subject: Steps to Posting Bail [print this page] Steps to Posting Bail Steps to Posting Bail
When a defendant is arrested, he or she is taken to a holding facility for booking and processing. During or after this time, the bail amount will be set for the defendant. In turn, he or she will be able to post their bail shortly thereafter, or will be allowed to obtain a bail bondsman. In some cases, if a severe crime or multiple crimes have been committed, the defendant will not receive bail which means they are not allowed to be released from jail until they have seen a judge.
Generally, however, bail is simply set via the county's bail schedule and the defendant is allowed to make a phone call in order to obtain help from a friend or family member to bail them out or from a bail bondsman. Furthermore, the family member or friend may also hire a bail bondsman. Whomever the defendant chooses to call, it should be someone who can be trusted and is dependable.
When the friend or family member is contacting different bail bond companies, they will need to have access to certain information to tell the bondsman so they can determine their qualifications. The caller will need to have certain information ready such as the defendant's full legal name, birth date, social security number, why they were arrested, where they were taken, who arrested them, and how much is their bail set for. If not all of this information is available, a bondsman may still be able to assist.
In some cases, the bail bondsman may feel that the defendant is a risk or might flee in which case; the bondsman will refuse to post the bail. If this happens, another bail bonds company must be located to help with the bond. In the end, the co-signer (the friend or family member) will be responsible for paying a bail bond fee of 10% and will be responsible for making sure the defendant shows up to their scheduled court dates.
Once a bail bondsman is ready to take the case, the cosigner will need to fill out all the appropriate paperwork and pay the bail bond premium or fee. As stated previously, in most states this fee is 10% of the total bail amount. After the necessary paperwork is completed and the fee is paid, the bondsman will go to the jail to post the bail bond and get the defendant released.
The paperwork or contract that is signed by the co-signer serves as an acknowledgement that the defendant will show up to their schedule court dates. If the defendant skips bail, the bond will be forfeited and the bail bondsman will try to collect the full bond amount from the cosigner.
