Unless you are released on a citation or secure a recognizance release, you must post bail for a release before trial in California. Bail is an amount you pay to the court in exchange for a release with a pending case. In addition to providing the money, you promise to return when the court schedules your trial. Failure to post bail will leave you behind bars until your case ends, which can take weeks or even months.
Most defendants and their families are discouraged from securing an early release by the high bail amounts in California. However, some companies can provide the money you need for bail at a more affordable fee. Most San Marino bail bond companies will charge you 10% of the bail as their service fee. This allows you to secure a faster and more convenient release for your loved one.
At Bail Bonds Company, we have the financial capacity to post your loved one’s bail in San Marino, CA, and ensure they do not spend unnecessary time behind bars.
Bail Hearing in California
When you face an arrest in California, one of the first concerns is whether you can post bail and secure a release before scheduling your trial. After your arrest, you will be booked into a jail cell where you can only go home by an OR release or posting bail. Often, the judge will set your bail at the first court appearance. If a warrant is attached to your arrest, you can post a cash bail immediately and go home. Otherwise, you must attend the bail hearing, where the judge determines the exact cost of your bail.
At the bail hearing, the judge can make the following decisions:
- Release you on recognizance. An OR release means you do not have to make a monetary commitment to the court. The OR release is available for defendants with no history of violent crimes or those facing minor charges.
- Require you post bail. If you are not eligible for the recognizance release, you must present the bail money allocated to your case.
- Hold you without bail. Depending on the court’s assessment of the factors of your case, the judge can order that you be held without bail.
When setting your bail, the court is guided by various factors, including:
- The bail schedules. The bail schedules list different crimes on California Penal Code, Business and professions Code, Health and Safety Code, and Vehicle Code. Often, these crimes will be classified as felonies and misdemeanors. In California, felonies require more bail than misdemeanors.
- Whether or not you are a threat to the safety of others. Bail aims to maintain the integrity of defendants while protecting the victims and other society members. Therefore, this factor plays a role in deciding your fate in a bail hearing.
- Type of offense you committed. Bail discourages defendants from fleeing the jurisdiction after a release. Therefore, if you have more to lose from the consequences of a potential conviction, the judge will increase your bail. The judge may lean towards a higher bail amount or denial for severe and violent crimes.
- Ability to post your bond. If you are a low-level criminal unable to cover the bail money, the judge may release you on recognizance or set a low bail.
- Your chances of appearing for trial. At the bail hearing, the judge will assess different information about your crime and personal life. A person is considered a flight risk if their chance of skipping bail is high. Having a job or family in the jurisdiction helps prove to the court that you will stick around until your case ends.
If you face charges for a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment, you may have nothing to lose by skipping bail. In this case, the judge will be reluctant to allow you a release on bail. When the bail amount is set, you can pay it with the following:
- If you have a valuable property, you can present it to the court in exchange for a release. In this case, you will surrender your property equity to the court, which is held until the defendant’s case ends. Posting a property bond allows you to save money since you can recover the property when the defendant obeys all court orders.
- Cash bails are fast and convenient for individuals with enough financial resources. Unfortunately, this option is not available to many defendants. Even for individuals who can afford cash bail, the financial scrutiny and controversy surrounding the cash bond discourage them from using it.
- A bail bond. When you cannot cover bail money, a San Marino bail bonds service can help you through the process. A bail bondsman will pay the bail money and assist you in navigating the release process. However, you must be ready to cover a percentage of the bail which will not be refunded.
If the judge quotes an amount needed for your loved one’s release at the end of the bail hearing, you must contact a skilled San Marino bail bondsman to guide you through the bail posting process.
Can a Minor Be Released on Bail?
When a person under eighteen years is arrested for committing a crime in California, they are detained in the juvenile hall awaiting their case. Like adult offenders, minors facing charges in juvenile court have many rights. Unfortunately, a release on bail is not one of them. Learning that you cannot bail your child out of detention is challenging to comprehend.
However, you can still take the child home before trial if the judge allows it. The court will hold a detention hearing after your child’s arrest. At this hearing, the judge determines the child’s release eligibility. The judge will consider your home environment and the child’s criminal history before releasing the child. However, you will not need to make any monetary commitments.
The only time your child may be entitled to bail is if they are transferred to adult court, and the child decides to try them as an adult. In this case, you can post their bail, allowing them to go home and work on their legal defense.
Immigration Bonds
An immigration bond is an amount you pay the ICE to secure a release of an illegal alien. At the same time, they wait for deportation or the outcome of their immigration case. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest and detains immigrants for being in the country illegally or committing a crime as an immigrant.
Posting bail for ICE detainees allows them to stay out of jail as they battle their immigration cases. There are different types of immigration bonds that you can explore depending on the action the immigrant wishes to take in their case:
- Delivery bond. When an immigrant seeks to remain in the United States to battle their immigration case, you can post the delivery bond. Often, the bond must be paid by a legal citizen of the US and is refundable when the immigrant shows up for all their court dates, and the immigration case ends.
- Voluntary departure bond. When you are in the US illegally or face charges for a serious offense, the possibility of deportation is real. Instead of waiting for the removal proceedings, an immigrant can leave voluntarily. When you post a voluntary departure bond for an ICE detainee, they must leave the country within a specified period. Please do this to avoid attracting a re-arrest and loss of money paid for the voluntary departure bond.
- Public charge bond. If you face an arrest and charges in immigration court, you cannot legally accept state assistance. Posting a public charge bond allows you to relish your right to receive assistance. Additionally, it is a way to prove to the court that you will not be a burden.
- Order of supervision bond. You can use an OSUP bond between the time of release from ICE custody and the completion of your removal proceedings. This immigration bond assures the ICE that you will obey all the bond conditions and follow through with criminal proceedings.
Immigration cases are often severe, which makes the bail amounts in such situations very high. Most immigrants and their families will not afford to post cash bail in immigration court. Therefore, your best bet in securing your loved one’s release is by seeking the services of a San Marino bail bonds service. When choosing the right company to help you through the bail posting process, you must ensure that they specialize or are experienced in handling immigration bonds.
Like a standard bail bond, you must pay a fee for the services offered by the immigration bonds company. Often, the immigration bail bonds premium is 15% of the total immigration bail. Additionally, providing collateral is mandatory for an immigration bond. Collateral for the immigration bond will be any valuable item. However, the immigration court will assess the property value before accepting it as a bond.
Federal Bonds
If you face an arrest for a federal crime like drug trafficking or armed robbery, you will be detained in a federal jail cell while awaiting your trial. At your first arraignment, the federal court judge will assess the circumstances of your case and set a bail amount that you can pay and be released before trial.
Stakes are high for defendants facing federal criminal charges. The consequences of a conviction for a federal offense could be severe and life-altering. Therefore, securing a release on bail is in your best interests. You can meet with your lawyer and spend more time with your family. However, the seriousness of these cases makes federal bail amounts very high.
Some people can afford to post a cash bail which requires you to present the entire bail amount. However, the federal court often holds a second bail hearing to determine the source of your bail money. The court will mostly dig into your personal and financial life while attempting to uncover your engagement in fraudulent acts. The financial investigation will not only invade your privacy but can also delay your loved one’s release.
You can avoid all the hassle of cash bail by seeking a federal bail bond. The bail bond company will present all the money the court needs to process your loved one or friend out of jail. You will pay a premium fee of about 15-20% of the bail in exchange for their services. For example, if your federal bail is set at $100,000, you will be responsible for $15,000-$20,000.
What Happens to the Bail Money when my Case Ends?
The bail agreement ends when a criminal case ends. The end of a case could be marked by a dismissal, not guilty verdict, or a conviction. California law does not use bail to punish offenders. Instead, it is a way to preserve their freedom while their case is pending. Therefore, you can recover your bail money regardless of the outcome of your case. However, a defendant released on bail must follow all court-imposed conditions to stand a chance at recovering bail money.
Your bail money will have two fates:
Exoneration
Bail exoneration is the release of your bail money to the payer. When the case ends, and the defendant has complied with all the conditions, the person who paid the bail will recover the total amount. For cash payers, you will receive a check for your full payment. However, if you posted a bail bond, the bail bond company must go to court to recover their money. At this point, your San Marino bail bondsman will return the collateral you may have offered for the bail bond. You must understand that the premium is not refundable. Therefore, you should expect to receive at least the 10% paid to the surety company.
If you posted an immigration bail bond for a loved one, you would receive a notice from the ICE instructing you to submit the bail bond contract to recover the amount paid for your loved one or friends. If you want to recover your bail money, you must support the defendant to ensure they ate d trial and avoid other bail violations.
Forfeiture
The worst way your bail process could go is losing the money in a forfeiture. Bail is allowed on condition that a defendant follows specific court-imposed conditions, including attendance of court dates. A bail forfeiture occurs when the court fails to return the money or property used for bail. If you post cash bail, you will lose the entire amount to the court. However, for bail bonds, the surety company will suffer the loss. The risk of this loss is what necessitates bail bond collateral.
Before the court forfeits a bail bond, they will allow your San Marino bail bondsman some time to locate the defendants and surrender them to the court. To find a defendant who skips bail. A bounty hunter can arrest you and take you back to court. The court forfeits the bail bond if the defendant is not found within the court-specified time. In return, the surety company will liquidate the item you provided as collateral.
You can explain these reasons to the judge at the bail forfeiture hearing if you have a valid reason for skipping a court date. Sometimes, you may have been admitted to the hospital or have yet to receive a notice to appear in court. In some cases, bail forfeiture is voluntary. If you face a conviction and are sentenced to fines as part of your punishment, you can surrender a portion of the bail money to pay the fines. However, this is only possible for individuals who presented a cash bail.
Common jails in San Marion, CA, are:
Twin Towers Correctional Facility
450 Bauchet St
Los Angeles, CA 9001
213-473-6100
El Monte Jail
11333 Valley Blvd
El Monte, CA 91731
626-580-2100
Metropolitan Detention Center
535 Almeda St
Los Angeles 90012
213-485-0439
Courts around San Marino, CA, are:
The Los Angeles Superior Court
1945 S Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90007
213-742-1884
Find a Bail Bondsman Near Me
Many people associate bail with a specific amount. While you can post your bail in cash and secure a fast release, the bail process is more complicated than it sounds. For each county in California, bail schedules indicate the amount that matches your crime. The amount n the schedule is then adjusted by the judge based on specific circumstances in your case. Sometimes the bail amount is very high, and you may lack the financial resources to post the bail and secure a release before your loved one spends substantial time in jail.
For individuals who cannot afford cash bail, there are other options you can explore to keep your loved one or friend out of jail. Posting a bail bond has become popular among many low-income defendants. The bail bond companies provide financial help and expert guidance you need to navigate the bail process. In exchange, you will cover 10% of the total bail, which is not refundable.
Finding the right San Marino bail bonds service can dictate your bail posting experience. If your loved one sits behind bars and you seek a quick and convenient release, we invite you to contact us at the Bail Bonds Company. Call us at 323-579-1415.
