How Does Bail Work?
It’s okay if you’re not a bail bonds expert – Wichita Bail Bonds has an experienced team of expert bail bondsmen here to help if you or someone you know gets arrested. We’re available 24/7 to help get someone out of jail fast, and we can explain how bail bonds work and what you can expect. When you need a top bail bondsman in Wichita, call Wichita Bail Bonds at 316-761-9696.
The Goal: Get Out of Jail Fast
When a person is arrested, a bail amount is set that has to be paid to get them out of jail. This bail amount varies but it’s often more than most individuals can pay out of pocket. A bail bondsman covers the majority of the bail so the defendant can be released quickly. At Wichita Bail Bonds, our licensed bonds agents will post bond fast and even pick you up from jail if needed so you can return to living your life.how does bail work legally and financially? Read on below and you will find out how bail works?
How to Bail Someone Out of Jail
The bonding process starts with getting the bail amount. Then you have a couple of options:
Cash Bail – Pay the full cash bail amount directly to the court for the release of the defendant and the guarantee that they will appear at all scheduled court dates.
Bond Out – Hire a bail bond agency who will post bail on the defendants behalf at the cost of a premium, typically 10% of the full bail amount.
We recommend calling a professional bondsman like the ones Wichita Bail Bonds to get someone out of jail in Sedgwick County, KS, and the surrounding area. Because we’re posting the money to get the person released, we’ll need to collect some information to assess how much risk there is in offering a bail bond. We’ll have you complete a bail bonding application and an indemnity agreement. Once the bail premium payment is made, and the paperwork is completed, our bonds agent will post bail and even pick up the defendant from jail.
Bond Services
Bail can be expensive. Do you have to pay the full bail amount? No, a defendant may decide to call Big You can count on Wichita Bail Bonds for surety bonds, signature bonds, large bonds, collateral bonds, appearance bonds, bond hearings and appeal bonds. We secure bonds for both misdemeanor and felony charges, including but not limited to:
- Bench Warrants
- Fraud
- Drug Charges
- Assault
- Traffic Violations
- Theft
- Burglary
- Domestic Violence
- Arson
Bond Amounts
We post bonds of any amount, and we offer several payment options for you to pay off the bond.
WICHITA BAIL BOND FAQS
If you’d like to understand more about bail bonds or what bondsmen do, we’ve put together answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about how bail works.
Although very similar, bail and bond have different meanings. Bail is the amount of money the defendant must pay in order to be released from jail. Bond is a guarantee posted on behalf of the defendant by another person or bail bondsman to get the defendant out of jail and ensure they will show up for their court dates.
The purpose of bail is to prevent the defendant from fleeing or committing more crimes during their release. A person must post bail in order to get out of jail. After a defendant is taken into custody, the judge will first determine if the person is a good fit to be allowed bail. If the defendant is a flight risk or a danger to others, the court may not allow bail. If bail is set, the judge will consider the severity of the crime, the defendant’s history with the judicial system, and prior warrants when deciding on the bail amount. Bail can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens or even hundreds of thousands. The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to a reasonable bail bond, although this is often more than people are prepared to pay out of pocket. A judge setting an unusual bail amount must state on the record their reasoning for it.
Here in Kansas, bail bonds are surety bonds offered by licensed bail bond companies. The bail bonds agent effectively lends the defendant bail money and charges a 10% fee, similar to a service charge or interest you’d pay to a bank. Then the bail bond company pays the entire bail amount to the cour so the defendant can be released while they await trial. As long as the defendant shows up for their court date, the full bond amount is returned to the bond agent. However, if the defendant fails to appear in court, which you may have heard called “jumping bail”, the bondsman can (and will) pursue them and arrest them. The bail money posted by the bondsman on the defendant’s behalf is returned to the bondsman after the defendant is turned over to law enforcement custody.
A bail bondsman is a person or business that provides a surety in the form of money or property to guarantee the appearance of the defendant at all scheduled court hearings. It can be helpful to think of a bail bond company as a combined law enforcement assistance organization and lending institution. The defendant pays the bondsman a premium for their service of posting bail on their behalf.
Additionally, the bail bonds agent is authorized to find and arrest a defendant who fails to appear in court and then turn them over to law enforcement. It’s not quite the bounty hunting you’ve seen on TV, but the idea is the same.
Once in custody, the court system will determine the required amount of bail for the defendant’s release. Most times people are not prepared to be arrested and do not have money set aside to post bail. A bail bond company provides a type of insurance policy that guarantees full payment of the bail bond amount to the court if the defendant does not show up for all scheduled court appearances.
The state of Kansas sets bail bond rates and bail agents are prohibited by law from negotiating that rate. The Kansas bail bond premium is 10% of the bail amount the court sets. For example, if bail is set at $20,000, the premium would be $2,000.
For your convenience, Wichita Bail Bonds offers payment plans and other payment options. Call us now at 316-761-9696 for a free and confidential bail bond price quote or for more information.
Yes, you may bail yourself out of jail. You’ll need to pay the full cash bail amount directly to the court, although sometimes a bail bond agency will allow you to secure a bond from inside jail.
Unfortunately, bail money has nothing to do with whether or not charges are dropped. Paying the court directly will always result in the return of bail funds as long as the defendant makes all their court appearances. If you hired a bail bond agency to post bail on your behalf, the premium you paid is the fee for their services and is not returned.
Yes, if the defendant attends each of their scheduled court dates, you do get your bail money back. If you paid the full bail amount to the court directly, almost all of it will be returned to you. If you hired a bail bond agency, the premium you paid the bondsman is the fee for their service of posting bail on your behalf and is not returned to you.
When you hire a bail bond agency, you pay a premium for their services. Here in Kansas, like most other states, the premium is 10% of the full bail amount set by the court. This fee is how a bail bondsman makes money. Bondsmen may also make money by acquiring any property or assets used as collateral for a bail bond, but they are not allowed to negotiate rates or charge any hidden fees.
To become a bail bondsman in Wichita, you must take a pre-licensing course, pass the bail bonding license exam, and apply for your state bail enforcement agent license. Once your license has been submitted and approved, you can work at any bail bond agency in Kansas.