Bail is the money you pay to the court for a release from a pending criminal case. Often, bail assures the court that you can return to court for scheduled proceedings if you are released before your trial. At your first arraignment, the judge will set the amount of bail you need to pay using bail schedules and adjust it depending on the specific factors of your case.
Before your release, you should post the full bail amount to the court clerk. Since California is known for setting high bail amounts, many defendants and their families find it unaffordable to post cash bail. Fortunately, you do not have to watch a loved one sit behind bars for lack of bail money.
You can explore other options, like posting a bail bond. A surety company offers bail bonds at a fee, often 10% of the total bail. At Justice Bail Bonds, we understand the impact that sitting behind bars could have on your life. Our Guatay bail bonds service will offer the financial assistance and expert guidance you need throughout the bail process.
Understanding Bail in California
Posting bail in California allows criminal defendants to secure a pretrial release. This means you can walk free and move on with your life while the court schedules your trial. With the increasing number of criminal arrests in the state, the court could take weeks or even months to schedule your trial. Therefore, remaining in jail would be unnecessary.
Most defendants are entitled to a bail release. However, posting bail is optional. You can decide to remain in jail and wait for your trial. While this decision eliminates the financial responsibility of securing a release, it can negatively impact your life in the following ways:
- Missing time with family. The moments following an arrest can be traumatizing, and you will need support from your family and friends. Remaining in jail makes it challenging to receive this support, and the situation can impact your mental well-being.
- Losing your job. Most employers will not allow you to miss work while in jail. Therefore, remaining in jail can cause you to lose your income.
- Inability to freely speak with your attorney. Due to the extensive surveillance and monitoring in jail cells, you cannot freely discuss the details of your case with your attorney.
Bail is not a punishment for your crimes. Therefore, you can recover the money from the court in your case. Whether you face a conviction or an acquittal, it will not impact your ability to recover the money.
However, you can lose money when you skip court proceedings or violate the conditions issued by the judge during your release. You can post your bail in cash, property, or through a bail bond. Posting a cash bail requires you to have the total bail amount before the release. This increases your financial burden for the release and the risk of losing money in a bail forfeiture.
For defendants without the financial capacity to post cash bail, other options exist, including property bonds and bail bonds.
Factors that Impact Your Bail Amount
Bail amounts vary from one defendant to another. The judge will set your bail at your first court appearance. Some of the factors that affect the judge’s decision on your bail amount include:
- Bail schedules. In California, the bail schedules list offenses and the amount required for each offense. The crimes are classified as felonies and misdemeanors. The bail schedules give the judge a base amount for your bail. This amount will be increased or reduced depending on the circumstances of your case.
- The severity of your charges. The amount of bail required to secure a release from jail increases with the severity of your criminal charges. For this reason, the court may set a higher bail amount for a felony charge than a misdemeanor.
- Potential flight risk. Posting bail guarantees that a defendant will return to court for a scheduled trial. Your flight risk is the likelihood of skipping bail to escape the consequences of your crime. Your flight risk may be determined by the strength of your ties to the community and your past conduct while on bail. The court will set a higher bail amount for defendants with a high flight risk to discourage them from fleeing.
- Risk of public safety. A bail release allows defendants to remain out of jail while the court schedules their trial. Although this helps the defendant move on with their life, the court is keen to ensure community safety. You are considered a risk to public safety if you have committed a violent crime like murder, rape, or robbery with violence, among others. In this case, the judge may increase your bail.
- Bail algorithms. California courts rely on bail algorithms to determine the amount you need to secure a release from jail with a pending criminal case. The judge will input your personal information and the crime details into the algorithm, suggesting a bail amount for your case.
- Your criminal record. California law is strict on repeat offenders, even when setting bail. Multiple criminal convictions could suggest your disregard for the justice system. For this reason, the court may set a lower bail amount for first-time offenders or defendants without a substantial criminal history.
- Your income and resources. The court uses bail to discourage defendants from fleeing after a release. You will lose the money or property used for bail when you do not appear in court for trial. Therefore, your bail amount may increase with a high income.
Conditions of Bail
When the court grants you bail, the judge attaches several conditions you must follow while on bail. You must follow these conditions closely to avoid a rearrest or revocation of your bail. The bail conditions are set and enforced depending on the nature of your charges and other offense factors. The conditions include:
Travel Restrictions
Posting bail guarantees that you will not flee after your release. Therefore, the court could order you to only travel within your jurisdiction. This helps avoid missing court appearances. The court enforces these travel restrictions by mandating that you surrender your travel documents.
Wearing a SCRAM Device
While out on bail, a defendant may be required to wear a SCRAM device placed around their ankle. This device monitors a person’s movement without sending an officer to check on them.
Find and Retain a Job
If you are released on bail while your case is pending, the judge will order that you find and retain a job. Such measures assure the court that the defendant attempts to be self-sufficient. Additionally, employment will tie the defendant to the community, discouraging them from fleeing before their case ends.
Firearm Ban
As a bail condition, the court can require defendants to relinquish their firearms and refrain from purchasing more weapons. This limitation may be applicable in your case even when you are not charged with a firearm offense.
No-Contact Orders
If you face charges for a violent felony or domestic violence, the court may issue a no-contact order against you. After your release on bail, you must avoid contact with the protected person.
Failure to follow through with your bail conditions could result in the revocation of your bail and a re-arrest. If your conditions are unclear, you can seek clarification from the court or your Guatay bail bondsman.
Bail Bonds
For defendants who cannot afford to post a cash or property bond, bail bonds ensure they do not sit behind bars while their case is pending. Licensed surety companies in California provide bail bonds. Posting a bail bond will begin when your loved one is arrested and detained.
When you learn of the arrest, you must contact the surety company to seek their assistance. Before contacting the company, you must have the following information about the defendant:
- Their full name.
- The jail where the defendant is held.
- The offense for which they are charged.
- The amount required for their bail.
The surety company will send a Guatay bail bondsman to help you post bail for your loved one. The role of the bail bondsman will include:
- Investigating your eligibility for a bail bond. Eligibility for a bail bond is determined by checking the defendant’s criminal history and flight risk. Additionally, your ability to pay for the bail bond service is critical.
- Completing paperwork. A bail bond is a legal agreement with numerous paperwork to fill out. Therefore, your bail bondsman will be responsible for filling in the documents necessary for your loved one's release.
- Posting bail. When you seek a bail bond, presenting the bail money to the court falls on the bail bondsman.
- Guide the defendants. The bail bondsman will offer the expert guidance that a defendant needs to ensure they follow through with the bail release requirements.
In exchange for posting your loved one's bail, you will be responsible for up to 10% of the total bail amount, which will serve as a service fee. Posting a bail bond lowers the financial responsibility for a release, making it easy for low-income individuals to secure a release from jail.
When the bail amount is high, the 10% premium may be too much for you to raise in a single installment. In this case, you can negotiate a bail bond repayment plan with your Guatay bail bonds company. With the repayment plan, the company allows you to pay a deposit from the premium and pay the balance in affordable installments.
You will have a better chance of entering the repayment plan if you pay a substantial portion of the premium. Additionally, you must have evidence of a stable income and a good credit score.
For some defendants, the surety company will require bail bond collateral. Collateral could be anything from real estate property to vehicles or other valuable items. Presenting collateral guarantees that the surety company will not lose its money in case of bail forfeiture.
Factors to Consider When Hiring a Guatay Bail Bonds Company
Posting a bail bond offers numerous benefits for the defendants in California. These benefits include a faster release, a smooth release process, and affordability. However, choosing a bail bond company can improve your experience. The following are some factors you should consider before hiring a bail bond agency:
- The process of posting bail can be complicated and tedious. Therefore, you want to work with a company that understands local laws and court processes. This ensures that your loved ones' release is less stressful.
- Reputation and credibility. Before settling for a surety company's services, you must check their reputation and credibility. You can do this by checking for reviews on their websites or seeking the opinions of others who have used their services. With a credible and reputable company, you can ensure a fast release for your loved one.
- Cost of Bail Bonds. Bail in California is often high, even for minor offenses. Therefore, you must work with a company that offers affordable premium rates. While California's standard bail bond premium rate is 10%, some companies offer discounts. In addition to the bail bond cost, you should ensure the company has flexible repayment plans.
- Arrests can occur at any time. When looking for a bail bond company to help you with the release, you should ensure their bail bondsmen can offer assistance. If you contact a surety company and your call goes to voicemail or receive an automated message, it works best to move on to the next company.
- Learning of your loved ones' arrest and detention can take a toll on you and your family. Posting bail is a financial obligation that could drain you financially. Learning of additional charges after signing a bail bond agreement can add to the stressful situation. Therefore, you should work with a company that is transparent with their charges to avoid unforeseen charges.
- Licensing and insurance. You must ensure that your bail bond company is licensed and insured. Before obtaining licensing, the bail bondsmen will have undergone hours of training. This means they will offer reliable services for you and your loved ones.
What Happens to the Bail Money When the Case Ends?
Bail is not part of the penalty for your crime. Therefore, the fate of the bail money will not be affected by the outcome of your case. Instead, adherence to bail conditions will determine whether you will recover or lose the money.
Bail Exoneration
Bail exoneration occurs when the court releases the bail money or property to the payer. You can recover the money you paid for bail when the defendant attends all their court proceedings and their case ends. If you posted the bail in cash, you would collect a check for the full amount from the court several weeks after the case ends.
If you post a property bond, the court will lift the lien on the property. For defendants who secure a release on bail bonds, the bail money will be refunded to the surety company. After the surety company has collected the money from the court, they can return the item you presented as bail bond collateral.
Bail Forfeiture
Bail forfeiture means that you lose the bail money to the court. The court can forfeit bail when a defendant skips or violates the bail conditions. If you post a bail bond, the court could give your Guatay bail bonds company some time to find a defendant and bring them back to court before forfeiting the bail.
An arrest in Guatay, CA, can result in detention in these facilities:
Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility
George F. Bailey Detention
Courts serving Guatay, CA, include:
Superior Court of California
Find a Reliable Guatay Bail Bonds Company Near Me
After an arrest in California, defendants are placed in jail, awaiting trial and other court proceedings. Posting bail allows you to secure a release from jail and move forward with your life as your criminal case is pending. Unless you are charged with a crime punishable by capital punishment, you will be entitled to a bail release.
The court mandates that you post the full bail amount before release. Due to the high financial burden of posting cash bail, many defendants opt to secure a release using bail bonds. A bail bond is an agreement between a defendant, a co-signer, and a surety company. The surety company will post bail and help you navigate the complicated bail process.
By posting a bail bond, your financial burden on the release is reduced, and you can ensure a fast release. Your choice of a surety company can significantly impact your bail posting experience and outcome. You will benefit from our expert services at Justice Bail Bonds if you or a loved one is arrested in Guatay, CA. Call us at 714-541-1155 to discuss your bail needs.
