If one of your friends or family members has been put in jail, and you are not sure what you should do, follow these steps. Trusting your friend to uphold the law and show up to their court dates may be harder than you think. You don't want to be stuck paying your friend's bail money if they don't show up to court. Make sure that you know whether you can trust them or not before you post their bail. Knowing if you should post your family member's bail is a lot easier when you know you can trust them. So what do you do?
Have you ever had a case where your friend or family member lied to you? If they have a history of lying or cheating and you don't know whether to trust them, it's best to let someone else post their bail for them. If not, you may be stuck paying their debt and might even end up losing your car or house as collateral.
Before you decide whether to post your friend or family members bail you should judge the circumstances. What are they being arrested for? Knowing what crime they've committed can help you see whether they can be trusted to show up to court. Serious charges mean the defendant has a higher chance of missing his court date. If they feel as though they could lose a lot from being sentenced or even just tried, they pose a higher threat by neglecting to go to court.
Listen to what they have to say. If they sound innocent and have been trustworthy and honest in the past, they could be telling the truth an might even be innocent. Knowing their side of the story can also help you to know whether the crime is serious or not and whether they will have reasons to flee.
Posting someone else's bail doesn't just mean that you will be letting someone out of jail. It also means that you've just put significant weight on your shoulders. You will be liable for any payments that are not made if the defendant does not show up to court or if they have to hire a bounty hunter to find them. You may also be required to pay on the loan if the defendant is unable to meet the requirements. Know what you are getting yourself into before you contact a bail agent.
Taking the easy way out is first finding out if there is anyone else that is in the family or close to the accused that would be willing to post bail for them. You don't want to be stuck making a payment for someone else's crime if you don't have to.
If you help bail someone out and you've signed the contract, you are automatically responsible for making payments for the person you bailed if they do not show up to court or if they fail to make payments on their own. Also, if the accused does not return to court, a bounty hunter will be hired. When this happens, you will be required to pay the bounty hunter 10% of the original cost of the bond or 35% if they use out of state recovery. If the defendant can not be found, you will have to pay in full the initial cost. Any house, car, or other valuable item that has been used for collateral will be used for a downpayment on loan.
No, you will not be able to cancel a bond once it's been posted. Your signature is on the contract, and you will be liable for any payments that aren't made. It can not be changed or undone. There are, however, some situations that could cause someone's bond to be revoked, and that is if they have broken the law while on bail or went near a crime victim.
Immediately contact the bail agency and inform them about your situation. In order to legally revoke the bond, the defendant will need to be seized by the bail enforcement agency and have surrendered to the jail of jurisdiction. While revoking your bond may be an option, you will be responsible for the bail enforcement fees and all other costs that occur after the defendant is found.
A bail remission motion is when you petition to refund money that was forfeited. After a bond is forfeited, you have the opportunity to set it aside by remission. To do this, you will need to send a request within one year, from the date of forfeiture. Judges will then analyze whether justice needs the forfeiture. Most often the forfeiture will be placed to the side of any of the following applies.
If you need a professional bail bond agency to help you or a family member get out of jail Sportsmans Bail Bonds can help! You don’t need to worry about the stress just give us a call at
801-623-6877 or contact us online.