Bail Bond Tips in Jacksonville
Should You Bail Someone Out of Jail?
If you’re trying to figure out whether or not you should go ahead and bail someone out of jail, you should consider some factors. Some of these are rather obvious, but they do bear mentioning because they will have a huge impact on whether or not bailing the person out is a good idea.
Priors
One of the odd things about the legal system is that you can sometimes find out a lot about a person based on the amount of bail required to get them out of jail. For instance, if somebody you know gets arrested for what seems like a minor offense but the bail amount is set in the tens of thousands of dollars, you can be relatively certain that this isn’t the first time the person has been arrested or been in jail. You may want to look into the person a little bit more deeply before you decide whether to post bail for them. They may very well not be trustworthy and you should consider this if you don’t know them that well.
Reliability
When you bail someone out of jail, you and the bail bond company that you work with are both putting a lot of faith in that person. With essentially happening is that you are putting your money up – and possibly some collateral, as well – on the contingency that the person makes it to court on their court date. The bail bond company is putting up a surety bond and, if that person happens not to show up in court, the bail bond company is liable for the full amount of their bail.
Make certain that you really believe that the person your bailing out of jail will show up for their court date. If they don’t, you could find the situation getting worse and worse. You’ll end up being contacted by the bail bond company – and perhaps their agents – because you will be someone who will be likely to know where that person who skipped out on their bail is. You might also lose the collateral that you put up to get that person out of jail.
If, however, you know that the person is reliable and trustworthy, a bail bond company can be a great resource to help you get them out of jail so they don’t have to sit until their court date.
What bail allows people to do?
When you’re talking about people being released from custody, there are quite a few different terms involved. Probation, parole, bail and other terms all come up. Bail is a specific type of release from custody that is obtained by paying a fee to the state. It allows the defendant to get out of jail so that they don’t have to sit behind bars waiting for their court date to roll around. There are some very good reasons why you may want to consider putting up the money for a bail bond for someone you love who may be behind bars pending a court date.
Money and Housing
The biggest risk with being thrown behind bars is that you’ll end up losing your job and not having any money. Because of this, some of the people who end up getting arrested have their situation made much worse than it ever should’ve been, simply because they can’t afford to get out of jail. A bail bondsman can help in these situations by offering a bail bond for a percentage of the total bail amount required. Commercial bail bond companies are not allowed in all states, so you have to check with yours to make certain that there are commercial bail bondsmen operating in your jurisdiction.
What makes being kept in jail pending a trial so frustrating is that some of the people who are in this situation find out that they are found innocent of the charges that they faced or that the charges are dropped altogether. Essentially, they’re put through an enormous financial and social hardship for nothing. This is actually why bail exists. It ensures that people who may or may not have gone to the wrong side of the law don’t end up being punished by being thrown in jail for no good reason.
If you have someone who is in jail and you want to get them out, get their booking number and all of the other relevant information from the jail and the bail amount set by the judge. With this information, a bail bondsman can let you know how much it would cost you to get a bond for that person so that they can get out and spend time with their family, show up for work, make arrangements with their employer regarding what’s going on and so forth. Bail makes life a lot easier for people who ended up in a bad situation.
