Locate a Bail Bondsman

When you are taken to jail and are allowed to post bail, you’ll want to get in touch with a bail bondsman. There is a contractual agreement between you and the bail bondsman. The bail bondsman guarantees to the court that you will make all appearances in court as required by the judge in exchange for the bondsman loaning you money to be released from jail. You and/or a co-signer will also guarantee in writing that you will pay back the full bail amount if you do not appear in court when required.

Many times a friend or family member will be the co-signer and post bail. Some bail bondsman may require collateral such as a car in order to post bail. Once you sign the bail agreement, you are guaranteeing that you will appear in court. If you fail to do so, your co-signer is responsible for the entire amount of bail. Later, if the bail bondsman finds you and arrests you, the co-signer is also responsible for the bail bondsman’s expenses used to find and capture you.

There are five different ways a person can be released from jail: own recognizance, surety bond, release on citation, property bond and cash bail. Under release of own recognizance, no money is required for a person to be released from jail. He or she is released knowing that they must appear in court at the required time, otherwise face being arrested.

The surety bond involves an insurance company, which has assets to satisfy the face value of the bond. The bail bondsman still guarantees to the court to pay the bond forfeiture if the defendant does not appear in court. The bail bondman’s makes this guarantee through the surety company and/or the pledge of property owned by the agent

With a citation release, a police officer will issue you a citation, which informs you that you must appear to court on a certain date. This citation occurs after your arrest and does not involve you being placed in custody.

A property bond means that the court will place a lien on your property in order to secure your bail amount. If you do not appear at your court date, the court can foreclose on your property and obtain the forfeited bail amount.

With a cash bond, you must pay your bail amount in full in order to be released from jail. Quite simply, if you show up to your court date you get your money back. If you don’t, the cash bond becomes the courts.