The current economic times are very challenging, mainly because of the coronavirus pandemic. The majority of people have lost their jobs or sources of livelihood, and footing bills have become a problem. Your last wish is for you or a loved one facing an unexpected arrest during a time like this. The bail and court fees are usually overwhelming, which can have an emotional and financial burden on you or other individuals who care for the defendant. Raising the money is overwhelming and almost impossible, but you will not allow yourself or someone you care for to stay in custody until their case is heard and concluded. Now, what should you do?
The answer to the question is acquiring bail. Bail will allow you to fight the charges against you from home by entering into a contract with the court, promising to appear for scheduled hearings. By obtaining release on bail, you have enough time to prepare for the case and put all the necessary resources together. However, the problem is with raising the bail amount. Many defendants cannot afford the bail set by the court, which is where bail bond companies come in.
The agents at 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds in Fresno County are ready to walk you through the process and provide you with the information you need to secure a seamless release from jail.
Overview of an Arrest in Fresno County
If you or someone close to you has been apprehended for a crime, the first place they will be taken to is the nearest jail for booking. As soon as you are put on arrest or learned that a loved one has been arrested, the next step to take is to call a bail bonds agent. These professionals will answer any questions you might have regarding the process and commence the procedure of securing a release on bail immediately.
Unfortunately, the issue of an arrest is still confusing even after you have contacted a bondsman. You need to gather information about the defendant’s location, the charges against them, and the amount of bond required. To obtain or compile this information, you must contact the law enforcement officials arrested for more details.
The arrest details of the defendant like:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Place of employment
- Phone number
- Place of arrest
- Detention center
- Why they are being held
- Amount of bail is needed by your bail bonds agent to complete a bail application.
If you already have these details, you don’t need to reach out to law enforcement.
Filling out the forms will take roughly an hour, after which you will be required to make a 10% fee payment. At 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds, we offer different payment modes for this fee because we aim to make your bail reasonable or affordable and convenient to everyone in need of our services. You can choose to make payment in cash, through money order, or credit/debit card.
Why Rely on a Bail Bonds Company?
If you want to secure pretrial release for yourself or someone else, you must pay a 10% non-refundable fee on the bail amount. The rates are fixed but can be renegotiated to 8% or 15% of the bail amount in rare situations. However, if this figure goes less than 8%, it becomes illegal and can be the basis of your bond being deemed invalidity. The cosigner of the bond will be held responsible if you don’t show up in court on the scheduled date. They will be responsible for the total amount of the bond forfeited. So, if you skip court, your bail bonds company will send a bounty hunter after you to avoid losing their money.
When you adhere to the scheduled court hearing and other terms of your pre-trial release, a bail bond will have a massive impact on your case, professional and social life. You would move on with your life as you fight the charges, something that could not be possible if you were in custody awaiting the hearing and determination of the case.
In California, you have two other alternatives of release apart from bail bonds. These two include; own recognizance (O.R) and property bail bonds. A property bond involves using a deed to real property, usually a property whose value is twice the bond amount, to post bail. The value is based on equity and not the market price, and the process usually takes days or weeks, meaning you might be forced to wait longer behind bars. Despite this, utilizing property bonds can save you money if you don’t forfeit the bond. Remember, when you relinquish the bond, you will lose all your property, hence the need to follow the terms and conditions imposed on bail release.
Defendants being charged under immigration laws are often the ones that are required to post a property bond. The reason being the terms of the release requires you to stay within the United States boundaries until the case is determined. It acts as a promise to the court that you won’t return to your mother country after the pretrial release.
Any experienced bonds agent will discourage you from acquiring it when other options are available because immigration takes a long time to process the bond. A lot of paperwork is involved in the process, meaning you might be spending more time in custody, defeating the purpose of bonds to ensure faster and affordable pre-trial release.
Similarly, you could be released on your own recognizance if the court finds you are an upstanding citizen who can be released needless posting of bail. However, not everyone is eligible for O.R. release because the judge evaluates your case and criminal record before granting it. When deciding, the judge considers the severity of the crime, your criminal record, whether you pose any risk to society, your ties with the community, and if there is a possibility you might flee. If you have a criminal history, no employment in the community, no long-time residence in the community, and lack good character witnesses, you may be denied O.R.
Keep in mind that if the court releases you one O.R. and fails to show up for a scheduled court date, an arrest warrant will be issued against you.
Understanding the Bail Bonds Procedure in Fresno County
Now that you understand what bail bonds do, the next step is understanding the process. Right after an arrest, your next stop will be a police station or the nearest jail where you will be booked. The booking takes at most three hours, and although this appears like a lot of time, it is necessary before bail consideration. It’s recommended that you reach out to a bail bonds company right after an arrest to allow the bail bonds agent to assign your case to prepare by collecting all the necessary information and documentation adequately.
Bail is established in two ways. The first way is a bail schedule which is a fixed list of bail fees that assign bail amount without necessarily appearing before a judge for a bail hearing. By doing so, individuals faced with infractions or misdemeanor charges don’t have to wait for a long duration before their cases are determined.
However, if the crime in question is severe, a bail schedule won’t be available. Instead, a bail hearing will be scheduled where the DA will present reasons why you should be denied bail while your defense attorney presents factors that will convince the court to grant bail. Based on the nature of the case and facts presented, the judge will assign or deny bail.
The 8th amendment of the U.S. constitution states that every citizen has a right to post bail and secure pretrial release. To guarantee that you will show up in court after release, the court requires you to pay a fee and a bail amount in monetary form based on the crime. If the crime is more severe, the amount of fine imposed by the court will be heftier than the less severe offenses. However, particular crimes cannot be granted bail because defendants are considered flight risk to society. The 8th amendment allows you to go home and contest the charges as you go on with your daily life.
If you feel like this right has been violated after being denied bail, you need to reach out to a legal team. There are even circumstances when a judge should release you on O.R but only when you don’t have a criminal record. However, in most instances, you are required to pay a particular amount of bail. The amount can be determined through a bail schedule or court hearing. The next step is posting the bail and being released from custody awaiting trial.
The Different Kinds of Bail Bonds
One way of securing release using bail is issuing money security, which involves paying the whole bail amount forthright. Despite these bonds being fast and to the point, they are not a preference for money because they are unreasonably expensive. Instead of putting these assets in securing the release of a defendant in Fresno County, it would be advisable to invest these assets towards building a solid defense that will see the charges dropped or the case dismissed.
Similarly, money securities might not be the best because even after the case has been closed, the process of recovering your assets is a tedious and lengthy one. It can take a long duration before obtaining back your investments. Luckily, with the help of 24 Hours Online Bail Bonds, we can use safeguard bonds to moderate charges by providing securities and installments to low-income families struggling to pick the best assortment.
Alternatively, you can use surety bonds. Instead of paying 10% fees, the surety bond makes you and the co-signer pay a small percentage of the bail amount to a bail bond agent who pays the rest of the money and secures your release. Remember, you don’t have money lying down somewhere waiting to be used to post bail. Therefore, if you can’t raise the amount, it’s critical to reach out to a bail bonds agent and pay this non-refundable fee.
When you pay the non-refundable premium fee, an operator is sent to the jail, where you are held to complete the necessary paperwork for your release. If you have problems raising the fees, the bail bonds company you are considering is likely to have in-house ways of dealing with expenses. They are likely to request you to pay the amount in installment, which means even the defendants who find it hard to pay their bills can enjoy the 8th amended right.
You must be very careful about picking a bail bonds company because some have unhealthy hidden fees like annual premiums and cancelation fees. Most agents will not inform you of these fees, but you will learn of it if the case goes past one year. They will be reluctant to mention that courts have a backlog of cases and that most charges exceed one year, meaning they will be imposing these annual premium fees.
Sometimes if you are in an overcrowded jail, the DA might fail to file formal charges resulting in your release on bail. If they realize this matter later, your bond might be canceled and reinstated. Many companies will take advantage of this chance to double charge you, which is why you need a quotation from the professionals you are considering to avoid the issue of hidden charges.
Finding the Right Bail Bondsman in Fresno County
1. Providing Bail Online and Over the Phone
If you are arrested on a weekend or at night, you want to commence the process of posting bail immediately. Unfortunately, if the bail bonds company you are considering only operates physically, you will stay behind bars a little bit longer. However, when you choose to work with us, we will provide you with bail services online. We have adopted technological development to simplify work by ensuring the whole bail process can be completed remotely and professionally. You can make payments and sign forms online, which reduces the need for physical movement, thus saving time.
Similarly, we can post your bail quickly over the phone, ensuring a quick release. If you have the main event in your life that was just interrupted by an arrest, all you need is to call us, and we will complete the process.
2. Easy Payment Plans
We understand that with the current coronavirus pandemic, many families are undergoing financial difficulties. Luckily, you need to worry less about raising the bail amount with the multiple payment options in place. We use structured transaction plans that will enable us to quickly transfer the bond amount to the department of justice for your pretrial release.
3. Bail Bond Financing
At 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds we have multiple financing options for individuals who can’t raise the bail amount. We allow you to pay as low as a 1% deposit on the bond premium while the rest of the amount is paid in installments. Alternatively, we accept bail collateral like vehicles, jewelry, savings, real property, or investments.
4. 24 Hour Services
One factor that makes us stand out among our competitors is we are available around the clock. We understand you can face an emergency any time of the day or night, which is why we are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This makes us highly dependable because when you call us at your hour of need, we will be there to help.
If a loved one has been arrested, you can easily find them in a county jail located in M Street Fresno, CA.
Fresno County Local Jails
1225 M St.
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: (888) 373-7011
Also, you can visit them at the nearest police department.
Police Headquarters
2323 Mariposa St.
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: (559) 621-7000
The courthouses that your case is to be presented in the county include:
Superior Courthouse Downtown Location
1100 Van Ness Avenue
Fresno, CA 93724-002
Phone: (559) 457-2000
Business hours: 8 am - 5 pm
B.F Sisk Courthouse
1130 O Street
Fresno, CA 93721-2220
Phone: (559) 457-2000
“M” Street Courthouse
2317 Tuolumne Street
Fresno, CA 93721-1220
Phone: (559) 457-1700
Criminal Courts Departments 95 & 96
1265 M Street
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: (559) 457-2000
Find the Right Bail Bonds Agent in Fresno County Near Me
At 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds, we have put all measures to ensure bail is accessible and affordable for you. The only step remaining is to pick up your phone and ring us at 800-930-8999 if you are looking for Bail Bonds in Southern California, Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Diego, and San Bernardino. Our bond agents are trained and licensed and will apply their experience in these court processes to ensure a seamless release from jail.