Can you bail someone out of jail with no money? It’s a reasonable question to ask considering how expensive bail can be (averaging around $50,000). So, what happens if you can’t afford bail?
Unfortunately, if you’ve been asked to post bail, you need at least some money. Yes, there are other types of bonds that don’t require you to pay money to be released (like an OR Bond) — but a cash bond is not one of those, and only certain individuals are approved for OR Bonds.
If you can’t afford the full bail amount, then you can attempt to pay a percentage of the bail. To do this, you have to seek out a bail bond company. In California, bail bond companies normally charge a 10% fee and may request some type of collateral from you to back up the bond.
This percentage fee is not returned, so don’t expect to get it back.
Once you complete the paperwork with the bail bondsman and pay your percentage fee (which could be a couple thousand dollars or more), then the bail bondsman will pay the full bail amount to court and help get your loved one released from jail.
If you can’t pay the percentage fee on your own, then it’s important to work with friends and family members to come up with that amount. This is still a better alternative than paying the full bail amount to court or having your loved one wait in jail until their court date (which could be quite a while).
If you need more information about how to post bail or if you’d like to inquire about other payment plans or options, please give us a callat 661-324-6009. At Cowboy Bail Bonds, we have decades of experience providing bail bonds in Bakersfield, Taft, Lamont, and Kern County.
We’re located in downtown Bakersfield, and we’re available for assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Looking for bail bonds in Bakersfield? At Cowboy Bail Bonds, we offer fast and easy bail bond services in Bakersfield, CA and throughout Kern County — including Taft, Lamont, Shafter, and Delano.
With decades of experience, we have the resources and expertise you need to get your loved one out of jail fast. When you work with us, you can expect:
A free consultation — give us a call, we’ll let you know exactly what to expect and when
A hassle-free process — we’ll come to you, and we’ll make the bail bond process as painless as possible
24-hr service — we’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week… when you call us, we’ll answer
Honest and direct communication — we don’t mess around, we’ll tell it to you how it is
Quick Release — from the very first minute we speak, we’ll work tirelessly to get your loved one out of jail as fast as we can… leveraging our community resources and decades of experience providing bail bonds in Bakersfield
Contact us today to get help with bail bonds in Bakersfield
If you want to know, “How do bail bond companies work?”, then you might be facing some sort of legal trouble. If this is the case, don’t worry. Working with a bail bond company is typically a very smooth process. In fact, a bail bondsman can even quicken the process and help you avoid potential issues along the way.
Let’s take a few moments to discuss how a bail bond company works and provide you with additional resources to keep learning.
What is bail?
Bail is set by the court. It is a dollar amount that the defendant pays. Once the bail is paid, then the defendant can await his or her court date from home — rather than waiting in a jail cell. Bail is typically pretty expensive, especially in California (the average amount is around $50,000), and many individuals awaiting trial cannot afford to post bail on their own (which is why they seek out a bail bond company).
However, bail is not always a guaranteed thing. In some cases, bail can be denied based on factors such as flight risk, seriousness of the alleged crime committed, and degree of danger to the community.
If you cannot afford to post bail on your own, then you can either remain in jail as you await your court date or you can seek out a bail bond company. When you approach a bail bond company, they will need to gather personal information, work history, references, and collateral. If approved, the bail bond company will go to the court and pay the full bail amount on your behalf. Then you or your loved one should be released from jail.
When you turn to a bail bond company to help you post bail, you will be required to pay a fee (usually around 10%). While the bond itself is refundable, this fee is not (even if you are eventually found innocent of the crime). After you attend your court date, the bail amount will be refunded to the bail bond company, and the bail bond company will pocket your bail bond fee. This is how bail bond companies make money and are able to offer this service.
Bail bondsmen are not considered law enforcement to any degree. They simply offer a bail service to the community. However, if you don’t make your court date that means the bail bond company will not get your bail amount refunded. This means they have an incentive to get you back to court. In this type of situation, the bail bond company would hire a bounty hunter. These people are also not police officers, but they do have the authority to legally detain you and take you back to court.
If you don’t make your court date, then you will have a failure to appear on your record and a warrant will be issued for your arrest. As we mentioned earlier, this will be the point at which the bail bond company will likely reach out to a bounty hunter. If you did happen to post bail on your own, then a failure to appear in court means you forfeit the entire bail amount, and it will not be returned to you.
Need help posting bail? Contact Cowboy Bail Bonds.
At Cowboy Bail Bonds, we have decades of experience providing bail bonds in Bakersfield, Taft, Wasco, and throughout Kern County, and we’d love to talk to you.Fill out our online form or give us a call today.
If you or a loved one is sent to jail, then you’ll immediately want to know, “How is the bail amount determined in court?” This is because once bail is set, then you can start the process to get your friend or family member out of jail. The sooner you can get your loved one out of jail, the better.
When it comes to bail, however, there are several factors that will help the judge determine bail amount. These factors can include:
The defendant’s criminal history: Is this the individual’s first crime or have they committed multiple crimes in the past? Do they have a failure to appear on their record? (Learn more about a failure to appear in court.)
The nature of the crime: How serious is the crime? If they’re released, will they be a danger to anyone in the community?
Their intent to flee: Do they pose a significant flight risk? Are the chances high that they’ll leave the city, state, or country if released on bail?
Any of these factors can increase or decrease bail, and in certain cases, you could be fully denied bail. At this point, you’ll be forced to remain in jail until your trial is completed.
Keep in mind… even if you have a clean criminal history and relatively minor charge on the table, you could still end up facing a pretty steep bail amount. In fact, the median bail amount in California is around $50,000 (which is significantly higher than other areas of the country).
You can be released on an “OR bond”, which means you don’t have to post bail and you can still await trial at home. Learn more about Own Recognizance bonds.
Know your bail amount already? Here’s what you need to know.
When it comes time to post bail, the majority of people will seek out help from a bail bondsman— simply based on the fact that bail is usually a lot of money. Take a look at the resources below to learn more about how and when to post bail.
If you have a loved one in jail, then your first question (of many) is likely, “How much does bail cost?” While there are a few options once someone has been arrested, odds are you probably want to get your friend or family member out of jail as quickly as possible. So, figuring out how much bail is and how to post it is almost always an immediate concern.
If you don’t go the bail route, then your loved one will be required to remain in jail until the court process has been completed. This can be quite a long time.
If you decide to post bail, then you have two options — pay the bail outright to the court or work with a bail bond agent. Since bail can be a high amount (especially if it’s not a minor charge), most people can’t afford bail, and they’ll end up reaching out to a local bail bond company.
At this point, you won’t be required to pay the full bail amount to the court. Instead, you’ll pay a bail fee to the bail bond company, and the bail bond company will post the full bail amount on your behalf.
If you’re wondering, “How much does a bail bond cost?” — then you’ll need to only calculate the bail fee amount. The bail fee amount is a percentage of the full bail amount. In California, this usually sits at or around 10%. So, if your bail is set at $10,000, you owe the bail bond company $1,000.
Keep in mind — while the full bail amount is refundable (if you don’t have a failure to appear in court), the bail fee paid to a bail bond company is non-refundable (even if the charges are dropped in the future). However, certain bail bond companies will do their best to work with you and may be able to provide payment options (or other forms of payment).
In some cases, you will be required to put up collateral, as well. There are many types of collateral, including homes, cars, and jewelry. You’ll want to be very careful choosing your collateral since this can technically become the property of the bail bond company if your loved one fails to appear in court.
Want to keep learning about the bail bond process?
Take a look at our additional resources, and reach out to us if you have any questions.
If you’re wondering how to get out of jail in California (and not in Monopoly), then you’ve come to the right place. Getting out of jail can be a stressful and confusing process, so it’s important to find local experts to help you out. More specifically, you’ll want tofind a local bail bond company(and maybe even a lawyer if the charge necessitates it).
How can a bail bond agent help you get out of jail?
When you’re arrested for a crime, odds are you’ll be assigned a bail amount by the court. Bail could be assigned immediately or it could be assigned after seeing a judge (which could take up to 24 hours).
If you can post bail, then you’ll be free to go home. If you cannot, you’ll have to remain in jail until your next court date. Bail is used as an incentive to get the defendant to return to court, which means that your bail amount will be returned if you don’t skip your court date.
However, bail can sometimes be out of reach for the average person, which is why bail bond companies exist. A bail bond company can work with you or a close friend or family member, guide you through the bail process, and get you out of jail quickly. Usually, a bail bond company will take over the whole process on behalf of the defendant and their family, which can speed things up and create less confusion.
Keep in mind, working with a bail bond company is not free. You will be required to pay a non-refundable percentage of your bail to the bail bond company. And in some cases, you’ll also be required to put up some form of collateral.
In some situations, people could be granted an OR release (own recognizance release). This usually only happens if the crime committed is minor, and the person has a relatively clean criminal history. With an OR release, you won’t be required to post bail or remain in jail until your court date — you simply sign some paperwork, and you’re allowed to return home.
Cowboy Bail Bonds can help you get out of jail in California
Need help getting out of jail and posting your bail? Give us a call at 661.324.6009 or fill out our online form to get immediate help. We are available 24/7 to help you or your loved ones make bail and get out of jail quickly.
When a loved one is arrested, you might be wondering, “What is an own recognizance release and how do you qualify for one?”
This is a common question (even if people don’t actually know the term “own recognizance” or “OR”). Because if you’re not asking, “What is an OR bond?”, then you’re likely asking, “Can I be released from custody without posting a cash bond?” These two questions are one and the same.
If you’re required to post a bond, it’s usually not cheap, and it’s this way on purpose. The court needs to give you a bigger incentive to return to court on the appropriate day. If you don’t, your bond will not be returned. If you do, you get all your money back.
Even though bail bond companies will post bail on your behalf, you’re still required to pay a percentage of the bond to thebail bond company. And you may even need cosigners who will be responsible for the full amount if you skip your court date. For some people, cosigners and even the bail bond fee are out of reach — which is why an own recognizance release is often requested.
Who qualifies for an own recognizance release?
The court believes you do not require cash bond to return to court
The individual has not been charged with an offense punishable by death
The individual will not be a threat to public safety
Keep in mind, most people charged with felonies will not be granted an OR. If it’s your first-offense and you’ve been charged with a low-level offense, it’s a possibility that you could be granted an OR after a background check.
What happens if you don’t get an OR?
If you don’t get an OR and you are required to post a cash bond, then you’ll likely need to reach out to a bail bond company. A bail bond agent can help you through the bail process and get you released from jail quickly. Take a look at some helpful links below to learn more about the bail bond process.
We’ve previously addressed whether or not bail bond agentsand bounty hunters are police officers, which they are not. But are bail bondsmen law enforcement officers in any capacity?
The answer to this question depends on how you look at things. To be clear, bail bondsmen are not law enforcement officers and neither are bounty hunters. However, they do deal with bail enforcement, which does give them some authority to take you back to court.
If a person skips their court date, a bail bond company would contract with a bounty hunter. That bounty hunter would then find the person who skipped court and bring them back to the proper authorities on behalf of the bail bond company.
The bounty hunter does have to be educated and may have to obtain specific licenses in order to detain a fugitive. Bounty hunters are also expected to have the appropriate documentation to carry out their duties. In other words, you can’t just wake up one day and decide to be a bounty hunter. You have to go through the process to become a bounty hunter and then work alongside bail bond companies.
So, while bail bond companies and bounty hunters have some legal capacity to detain you, they aren’t technically law enforcement officers. They are not responsible for policing individuals on anything other than bail and failed court appearances.
Want to learn more about the bail bond process?
Now that we’ve answered the question, “Are bail bondsmen law enforcement officers?”, check out our additional resources to learn more about bail bond agents and the bail bond process as a whole:
What happens if you fail to appear in court after you’ve been charged with a crime and posted bail? Will you immediately be sent back to jail or is it possible that the judge will just let everything slide?
Well, we can say one thing for sure — the judge will not simply forget about everything and drop the charges.
Here’s what you can expect to happen with a failure to appear in court.
Failure to appear in court penalties
Fine: up to $1,000 fine (if original crime a misdemeanor), up to $10,000 (if original crime a felony)
Jail time: up to 6 months in jail (if original crime a misdemeanor), up to 3 years (if original crime a felony)
Charge: misdemeanor or felony based on original charge
To make matters significantly worse, you will likely be forced to forfeit your bail money if you skipped your court date (even if you are eventually found innocent of the original crime).
To be charged with a failure to appear in court, it has to be proven that you were notified of the court date, that you intentionally failed to appear, and that you had no viable excuse for not attending. All in all, none of this is very difficult to prove.
How to avoid a failure to appear in court charge
The only real way to avoid a failure to appear in court charge is to… show up to court. While there are ways to fight this charge in court, it requires a skilled lawyer and a good amount of luck. Your best bet is to avoid this charge altogether and don’t attempt to delay court proceedings.
If you or a loved one is arrested on the weekend, what happens? Are bail bonds open on the weekends and can you get in contact with a bail bond agent? Or, do you have to wait until Monday at 9am to finally get the bail bond process initiated?
If you or someone you care for has been arrested at midnight on a Friday or even early on a Sunday morning, you’ll be happy to know that you can typically call up a bail bond company right then and there. You don’t have to wait until the next business day.
The average local bail bond company understands that mistakes aren’t just made on weekdays during business hours. In fact, it’s probably more likely that you’ll find yourself in trouble late at night when most people are in bed. This is why the majority of bail bond companies are on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
However, operating hours may differ from one police station to the next. What this means is that you may not be able to post bail until the next morning or the following business day. Nonetheless, you can still get the process started with a local bail bond agent (which is recommended).
