When a person is arrested and charged with having committed a crime the wheels of justice begin to turn. The suspect is taken to a police station where he or she is fingerprinted, photographed and questioned. Once the preliminaries have been taken care of the suspect is placed in a cell awaiting the court date. The suspect will remain in jail unless they post bail, in the majority of cases this is done by contacting an agent that provides bail bonds in San Bernardino County.
What is bail?
When a person has been arrested and charged with committing a crime, he or she will be held by the authorities unless they have some guarantee that the suspect will return for hearings and trial. Depending on the severity of the crime and the person’s status in the community they may be released on their own recognizance, those that are not will be granted release when they post bail.
Bail is the amount of money specified by a judge that is to be deposited with the court to ensure compliance with attending court proceedings. Once bail has been posted, the individual is freed. In the event the person fails to show up in court as demanded, the bail money that was posted with the court is forfeited.
What is a bail bond?
Rather than post the entire amount of bail in cash, the court will accept bail bonds in San Bernardino that perform the same function. The bond is arranged through a bonding company, it is basically the promise on the part of the company to pay the bail amount in full in the event the accused does not show up in court. To arrange a bail bond, the accused agrees to pay a premium, often about 10 percent of the bail amount. When the accused does appear in court when scheduled, the bond is returned to the bondsman and the fee is kept by the bonding agency.
