Bail bonds
When you are detained for a major criminal offense, you will need to stay in jail while waiting for the bail hearing. At the bail hearing, the court will set the bail amount that will give you temporary freedom. If you or your family can quickly raise the money, then there's no problem. But if you don't have any funds available, you will be forced to remain in jail while waiting for your court hearing -- a scary thing to consider. The good news is, there is a way out of your predicament: You or your family can look for help from a bondsman that can pay your bail to the court, get you released from prison.
But how do you connect with a bondsman ? That's where our website can help: We can help you find a trustworthy and reliable bonding company in Florence County who can post the necessary bail to allow you to leave jail.
Use a bail bond to gain temporary freedom after getting arrested
The law permits a commercial bonding company to post a bail bond, also known as surety bond, to help those arrested and accused of a crime get temporary freedom while awaiting their court hearing.
The judicial system allows two sorts of bail -- a criminal bail bond and a civil bail bond.
To make it clear, a judge does not impose a criminal bail bond to punish you for your supposed criminal offense. You are still presumed innocent up until proven guilty. Even so, the court requires a guarantee that you will show up in court to face your accuser; hence, the requirement to post bail. If you show up at all your scheduled criminal procedures as required, and you are in the end acquitted, the bail will be returned 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 judge may impose on you. When you skip the court appearances, the bail will be forfeited and you will be subject to getting arrested.
On the contrary, the civil bail bonds imposed on civil cases serve as a guarantee or a surety with the court where the financial obligations, claims, and costs imposed on the defendant can be paid from.
How helpful is a bail bond?
A bonding company is your biggest hope to not spend too much time in prison if you don't have sufficient money available to post your bail. A bail bondsman typically requires a non-refundable fee of 10% of the bail. That is just reasonable, taking into account the risk the company is taking in putting up the bail bond. Anyway, the most pressing concern is to get you out of jail, and for that to happen have to search for a dependable bonding company in your area.
An agreement with a bondsman is also valuable since they will help with your release from prison, simplifying a complicated legal process. You can just reach out to a bail agent who can provide you an agreement and ask you to give the relevant info about yourself, or somebody you want to bail out. In case you approve the agreement, you can simply relax and wait for the bail bondsman to pay the bail on your behalf.
Obviously you still have to attend your trial. But now that you're free on bail, you can appear before a judge in civilian clothes. If you had remained in jail for failure to put up bail, you would appear in court in a jail jumpsuit -- and that's not a pretty sight to see. A bondsman allows you to make a decent appearance in the courtroom, which matters a lot given that first impressions matter.
How does the bail bonds process work?
To start the bail bonds process, you first need to get a bonding comany. You can do that in person, over the phone and even online. Given the stringent adherence to professionalism, a bail bondsman will gladly walk you through the bail process and iron out any doubts that you might have.
Time is of the essence during this procedure. Once the bail agent addressed all of your concerns to your complete satisfaction, the bail agent will handle all of the procedures needed to get you or your loved one released from jail.
To ensure all goes smoothly, a bondsman needs to know the offender's name, birthdate, and the location or city of the arrest. With this info, the agent will have the ability to gather extra info from the jail system required to secure the release. After dealing with all the formalities, the bondsman will visit the prison to get the accused out.
Using a bonding company to bail out yourself or somebody you know is that easy, you can be out of jail and reunited with your loved ones in a matter of hours.
What information does a bonding company need?
When you get in touch with a bail bondsman, they will want to know:
- The full name and age of the defendant
- The jail where the defendant is held
- The booking reference number and the charges
What is accepted as collateral?
Almost always, the bondsman requires collateral with the deal. This is reasonable taking into consideration the risks that are involved. An inmate is a possible flight risk, and are numerous occasions where a bonds company needed to employ the services of a bounty hunter to bring back the fleeing offender.
But what is acceptable as collateral? Basically, when a bail bondsman considers an asset valuable, you can use it as collateral for the bond. Listed below are a few examples:
- Real estate
- Vehicles
- Stocks
- Jewelry
- Electronic devices
- Bank accounts
- Credit cards
If you can't afford the bail bond right now, bonding companies usually offer payment options that you can use. Just talk to the bondsman to figure out which option is the best one for your circumstances.
Use our site to look for a bail bondsman that will be perfect for your needs. Many of them are open 24/7, ready to assist you or a friend to spend the least amount of time in jail as possible.
