsman will be able to get additional information from the prison system required to secure the release. After handling all the procedures, the bail bondsman will go over to the jail to get the defendant out.
Using a bail bondsman to bail out yourself or someone you love is that simple, you can be out of prison and reunited with your loved ones in a few hours.
Information your bail bondsman needs
When you speak to a bonding company, you need to share the following details:
- Your name if you are the offender
- The name and location of the prison where the defendant is held
- The booking number in the police blotter
- The charges filed against the offender
- Any extra related info
What is accepted as collateral?
Almost always, the bail bondsman requires collateral with the transaction. This is understandable, taking into account the risks involved. An inmate is a possible flight risk, and there have been numerous examples where a bonding company had to hire a bounty hunter to recover the fleeing offender.
But what is accepted as collateral? Basically, when a bail bondsman considers an asset valuable, you are able to use it as a guarantee for the bail bond. Listed below are a some examples:
- Real estate
- Vehicles
- Equities
- Jewelry
- Electronics
- Bank accounts
- Credit cards
If you have trouble paying for the bail bond, bonding companies usually have payment plans that you can use. Simply speak with the bail bondsman to figure out what option is best suited in your situation.
You can use this site to search for a bail bondsman that is perfect for you. Almost all of them operate 24x7, ready to assist you or your loved one to spend the as little time as possible in prison.
