Arrests don’t keep office hours. The call usually comes late on a Friday, in the small hours of a Sunday, or on a holiday when everything else in town is closed. That’s when families search for 24 hour bail bonds or emergency bail bonds.

Here is the whole answer in one place: what round-the-clock service means here, what to do in the first hour, where your loved one is likely held, what can slow things down, and what it costs. Cowboy Bail Bonds has helped Kern County families for more than 50 years from our office at 1710 Blanche Street in Bakersfield.

What 24/7 means at Cowboy Bail Bonds

“24 hour bail bonds” gets used loosely. Some companies mean an answering service that calls you back in the morning. Here it means the bond can be written and posted at whatever hour you call:

• A licensed agent answers, day or night, including weekends and holidays. We don’t believe in “after hours.” Life doesn’t pause at 5 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office doesn’t publish bail-posting hours, so if you plan to post cash bail yourself, call the jail first to confirm.
• Paperwork by phone or online. You don’t need to drive anywhere at 2 a.m. You can apply for a bail bond online, sign by phone, or meet us at the office if you’d rather do it in person.
• Bilingual agents. Se habla español, at any hour.
• Payment plans and easy-to-qualify terms. Call and ask about payment options for your situation; our payment plans guide explains how they work.
• Every Kern County facility. The Sheriff’s Inmate Reception Center at Lerdo and the Taft city jail, for arrests anywhere in the county.

Phone

661-324-6009 — call, 24/7

Hours

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays

Office

1710 Blanche St, Bakersfield, CA 93304

Paperwork

By phone, online, or in person

Languages

English and Spanish

Official inmate search

kernsheriff.org/inmate-search

Bail cost

Most commonly 10% of the bail amount; 8% filed rates exist

Emergency bail bonds: what to do in the first hour

An “emergency bail bond” isn’t a special product. It’s the same bond, written fast, at a time when nothing else is open. What makes the difference is what you do in the first hour.

1. Find out where they are. Search the Kern County Sheriff’s official inmate search by name. If they were just arrested, they may not show up until booking is finished; that is normal. Our guide to finding someone in Kern County jail walks through it.
2. Write down what you know. Full legal name, date of birth, booking number if you have it, the charges, and the bail amount if it’s listed. If you only have a name and date of birth, that is enough to start.
3. Call us at 661-324-6009. We confirm the facility, the charges, the bail amount, and whether there are any holds that would keep them in custody after a bond is posted.
4. Ask whether a bond is needed at all. Some people will be cited out or released on their own recognizance. We’ll tell you if waiting makes more sense than paying (more on that below).
5. Sign the paperwork. By phone, online, or in person. The person signing (the cosigner, or indemnitor) is promising the defendant will go to court, so read what you sign and ask questions.
6. We post the bond at the facility where they’re held.
7. Get ready for the release. Keep your phone on and charged and line up a ride. When they’re out, find the court date on the release paperwork and put it in your calendar right away.

Where people are held after an arrest in Kern County

Where your loved one spent the night depends on who arrested them and where.

The Inmate Reception Center at Lerdo

Most new arrests in Bakersfield and across Kern County are booked at the Sheriff’s Inmate Reception Center (IRC) at the Lerdo Jail Complex, 17801 Industrial Farm Road, Bakersfield 93308 (661-391-3100). It is the main booking and release point for county arrests; call the jail first to confirm how and when bail can be posted. Arrests in the Mojave area may be held first at the Sheriff’s Mojave Jail (661-824-7141) pending release or transfer to Bakersfield. See our Lerdo guide for visiting and directions.

The Taft Police Department jail

Taft is different: the Taft Police Department runs its own short-term Type I jail at 320 Commerce Way (661-763-3101), and bail can be posted there before anyone is transferred to Lerdo. Call first to confirm bail can be posted when you need it. If the arrest happened inside Taft city limits, read our Taft jail page, and call us quickly, because it is short-term holding.

What can delay a late-night release

Posting the bond quickly is the part we control. These are the parts we don’t:

• Booking isn’t finished. Fingerprints, records checks and medical screening come first. Until booking is done, bail can’t be posted.
• A hold. A warrant from another county or a probation or parole hold can keep someone in custody even after bail is posted. We check for holds before you pay anything.
• Bail hasn’t been set. Most charges have a scheduled bail amount, but if a judge has to decide, nothing can be posted until that happens.
• A source-of-funds hold. In rare cases, under Penal Code 1275.1, a court can require proof that the money for bail wasn’t obtained illegally before release.
• A transfer in progress. If they’re being moved from the Taft jail to Lerdo, release waits until the move is done.
• A busy jail. Weekend nights and holidays can mean more people in line ahead of yours.

Once the bond is posted, the Sheriff’s Office says release can take up to 8 hours. It varies, and anyone who promises you an exact time is guessing. Our Kern County jail release timeline goes through each stage.

What a 24 hour bail bond costs

Calling at 2 a.m. doesn’t change how the premium works. The premium is most commonly 10% of the bail amount. It isn’t fixed by statute; each surety files its rates with the California Department of Insurance and its agents charge the filed rate, and many file as low as 8% for qualifying cases. Ask what filed rate applies to your case.

The premium is the fee for the bond, so it is not refunded when the case ends. That’s the trade-off against paying the full bail in cash directly to the jail or court: cash bail is refundable after the case ends (subject to the court’s process), but you have to come up with the whole amount tonight. Our guide to getting bail money back in California explains the difference. For a quick estimate, try the bail bond calculator.

Not everyone needs a bond

It’s late, you’re worried, and the instinct is to pay whatever gets them out. Before you do, know that plenty of people never need a bail bond. Many minor arrests end in a citation release, a written promise to appear. And since In re Humphrey (2021), California judges must consider a person’s ability to pay, and release on one’s own recognizance (OR) is routine in many cases.

If someone isn’t released, Penal Code 825 requires that they be brought before a judge within 48 hours of arrest, not counting Sundays and holidays, and the judge can grant OR release or change the bail amount. Sometimes the smartest move is to wait for that hearing. Ask us what’s likely in your case before you pay a dollar. If waiting is the better move, we’ll tell you so.

Kern County areas we serve, day and night

We write 24 hour bail bonds across Bakersfield and all of Kern County, including:

• Bakersfield neighborhoods: Downtown, East Bakersfield, Northwest and Southwest Bakersfield
• North of the river: Oildale
• South valley: Arvin and Lamont
• North Kern: Wasco, Shafter and Delano
• West Kern: Taft, Maricopa and the west side oil towns
• Mountains and desert: Tehachapi and Lake Isabella

See the full list on our Kern County bail bonds page. If you’re searching “bail bonds near me” from anywhere in Bakersfield, we’re a short drive away on Blanche Street, and most of the time you won’t need to make the drive at all.

Frequently asked questions

Are bail bonds open 24 hours?

Cowboy Bail Bonds is. A licensed agent answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays, at 661-324-6009. We can write the bond at 3 a.m. on a Sunday the same as at noon on a Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office doesn’t publish bail-posting hours for the Lerdo Inmate Reception Center, so we confirm with the jail before posting, and we call the Taft city jail ahead too.

What is an emergency bail bond?

It is an ordinary bail bond written and posted outside office hours, usually right after an arrest. There is no separate emergency product. The paperwork, the bond, and the way the premium works are the same as during the day.

Does a 24 hour bail bond cost more?

Calling late at night does not change how the premium works. The premium is most commonly 10% of the bail amount. It isn’t fixed by statute; each surety files its rates with the California Department of Insurance and its agents charge the filed rate, and many file as low as 8% for qualifying cases. Ask what filed rate applies to your case.

How long does release take after the bond is posted?

It varies. The Kern County Sheriff’s Office says release after bail is posted can take up to 8 hours, and it can take longer when booking is not finished or there is a hold. Nobody can honestly promise you an exact time.

Do I have to come to your office in the middle of the night?

No. Paperwork can be done by phone or online, and you can also meet us at our office at 1710 Blanche Street in Bakersfield if you prefer to sign in person.

Can someone stay in jail after the bond is posted?

Yes. A warrant from another county or a probation or parole hold can keep someone in custody even after bail is posted. We check for holds before you pay anything.

Do you speak Spanish?

Yes. We have bilingual agents on staff. Se habla español.