subject: An Overview About Bail Bonds [print this page] Bail is a process that releases the suspect from prison in exchange for paying a set of bail amount. The bail amount paid is a form of insurance that the defendant will show up in all scheduled court dates. Bail bonds is available since trials can take several weeks or months before a decision is made, and this process permits the defendant to await their trial at home.
When a person is arrested for the suspicion of being involved in committing a crime, the person is taken to a law enforcement station where they are booked and arraigned for 24-48 hours. During this time, a court judge will figure out whether the defendant can be subjected to bail and how much bail amount must be set. This decision depends upon several factors such as the seriousness of the crime, the suspect's criminal records, and if the suspect poses danger to society once released. The bail amount can be several hundred dollars or it can go up to thousands of dollars for serious felonies. The suspect can be released from police custody if he or she pays the bail bond amount in cash or through property bonds. However, if the suspect cannot afford the bail amount, he/she can apply to a bail bonds service. The bail bonds company has a bail bonds agent who can process the bail of the suspect. The agency will post bail on the defendant's behalf. The bail bonds agent guarantees the full bail amount as an assurance that the suspect will appear in court as promised.
The fee for a bail bond is typically determined by the bail bonds agent or the bail bonds company. Generally, the bail bond cost is about 10% of the total bail amount set by the court judge. This means that if the suspect shows up in court, the bail bonds agency will get back the full amount of bail including the 10% premium paid by the defendant. The bail premium, which is the 10% of the total bail amount, is paid to the bail bond company for the use of their money.
The paperwork needed to process the bail will take about 15-30 minutes. The release time after the authorities receive the necessary paperwork is approximately one hour or less. If the law enforcement station is quite busy, the process will take longer.
