Missing a court date while on a bond is very serious and could even end up with you in jail. Bail bonds were created with the intent of giving the person committed of a crime the motivation to show up to court. If, however, you do miss a court date while you have a bond, all the money you had on a bond will need to be paid in full, and the judge will then forfeit the bond by requiring you to spend the rest of your trial wait in jail. When the judge forfeits the bond, it informs the insurance company and the bail agency. At this time, they are required to get you back into court as soon as they can. The judge will also send out a bench warrant to police officers, giving them the right to arrest you on the spot.
There is no possible way to get out of going to your court hearing. There are, however, ways to postpone it. Make sure to let your bond agent know as soon as possible if you can not make your court date. Otherwise, you will be in serious trouble with the law. A small check-up at a doctor's appointment won't get you out of your court date, and there aren't very many things that can. But for example, if you have a funeral service of a close friend or you or a friend are in the hospital for a severe injury, you may be able to postpone your court date. This all depends on your criminal background and if you are known to flee. Another thing to keep in mind is that if your bond agent offers to help you get to court, take it. Whether it's a ride to the courthouse or helping you re-arrange any work-related issues take whatever help you can get.
Bail bonds are simple. If you pay the bail amount to the court, you will be able to receive it back once you show up to your court date and it has passed. If you do not show up to court, you will be required to pay back the full loan and pay the extra 10% as well. Most people don't have enough money to pay the court what they are asking, so they instead go to a bail bondsman in order to get a loan. The accused will still have to pay 10% of the original cost of the loan even after the court hearing is over. If you show up to the court on time and you are honest, all the money is returned back to you. But, you still need to pay the 10% fee to the bail bond agency.
If you have already missed your court date, there are a few steps you can take to make sure that you don't return to jail. First, you should immediately return to court and express your apologies and make it right with the judge. When this happens, he may raise your bail amount, reissue your bail bond, or deny your excuse all together and send you back to jail. If you do not show up to the court to express your apologies and try to make it right, you will be put in jail for the remainder of your trial. Missing a court date can also give you a bad name and make you look guilty even if you didn't commit the crime, so do your best to make it right.
At Sportsman Bail Bonds we try our best to give you the best services and get you where you need to go. We respect your needs and are always willing to help in whatever way we can. If you are in need of a bail agent for you or a family member make sure to call us at 801-623-6877 or contact us online.