Can You Post a Bail Bond Yourself?

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When circumstances arise for you to bail yourself or a loved one out of jail, knowing your options can be half the battle. Your freedom or your loved one’s freedom may depend on it. To avoid spending the days, weeks or even months leading up to a trial in a cell, posting bail is your only option. Thankfully, the Judicial System has put in place a way to obtain freedom even when you or your loved ones don’t have the entirety of the cash bail on-hand. Can you post bond by yourself? The answer is more than a simple yes or no.

How Does the Bail Bond Process Work?

When someone is arrested, there is a process to go through from posting bond all the way up to appearing in court. Whether you post bond on your own or have a bondsman take care of that, the steps are the same. They are as follows:

  1. A person gets arrested and booked for a crime and is then considered a defendant.
  2. The defendant is held in jail to wait for their initial court appearance, otherwise known as an arraignment. An arraignment is a brief hearing where the judge assigned sets a bond amount that must be paid before that person is released from jail.
  3. Once the bond has been set, either the defendant, a friend, or a family member can pay the full amount of the bond.
  4. If no one has enough money to pay the full bond, a bail bondsman can step in. In this case, the amount to get the loved one from jail is only a small percentage.
  5. Once the bond is paid, the defendant is released.
  6. For the bond to remain active, the defendant must appear at all court dates. Failure to do so may result in loss of money, collateral, and the defendant’s freedom.

Can You Bail Yourself Out of Jail?

Yes and no. If you are financially able to pay for the entire bail at the time of arrest, then you can bail yourself and be the only cosigner. The caveat, however, is that a bail is a cash bail, meaning that you must have the full amount on-hand to be released. Because bail can vary in amount, depending on the crime, it is likely that you will not have the entire amount in cash at your disposal. Don’t worry, however, as it is very rare for someone to post bond on their own. You are not alone, and there is help available to obtain freedom.

When to Hire a Bondsman?

If you don’t have any interest in the potential risk of losing some or all of your money to the court, hiring a bail bondsman is your best and quickest option. Without this, you or your loved one will have to sit in jail until the court date, however far away that is. This will relieve the stress of having to give up a large sum of money as well as getting you or your loved one out of jail. Before hiring a bondsman, be sure to know:

  1. Defendant’s full name and DOB
  2. Location of the jail
  3. Booking number and charges
  4. Bond amount

Once you have provided this information to the bondsman, freedom is on the horizon! After the 10% premium is paid to the bondsman for the full amount of the bond, the bondsman will pail the full bail amount and the defendant will be released.

For more information on bonds, or the bail bonds process in general, please contact us at (800) 372-2245 or submit the form below.

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