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Bail Bonds - Ways to Meet Bail Bond Requirements

In criminal cases, judges require defendants to meet the requirements of bail bonds to help ensure the court that the defendants will return for their trial. The only option opposed to meeting the requirements is to sit in jail until the conclusion of your court case. The following paragraphs will discuss several ways to meet the requirements.

The first way to meet the requirements that a judge has set is to pay the entire amount in cash. Once the cash is deposited, and the paperwork complete, the defendant is released from jail pending trial. They are required to appear at all scheduled court hearings, and failing to do so can result in the forfeiture of the entire amount of the bonds. But if the defendants do show up in court as ordered, the entire amount will be refunded upon the closure of their cases.

Another way to meet the requirements is to enlist the help of a licensed bondsman. They are often located near the courthouse, and most commonly charge the average fee of 10 percent of the bond amount. For this fee, he will handle all the paperwork, and get you out of jail. If you fail to appear at a scheduled court hearing, to prevent bail bonds forfeiture, a bondsmen will likely hire a bounty hunter to locate you, and bring you back to appear in court.

Finally, when the accused crime is a non-violent one, or the judge does not see the defendant as a flight risk, generally no amount will be ordered by the judge. Instead, the accused defendants are allowed to be released from jail on their "own recognizance", or with the promise they will return to court for all scheduled hearings associated with their case. If the defendants do not return, there is no amount to forfeit, but they will be rearrested, as well as face additional charges of contempt of court.

Bounty Hunters Help Prevent Bail Bond Forfeiture.

Going to jail is never fun, and trying to get out of jail can be even more difficult. That is why many people enlist the help of bail bondsmen, to assist in meeting the requirements of their bonds. The whole concept behind is to ensure the court that defendants will return to court. So, when you enlist the help of a bondsman, he will do all that is necessary to ensure you return to court, including sending out a bounty hunter to locate and apprehend you. The following paragraphs will discuss bounty hunters.

A bail bondsman is a professional agent who specializes in providing bonds for people charged with crimes in order to obtain their release from jail. They are ensuring the court that defendants will return to all scheduled hearings, as to not forfeit the amount of the bonds. When a defendant fails to show up for a scheduled hearing, they will often hire bounty hunters to help locate and apprehend the defendants, as to help prevent forfeiture. But if beforehand, he has reason to believe any of his clients are about to flee, he has the right himself, to revoke the bonds, and surrender his clients to local authorities.

The laws for bounty hunters vary from state to state. In some states, it is permitted for them to use any means of apprehending jumpers, even breaking and entering was permitted. In most states, it still is legal for a bounty hunter to break and enter in order to apprehend jumpers, as long as the residence belongs to the person they wish to apprehend. Gun laws normally apply to bounty hunters, so in order to cross the state line carrying a gun, they must get a permit in most cases.

In most states, bounty hunters have arresting power over bonds jumpers. In some states, local law enforcement must be present when the arrests are made, and other states require that the bondsman himself make the arrests. And in some states, that is left up to the bounty hunters.

Being arrested is never fun, and when defendants enlist the help of bondsmen to help meet the requirements, the court is assured the defendant will return to court. Bounty hunters help tremendously on cutting down the number of bail bonds forfeiture.

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Copyright 2006 - Ivar Rudi. For more information and resources visit www.bail-bonds-guide.com/

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