Let’s face it. We all might face a situation where we bump into a spot of trouble. Maybe we get behind the wheel after a few drinks, thinking we’re okay to drive when we should have given the keys to a friend. Maybe it’s something we didn’t do but have been accused of. Either way, if we don’t want to stay in jail until the hearing of whatever our case is, we’re going to likely have to post a bond. That’s just the way our legal system works. Misdemeanor bonds, misdemeanor criminal bonds, non-arrest bonds; it can all get very complicated. It’s best to have a professional bondsman handle things if possible. They are the experts and know the ropes.
Right now, as you are reading this, there are roughly 14,000 bail agents working in the United States, and going back to June 2010 to June 2011 there were 12 million people processed through jails all across the country. More than half of American men will be arrested at some time in their lives. That’s what the statistics tell us.
With that much activity going on in the legal system, you can only imagine how much money is coming and going as a result of bonds and bail. Misdemeanor bonds make up a good portion of that bond money. This is basically money that you have to put up if you are arraigned and it has been decided that you need to come back for a trial at a later date. That money is your promise that you will return for that trial. If you don’t, not only will you be a fugitive, you’ll lose all of that money, as well.
For crimes that require a larger bond to be posted before you can be released until trial, most of the time the money is too great an amount for you to come up with. This is where a bail bond agency comes in. A bail bond service will post your bond for you and you will, in turn, pay them a percentage of the bond money they’ve paid. When you return to the trial and the bond money is returned, it will go directly back to the bail bond service. They get their money back plus the fee you’ve paid them, which is roughly 5 to 10% of the bond.
Everyone would like to believe that they will never have to face the inside of a courtroom as a defendant. But things happen; things that are out of our control, sometimes. If you ever do find yourself in front of a judge’s bench, however, it would obviously be better to be dealing with misdemeanor bonds than the higher amounts that need a bail bond service. If that bail amount is sky high, then it’s time to call for some help. Try to find a bond service that knows the area well and has dealt with the judges and knows the procedures. This could be a big help to you in the end.