Contact a Legal Professional

There is a lot that goes on where an arrest is concerned. It is important that you get legal representation as soon as possible to help minimize that amount of reprimand or trouble that you will be facing.

There are several ways that your bail hearing may go depending on the severity of your crime. The less severe the crime is the more likely it will be for you to get out of going before a judge to have your bail set. The less serious crimes tend to have a set bond amount. This is a specific amount of money that the state will require for bond of the individual based on the crime only. More several crimes, such as murder, will have to have a bond hearing. The bond hearing will go before a judge, and the judge will be the one that decides the amount of the bond. Generally this is based on the crime, the amount of money that the person has at their disposal, and the flight risk.

Fact: You will most likely get a lower bond amount if you have legal representation present at your bond hearing. This is why it is important to have representation with you as quickly as possible in these types of situations.

Bond Payment

The bond amount is set to deter you from skipping trial. The bond can be paid one of two ways. It can be paid directly to the courts, or through a bail bondsman. The bail bondsman will work out a deal where they will front the bond money for a small fee. The fee is generally around 10% of the actual bond amount. That means that if your bond is $1,000 the bondsman will want you to pay them $100 and they will front the remaining amount. You will also need to provide the bondsman with some kind of collateral that will cover the amount of money they are fronting for your bond. For example if your bond is $1,000 and you give the bondsman $100 than you may also have to provide the title of your vehicle in order to cover the additional money. This way should you skip out of the trial the bondsman will end up with your car and the $100.

Reduce the Bond

There is the chance that the court sets the bail at an unattainable amount. Reducing bail is something that a criminal attorney can arrange. This could be the difference of your residing in your home while the criminal matter is resolved versus in a jail cell. For example, if your bail is originally set at $500,000 you will have to pay a bail bondsman a fee of $50,000. However, if your bail is reduced to $50,000, then the amount that you have to pay to a bail bondsman is reduced to $5,000, which saves you a significant amount of money and it actually somewhat attainable. 

A criminal defense attorney can explain in detail all of the facts of the case that will affect your bond and bond amount. They will be able to walk you through the bond hearing process, and make sure that you end up with the lowest bond amount that is possible depending on the crime committed.