Bail bonds
One of the most frightening places you can find yourself in is inside a prison after being apprehended and charged with an alleged criminal offense. Things might go south even further if you or your loved ones have no money available to post your bail bond, which will allow you get released from jail until your court hearing. During such a challenging situation, you first need to calm yourself, think clear, and go for the most effective solution: Contact a bail bondsman who can really help a lot in getting you released from jail.
You are permitted at least one phone call following your arrest. Use that phone call to contact a loved one and ask that person to reach out to a bail bond agent. Your family member can use our site to look for a reputable bail bond agent in Franklin County who can then post the bail on your behalf to get you your temporary freedom.
Why does a judge impose a bail bond ?
The legal system allows the services of a bail bondsman to post a bail bond, also referred to as surety bond, to help a suspect gain temporary liberty while awaiting their court appearance.
The law allows two sorts of bail -- a criminal bail bond and a civil bail bond.
To be clear, a court does not impose a criminal bail bond to punish you for your alleged criminal offense. You are still presumed innocent up until proven guilty. Even so, the court needs a guarantee that you will show up in court to face your accuser; thus, the requirement to post bail. If you participate in all your scheduled criminal procedures as required, and you are in the end found not guilty, the bail will be returned to you. If you are found guilty, the bail amount will be used to cover the penalties and fines that the court may enforce on you. If you skip the court hearings, your bail will be forfeited and you will be subject to arrest.
The same justification applies with the civil bail bonds. The bail enforced on civil cases functions as a guarantee or a surety that the accused will have the ability to pay the penalties and fines that the court may require from the accused after the trial.
How beneficial is a bail bond?
A bail bondsman is your best opportunity to not spend considerable time in jail if you don't have sufficient money available to pay your bail. A bondsman usually asks for a non-refundable rate of 10% of the total bail. That is just reasonable, looking at the risk the bonding company is taking in providing the money. Anyway, the most pressing concern is to get you out of jail, and for that need to search for a dependable bondsman in your area.
An agreement with a bondsman is also useful given that the latter will facilitate your release from jail, simplifying a complicated judicial process. You can just reach out to a bail bondsman who can offer you an agreement and request you to provide the required info about yourself, or someone you want to bail out. If you approve the deal, you can just sit tight and wait for the bonding company to pay the bail on your behalf.
Obviously you still need to be at your court hearing. However, now that you're out on a bond, you can appear in court in civilian clothes. If you had stayed in jail for failure to post bail, you would show up in court in a prison uniform-- and that's not a pretty sight to see. A bondsman enables you to have a decent appearance before the judge, which matters a lot because first impressions matter.
How does the bail bond process work?
Choosing a good bail bondsman is very important. Sadly, there are deceitful individuals around who exploit unwary people that are already desperate for help.
Make sure you are ready when you speak with a bonding company. Ask all your questions, and only once all your questions are answered should you continue with the next steps of hiring them. The bail bondsman can then start with paying the bail and filing the necessary paperwork to get you or a friend out.
Going to meet with a bondsman?
You need to have the following details on hand when talking to the bonds agent:
- The suspect's full name
- The prison, city, and county where the offender is held
- The defendant's booking number
- The charges the offender is facing
- The amount of money of the bail
Will the bail bondsman need collateral ?
Whether or not a bonding company will want collateral for posting bail will vary between cases, however, it is a common practice in the industry. As for the sort of collateral that is accepted, the list is just far too long to mention everything. But if a bail bondsman thinks that an item has value, it can be used as collateral. Below are just some examples:
- Real estate 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 if available, you can also take advantage of payment plans offered by a bondsman.
When you or a friend run the risk of staying in prison for quite some time because you can not come up with the amount of money, a bondsman is the only course of action that is left. By using our site you can search for a bonding company in Franklin County. Many of them are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
