Bail Bonds: What You Should Know
How does this affect you? A bail bond can be posted to a court to ensure that you’ll return for your hearing after you’re arrested. Most courthouses have default set prices for the different felony offenses that people commit. The bail bond for any felony isn’t supposed to be too high that you can’t pay it. It’s unconstitutional to set a bail bond high, but a lot of judges do it on serious felony cases such as arson or murder. A felony is a serious offense and judges don’t take them very lightly, nor does the public; your jury.
There are steps that you can take if you can’t pay your bail bond in cash. You can put up property as collateral for your bail bond or you can ask that the bail bond for the felony be lowered by the judge. Usually this can be done when the arraignment occurs, or at a bail bond hearing. You should consider the affects of posting a bail bond to the court, and then not living up to your commitment of showing up to court for your felony hearing. Property surrenders include vehicles, real estate, boats, and other valuable merchandise.
Consequences of posting your money or land for a bail bond can have a few serious affects on your finances and your life in general. For example if a bail bond is paid and all commitments to court have been met, then most of the monies are given back. However there is a percentage of the fee that won’t be refunded. Don’t forget too that you’ll have to pay administrative fees which come out of the monies paid to the court for bail bond on the felony. If you skip out and property has been posted as security you’ll loose your property. Don’t skip; it’s just not worth loosing your home, car, or other possessions.
If you’re lucky enough the judge might release you on your on recognizance or O.R. instead of posting a bail bond for your felony. Some reasons are that a judge could excuse your bail bond is that you’ve never been in trouble with the law, if you have a job, or if children are in need of care in the community. All of these factors are to your benefit if you’ve committed a felony. If you commit murder while intoxicated and you meet your bail bond in order to go to work, expect to only be allowed to drive back and forth to work with a restricted license. If you are found to be driving during other hours you could face immediate arrest and fines.
Understanding the law can be really complicated if you’re not a professional, such as law enforcement officials like the police and attorney’s. When you’re searching for information on bail bonds, make sure it’s a reliable source. It doesn’t matter if you’re searching on the Internet or in a publication, always check with someone in the know.
If you need help with you can go online to two very credible places at www.usdoj.gov and www.ncjrs.com. The U. S. Department of Justice will let you know about new federal laws effecting bail bonds, and links to a lot of other information too. The National Criminal Justice Reference Service gives a lot of information on how courts work, law enforcement issues, and the role of the corrections department of the U. S. Don’t forget to check out your state sources which can be found online, with information from your attorney general of your state.
Remember the best idea is to fully cooperate, and own up to your fault in the felony. Judges and the courts respect that attitude much more than any flippant attitude or action in court. People make mistakes and can own up to them. Post a bail bond and get own with your life. It’s the most logical way to handle it.
