subject: Explain Bail Bonds: How It Works [print this page] There are certain times when an individual is arrested for a particular criminal charge. Some people are arrested due to minor offenses. However, there are still some people who are arrested due to a more serious criminal offense. If a person is arrested for serious crimes, except murder or other violent charges, he or she will be given the right to post bail and be temporarily released from police custody. A court judge will set a bail amount for the suspect to pay and be free from police custody until his or her trial.
Bail is a process wherein an arrested individual pays a certain amount of money to acquire temporary release from jail after booking. The condition of the release is that the suspect must appear in all the court hearings, proceedings, and trials. The bail amounts are usually thousands of dollars but a bail bond can be acquired for a percentage of the bail amount. A bail bond can also be used by a suspect when he or she does not have enough money to pay the bail amount. There are also bail bonds company which they can buy bail bonds from. Bail bonds are usually issued by a bail bonds agency as a guarantee that the defendant will appear for trials and hearings. A bail bond is typically a document filed with the court by the licensed agent that tells the court that bail has been posted. This document will then be given to the police or the court before the defendant will be released from jail.
Bail bonds are very advantageous for suspects since it gives them some time away from jail. Since the bail amounts are usually unaffordable for the average person, a bail bond can help the suspect by allowing him or her to pay a fraction of the bail amount and resume some normalcy in his or her life while waiting for his or her arraignment. Using a bail bond can also help the defendant to avoid missing work or other commitments while dealing with his or her criminal charges.
A defendant can obtain a bail bond through a bail bond agency that typically charges a fee in exchange for posting of the bond. Some agencies even demand a collateral before they agree to post the bail bond. This provides them with assurance that they are covered even if the defendant fails to appear in court as promised.
