Bail bonds
If you are apprehended for a severe criminal offense, you need to remain in jail while awaiting the bail hearing. At the bail hearing, the judge will determine the amount of bail that will get you released. If you or a friend can quickly raise the money, then everything is fine. However, if you don't have any funds available, you will be forced to remain behind bars while waiting for your court hearing -- a scary prospect to consider. Thankfully, there is a solution: You or a friend can look for assistance from a bail bondsman that can put up your bail to the court, get you released from prison.
But how do you get in touch with a bonding company ? That's where our website can help: We can help you find a trusted and reliable bail bondsman in James City County who can put up the required bail to make it possible for you to leave prison.
Why does a judge impose bail ?
The law permits the services of a bail bondsman to post a bail bond, also referred to as surety bond, to help a defendant get temporary liberty while awaiting their court appearance.
The legal system allows two types of bail -- a criminal bail bond and a civil bail bond.
To make it clear, a court does not require a criminal bail bond to penalize you for your supposed crime. You are still innocent till proven guilty. That being said, the judge needs to have a guarantee that you will show up at trial to face your accuser; thus, the need to post bail. If you participate in all your arranged criminal proceedings as promised, and you are eventually acquitted, the bail amount will be repaid to you. If you are condemned, the bail will be used to take care of the penalties and fines that the judge might enforce on you. When you skip the court hearings, your bail will be lost and you will be subject to getting arrested.
The same reasoning holds with civil bail bonds. The bail enforced on civil cases functions as an assurance or a surety that the defendant will be capable to pay the penalties and fines that the judge can require from the accused after the trial.
How beneficial is a bail bond?
A bonding company is your best opportunity to not spend too much time in prison when you don't have sufficient money available to pay your bail. A bonding company usually asks for a non-refundable rate of 10% of the total bail amount. That is just fair, taking into consideration the risk the bail bondsman is taking in putting up the bail bond. Anyway, the most pressing concern is to get you released from prison, and for that you need to find a trustworthy bonding company in your local area.
An agreement with a bondsman is also handy because the latter will assist in your release from jail, simplifying a complex judicial procedure. You can just call a bail agent who will offer you an agreement and ask you to provide the needed information about yourself, or an individual you wish to bail out. If you accept the deal, you can simply relax and wait for the bail bondsman to put up the bail for you.
Needless to say you still need to show up at your hearing. But now that you're free on bail, you can appear before a judge in your own clothes. If you had remained in jail because you could not put up bail, you would have shown up in court in a prison uniform-- and that does not make a good impression. A bondsman makes it possible for you to have a respectable appearance before the judge, which matters a lot given that first impressions matter.
Here's how the bail bonds process works
In case you are detained and accused of a supposed crime, the very first thing that you have to do is to call a good attorney and someone, possibly even the lawyer himself, who can hook you up with a bail bondsman to start the bail bonds procedure. You or your representative can work with the bondsman who will ask you common questions such as the suspect's name, date of birth, and the location or city of the arrest. The bondsman will then offer you a deal for posting your bail bond. When you agree with the deal, the bondsman will take care of all the procedures to get you out of jail. With the aid of the bail bondsman, you can get out of jail and be in the c ompany of your family once more.
What information does a bondsman need?
When you contact a bonding company, they will need to know:
- The full name and age of the suspect
- The location where the accused is held
- The booking number and the charge
What is accepted as collateral?
In most cases, the bonding company will require collateral with the deal. This is reasonable considering the risks involved. A prisoner is a flight risk, and there have been plenty of examples where a bail bondsman had to hire a bounty hunter to bring back the fleeing defendant.
But what is accepted as collateral? In a nut-shell, if a bonding company considers something valuable, you can use it as collateral for the bail bond. Listed below are a number of examples:
- Realty
- Automobiles
- Equities
- Jewelry
- Electronic devices
- Bank accounts
- Visa or mastercard
If you have trouble paying for the bail bond, bonding companies usually offer payment plans that you can use. Just talk to the bail bondsman to determine which option is best suited when it comes to your situation.
Use our website to search for a bail bondsman that is perfect for your needs. Many of them operate day and night, ready to help you or a friend to spend the least amount of time in prison as possible.
