One of the first things that someone will do when they’re arrested is ask how much it’s going to cost them to get out of jail. For many criminal charges, the court will set a bail amount. This is the amount of cash or assets that the person has to put up as surety that they’ll go to court.
Some crimes, such as those that are heinous, won’t allow for bail. Others might enable the court to allow a person to get out of jail on their own recognizance. This means they don’t have to put up the money, but they will have to sign a promise that they’ll show up for all their court dates.
How can a person pay bail?
There are two ways that you can put up bail. One of these is that you can pay cash to the court or you can provide assets, such as the deed for the house. If you appear for all your court hearings, your money or property will be released to you.
The other option is that you can contact a bail bondsman for help getting out of jail. You pay a portion of the bail amount and the bondsman monitors you to ensure you go to court. If you don’t go to court, they will come looking for you to turn you over to the court. You don’t get your money back when you work with a bondsman.
While your initial focus might be getting out of jail until your trial, you also need to think about getting started with your defense strategy. Determining what options you have for this as early in the case as possible is a good idea. There are sometimes options that are only available for a limited time, so you need to learn about those and consider how they’ll impact your life.