Hopefully you will never experience a time when a loved one or close friend calls you from jail telling you they have been arrested, but if this occurs, it will be better if you understand the system of bailing a person out of jail. After an arrest, the court will set an amount called the bail amount, and this is the amount of money the person must pay to get out of jail. If your friend needs financial help from you to get out of jail, you may need to turn to a bail bond service for help.

How bail works

Bail is the amount the court sets for allowing a person to get out of jail. If the person pays this set amount, he or she will be set free from jail; however, the person is not set free from the charges. He or she will have to go through court hearings, and a trial possibly, for the charges in question. Paying the bail amount only releases the person from jail so that he or she does not have to remain there during the court procedures. Paying this amount is a good thing in most cases, as the court procedures for a typical crime can take months or years to complete.

How a bail bond works

There are times when courts set bail amounts low, such as $500, but there are also times when bail amounts are very expensive. In some cases, bail amounts can be hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they are often around $5,000 to $10,000. If your friend calls for your help and needs $5,000, for example, to get out, you would have to come up with this amount to help him or her get out of jail. If you do not have this much money, you could contact a bail bondsman.

A bail bondsman may agree to pay the bail amount of $5,000 for your friend, but you would likely need to put around 10% of this amount down, which is $500. This $500 will not be refunded to you, as it is the fee the bail bondsman earns from bailing out your friend, but your friend would be responsible to pay the full $5,000 to the bail bondsman if necessary. Typically, the court will release the bail amount if the person attends all the necessary court hearings during the trial process, but if the person misses a hearing, he or she will owe the full $5,000 to the bail bondsman.

This is a simple explanation of how bail works after an arrest. If you are in a situation where you need help like this, contact a bail bondsman today to learn more.