Posting Bail and Bail Bonds

If you are arrested, you may be held in custody. If this happens, a bail amount will normally be set. This means that you are required to post the amount of the bail for you to be released from custody. The purpose of bail is to insure that you return to court for future court appearances. If you pay the bail, are released from custody, and then do not come to future court appearances, you may forfeit your entire bail amount.

Bail: As an example, let’s assume that you are arrested and your bail is set at $50,000. There are several ways you can have bail posted:

Posting Bail Yourself: If a friend of family member is able to post the entire bail, they simply go to the courthouse, post the bail, and you are released. If you come to all of your court appearances and do not violate any other conditions of your release, at the end of your case, the entire amount will be returned. This is the cheapest and easiest way to post bail.

Bail Bonds: If you cannot afford the entire amount of bail, a friend or family member can go to a bail bondsman. You pay the bail bondsman 10% of the bail, and they will post the remaining 90%. In our example, you pay the bail bondsman $5,000, and they pay the rest. The only catch is that at the end of the case, you do not get your $5,000 back. The bail bondsman keeps this as his/her fee. If you are going to use a bail bondsman, contact The Law Office of Scot Candell. We have relationships with many bail bondsmen and can often obtain a lower rate for our clients.

Property Bond. If you own property, you can post a property bond. This process is complicated, takes several weeks, and should be done with a lawyer. If you need to post a property bond, you can contact The Law Office of Scot Candell for assistance.