Did you get a miserable phone call from your loved one telling you that they’ve been arrested and need you to post bond? Did your stomach drop at the realization that you might not have the economic resources to pay for bail? Don’t worry; we’ll show you how bailing someone out of jail doesn’t need to cost you more money than you can afford.
I’m Bailing Someone Out of Jail. Who Sets the Bail?
If this is your first time involved with the criminal justice system, you’re sure to have lots of questions. An obvious one is who sets the bail amount. The bond amounts for lesser charges come from your county’s bail schedule. With most felony charges, a judge decides on the bail amount after looking at things such as (1) criminal charge, (2) criminal record, (3) community involvement, and (4) public safety.
How can you pay the bail?
The three typical methods of funding the bail amount include (1) paying the full cash amount, (2) giving temporary ownership of valuable property, such as your home, to the court, and (3) contracting with a licensed bail bonds company. Unless the bail amount is minimal, many people opt to work with a bail bonds company as an affordable way to make bail.
Bail Bonds Company
A reputable bail bonds company, such as Gibson Bail Bonds, is a cost-effective way to pay for a family member’s bail since it doesn’t require you to come up with the entire cost of the bond. Instead of paying for the total bail amount outright, you’ll pay a fee to a bail guarantor who will then put up the money for the bond. Always make sure that you don’t make a financial commitment to a bondsman that you can’t afford to pay.
Not a good idea to run!
The fee is formally known as the bail bond premium and is some percentage of the total bond amount. Gibson Bail Bonds is typical of most bail businesses in charging somewhere between five and ten percent of the total bail amount. The bail bond premium is not refundable at the end of the criminal case as it is how the bail bondsman makes money.
Jumping bail & protecting your money
You know all of those movies and television shows about defendants who skip bail and need to hide from a wily bounty hunter? The truth is that you had better make sure that anyone who you’re helping to bail out of jail won’t decide to leave town. Indeed, bailing someone out of jail is risky, and if your loved one misses court dates and forfeits bail, you might end up paying for the total bail amount.
What’s more, if the defendant skips town you could find yourself footing the bill for a bounty hunter to travel all over the country searching for them. Avoid financing someone else’s working vacation by being very cautious in securing a bail bond for a loved one.
Lastly, bailing someone out of jail takes love and courage. However, when you’re confident that it’s the right thing to do you can rely on Gibson Bail Bonds to help you with the details. Contact us for help in bailing your loved one out of jail today.
