Bail bonds
When a person is incarcerated and taken into custody for a major crime, they must wait in jail till a bail hearing. It is at this bail hearing that the judge sets the bail amount. If that person can't raise the amount of money, they have to stay in prison up until their court hearing. However that does not always have to be the case; they can also seek the help of a bondsman.
Unfortunately, many people wind up remaining in prison up until their court date because a lot of do not have a large sum of cash available in the bank.
Our website will help you with bailing out your loved ones by connecting you to reliable and cost effective bail bond agents in Albany County.
Why does a judge impose bail ?
The law allows the services of a commercial bonding company to post a bail bond, also called surety bond, to help an accused gain temporary liberty while awaiting their trial.
The law allows two kinds 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 punish you for your supposed crime. You are still presumed innocent until proven guilty. Even so, the judge requires a guarantee that you will show up in court to face your accuser; thus, the need to post bail. If you participate in all your scheduled criminal proceedings as required, and you are in the end acquitted, the bail amount will be returned to you. In case you are found guilty, the bail amount will be used to pay for the fines and penalties that the court may impose on you. If you skip the court hearings, your bail will be forfeited and you will be subject to getting arrested.
The same reasoning applies to civil bail bonds. The bail enforced on civil cases functions as a guarantee or a surety that the suspect will be capable to pay the fines and penalties that the court might impose on the defendant after the trial.
A bondsman is your way to freedom
A bondsman is your quick link to getting out of jail after your apprehension. If you don't possess enough money to bail yourself out and gain temporary liberty, your best course of action is a reliable bonding company that will pay the bail for you. Most bondsmen request a fee of 10% of the total bail amount. That is just fair, taking into account the risk the bail bondsman is taking in providing the money. If you do not appear at trial, the judge will forfeit the bail provided by the bonding company. Anyway, you do not need to trouble yourself with the financial calculations now. Your most immediate concern is to get yourself released from prison, and a reputable bondsman can handle that for you.
Furthermore, you do not need to worry yourself with the tricky judicial process in posting bail because the bail bondsman will handle that to facilitate your release from jail. All that needs to be done is for you or your representative to get in touch with a reliable bail bondsman. That agent will suggest you a deal, proposing to pay your bail to get you released from prison in return for a reasonable fee. With your approval, the bail bondsman will then post the bail in your place, releasing you from police custody.
You still have to go to your trial though. However, you will be arriving at court in you own clothes and not in a jail jumpsuit. That could boost your confidence as you defend yourself from your accuser. Additionally, the judge assigned to your case will probably have a more good impression of you, rather than if you were to turn up in court being dressed in jail attire, seeming like you're already guilty of the criminal offense you're indicted for even before the judge could make a ruling. You can say thanks to your bondsman for this.
Here's how the bail bonds process works
In case you get arrested and accused of an alleged criminal offense, the first thing that you need to do is to speak with a good attorney and someone, perhaps even the lawyer himself, who can connect you to a bondsman to start the bail bonds procedure. You or your representative can work with the bail bondsman that will ask you basic questions like the accused's name, date of birth, and the place or city where the arrest was made. The bail bondsman will then give you a deal for providing your bail bond. When you agree with the agreement, the bondsman will handle all the procedures to to get you released from jail. With help from the bail bondsman, you can leave jail and be in the c ompany of your loved ones once again.
Information your bail bondsman needs
When you call a bondsman, you have to share the following details:
- Your full name if you are the accused
- The name and location of the jailhouse where the defendant is detained
- The booking number in the police blotter
- The charges filed against the suspect
- Any other important information
What is accepted as collateral?
In most cases, the bail bondsman will ask for collateral with the transaction. This is reasonable taking into consideration the risks involved. An offender is a flight risk, and are plenty of occasions where a bonding company had to employ a bounty hunter to recover the fleeing offender.
But what is acceptable as collateral? In a nut-shell, when a bail bondsman considers an asset valuable, you can use it as a guarantee for the bail. Below are a few examples:
- Real estate
- Vehicles
- Equities
- Jewelry
- Electronic devices
- Bank accounts
- Credit cards
If you find that the bail bond is too high, bonding companies usually have payment options that you can use. Just speak with the bail bondsman to figure out what option is best suited when it comes to your circumstances.
Use our website to search for a bonding company that will be perfect for you. Almost all of them operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, ready to assist you or a family member to spend the least amount of time in prison as possible.
