Clovis Bail Bonds

When arrested, options to secure a release from police custody might be limited. You might end up spending a lot of time detained, particularly when you don't have adequate money or help with paying bail. Fortunately, you can turn to a bail bond agency and access the required money within short notice. If you're in search of a skilled Clovis bail bond firm, 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds can be your perfect choice. We offer integrated online services with bond procedures at reasonable costs. We have assisted thousands of clients, and we can also help you secure your release so you can return to what matters as soon as possible.

How Bail Works

In the United States., an individual is considered innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. Also, the government wants to ensure that persons charged with offenses attend their court hearings. The purpose of posting bail is to ensure that defendants do not flee the jurisdiction following their release.

Here is how bail works in a nutshell. The accused posts bail to the court (interest in an asset or money) in return for a release from detention. The court keeps bail until the criminal case is closed. If the individual complies with their conditions and terms of their release and makes all court appearances, they will receive a refund of the money/property once the criminal case is closed. If the accused violates their bail conditions, jumps bail, or flees the jurisdiction, the court can revoke and forfeit the bail.

How Bail Is Set in Clovis

According to the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution, bail amount should relate to ensuring the suspect shows up in court. The higher the bail amount posted, the more the accused individual will lose by jumping bail. The set amount should be large enough to realize this goal but not too excessive that the accused cannot afford it. The judge is tasked with coming up with a figure that strikes a balance between the goals.

Bail Schedules

All counties in California have a bail schedule. A bail schedule outlines bail amounts corresponding to various offenses.

For instance, a bail schedule for a less severe offense such as petty theft could be ten thousand dollars. On the other hand, when it comes to more serious criminal charges like murder, the bail schedule could be as high as two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

You can post the bail schedule amount if you desire to secure your release fast without waiting for your arraignment. Typically, jail officials do not have the power to modify the amounts highlighted in the bail schedule. On the contrary, judges can set bail at any amount within their discretion. They can also choose to release the defendant on their own recognizance or even deny bail.

O.R. release gets you released from detention on a promise to later attend all court proceedings. In layman's language, the judge agrees to let you out of police custody in return for your pledge and a signed contract that you will attend all your scheduled court hearings. The judge might impose release conditions.

Bail Hearings

The judge will schedule a bail hearing to set the bail amount. The bail schedule is the initial point for the bail amount determination. Additionally, the judge should take a look at the different case facts before giving the final figure. Typically, the judge will consider the following factors:

The severity and nature of the alleged crime
Your criminal record
Your possibility of fleeing before trial
Whether you are a risk to the community, alleged victim, or yourself if released

The judge might also consider your financial ability to pay bail. California requires judges to consider this factor, so your freedom is not tied to your lack or wealth.

Many factors are not associated with the crime the accused is prosecuted with. Therefore, two suspects charged with the same offense can post different bail amounts.

Different Options of Posting Clovis Bail

After the judge has set your bail, you should post it next. While various jurisdictions have different acceptable ways of paying bail, you can pay by:

Posting your entire bail amount directly to the court (cash bail)
Engaging a Clovis bail bond agent to pay on your behalf
Surrendering the lien of a property to the court (property bond)

The benefit of property bond or cash bail is that you could get a refund once your criminal case is over. Usually, bail bond agencies charge a non-refundable premium of ten percent. That means if the total bail amount is twenty thousand dollars, you will pay a fee of two thousand dollars to the agent. However, bail bonds are ideal for persons with little or no resources to pay their bail.

If the prosecution team or the judge thinks that you feloniously acquired the bail amount, the court will hold the release and schedule a hearing to settle the matter. Feloniously acquired means that you obtained the bail by a method of illegal conduct, transaction, or incidence constituting a California felony. It is your responsibility to establish that you got the money legally. If you do, the judge will accept the bail. If you do not, the judge won't accept bail and can even raise it. You can use bail bonds to maintain a low profile even if you can afford to pay the bail, especially if charged with a human trafficking or high-profit narcotics sale.

Should You Wait for the Court Hearing or Post Your Bail?

It would be best if you weighed the cost of detention against the cost of freedom. Using a bondsman involves a non-refundable fee (usually ten percent) that can be significant. However, remaining in detention also might come with consequences and costs — time, more income, and employment. When you wait to meet the judge, your criminal defense attorney could persuade the judge for a reduced bail amount or an own recognizance release.

It would help if you analyzed the available options and your circumstances before deciding what to do.

How Long Does It Take to Get Released After Posting Your Bail?

The answer to this question varies from one question to the other. Numerous factors play a part in releasing an accused person. They include:

Traffic — Like all other bureaucracies, a jail's processing duration depends on how busy the facility is. If you've posted Clovis bail bonds at a jail that is processing many defendants, it might take many hours to get the defendant out.
Staff— The larger the number of staff on duty, the faster the release.
Your number on the queue
Paperwork— There is lots of paperwork involved in the bailing out, and the officer overseeing your release will check the paperwork closely before making a release. It could add to the waiting time since many officers want to ensure that they do not release you with an outstanding arrest warrant.

If you have a competent Clovis bail bonds agent, you can expect the release to be within a couple of hours after all paperwork is signed, transferred, and signed.

Bail Conditions

Generally, bail conditions are tailored to ensure you return to court and to protect your community.

Common bail conditions include:

Obeying all laws
Stop drinking alcohol and using drugs and participating in random testing
Not possessing any weapon
Staying away from specific persons or places
Following a curfew
Adhering to travel restrictions
Seeking or maintaining employment
Surrendering your passport or driver's license

When determining the appropriate bail conditions, the judge will consider numerous factors, including:

Your criminal record
The possibility of fleeing
Your mental and physical condition
The severity of the crime
Whether you have a substance abuse history

Ordinarily, the judge will impose conditions depending on your case facts. For instance, if you are charged with assault, the court will require you to avoid contacting the alleged victim while on bail. And if you are arrested for driving under the influence, the court could condition your release to install an ignition interlock lock and submit to random testing.

Although the law gives the judge the discretion to decide the reasonable bail condition, there are restrictions. A bail condition that unreasonably interferes with your constitutional rights is invalid.

What Occurs When You Violate Your Release Terms and Conditions?

The judge has many options when an accused person violates their bail condition, including:

Issuing a warning
Issuing an arrest warrant
Revoking the bail and re-arresting the defendant
Imposing more restrictive or additional bail conditions
Raising the bail amount
Holding the accused in contempt of court

What the judge decides to do depends on the case facts. A minor violation might lead to less severe consequences like a warning. If you committed a more severe violation, such as threatening witnesses, the judge could revoke your bail.

Bail Revoking

If you fail to appear in court or jump bail, bail could be revoked. That means you lose the entitlement to enjoy freedom as you await your trial. The judge could issue an arrest warrant for the failure to appear. The arrest warrant remains effective until your arrest.

Additionally, your bail could be revoked for:

Committing an offense while released irrespective of whether you were convicted of the crime or not
Breaking other bail conditions

Bail Revocation in Federal Courts

Both state and federal courts have bail revocation procedures. In federal courts, the Bail Reform Act of 1984 regulates the process. Suppose an individual violates any law while out on bail. There is a presumption that no bail condition can protect the community. The accused is given a chance to overcome or rebut this presumption. It is within the judge's discretion to determine whether to impose more restrictive or new bail terms or altogether revoke bail.

Moreover, other penalties of FTA include fines, bail bond forfeiture, and additional and consecutive time.

Bail Revocation in California

Jumping bail is a crime in California. A person that skips bail ends up with their underlying criminal charge plus the FTA criminal charges.

If charged with a misdemeanor, the FTA is also a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of six months in jail. If prosecuted with a felony, the FTA is a felony that carries up to three (3) years in either California state prison or county jail.

Bond Forfeiture

After the judge revokes your bail, they will forfeit your Clovis bail bond next. That means any asset or property used to secure your release is surrendered to the court.

Both you and the bondsman will receive a bond forfeiture notice. Before the forfeiture is final, the court will give the bail bond agent one hundred and eighty days to return you to jail. Sometimes the agents can use bounty hunters to locate and apprehend you. Otherwise, the bailing company will pay the court the bail amount.

Excuses Courts Accept For Skipping Bail

Some excuses might work as legal defenses when challenging your FTA charges. They include that jumping bail:

was as a result of an emergency,
wasn't intentional,
was not designed to evade the California court process, or
happened because you did not sign an agreement to attend court hearings.

The first three (3) excuses apply because:

The prosecution should establish the elements to find you guilty of an offense, and
They challenge elements per the failure to appear statutes

Please note that you cannot use any of the following as your excuse for jumping bail:

You didn't feel like attending your court proceeding
You ignored your court date because you believed you were innocent
You were going somewhere else

Bail Reinstatement

Even following bail forfeiture, it is possible to have it set aside through remission. The bail remission motion requests a refund of the funds or property forfeited. Typically, you should bring the motion within a specific duration from the forfeiture date. Whether to issue relief from the forfeiture is within a trial court's discretion.

How to Obtain Your Bail Money Back After Your Criminal Case is Dismissed

While having a loved one put in police custody is stressful for many reasons, the bail money you post can be a significant stressor. Between the court fees, lawyer fees, and bail, things can quickly become expensive. Consequently, you might be wondering if you'll get a refund of the bail amount should your criminal case be dismissed. The answer depends mainly on how you posted your bail money.

If you used a Clovis bondsman, you would not get a refund of your premium regardless of the case outcome. It is because the company paid your entire bail amount to the court on your behalf.

If you secured the required bail money to the court, you should get a refund once the case is dismissed. Once your criminal charge is dismissed, the court will issue a refund order. Generally, it will take approximately six weeks for your refund check to arrive in your mail. Should it take longer, you might need to initiate the process again.

What Happens Following an Arrest

An arrest is a stressful ordeal that triggers many criminal prosecution events. The section below discusses the immediate aftermath of an arrest.

Jail or Citation

You are arrested when the police place you in their custody for some time, irrespective of how short. In most cases, the arresting officer will then take the suspect to the police station.

Sometimes, the officers can arrest, cite, and release a person accused of a minor crime. In this case, the suspect can go home but under an order to show up in court later.

Booking Process

After the police have taken you to their station, booking is the next step. They will enter information linked to you and your arrest into their database. They will fingerprint and photograph you. The police personnel can also gather your DNA sample, especially if you are accused of a severe crime such as a felony. Usually, the DNA sample comes from a swab of the inner cheek, and then the sample is saved into the system.

Finally, you will be allowed to use a phone.

Remain Detained or Bail Out

Some people post bail after going into police custody. Suspects in this situation usually get a later court date. If the crime is severe and there isn't bail, or the bail listed on the bail schedule is too high to pay, the accused remains in jail until their initial court appearance.

Arraignment and Complaint

Most arrests happen without warrants (the prosecutor first gets involved following the arrest). The prosecution analyzes the police report and other evidence in determining whether to bring a criminal charge through a complaint. After the prosecution files the complaint, the arrestee goes from a suspect to a defendant.

The first court hearing is called an arraignment. For a person released from detention, the arraignment can be a couple of days following their arrest. For defendants still in police custody, the first appearance should happen within 48 days after the arrest.

During the arraignment, the judge will:

Advise you of your right to seek legal representation and initiate the process of appointing a public defender if you can’t afford to hire a lawyer
Inform you of the criminal charges
Address your custody status (The judge can leave the bail amount as it is on the bail schedule, increase, reduce it, or even release you without paying bail)

The different stages of your criminal case from here depend on the case facts, the jurisdiction's rules, and the severity of the alleged charge. The court should permit the prosecutor's determination as to whether there is probable cause to think you committed the alleged offense. Without the determination, your case cannot continue.

Additionally, the defendant can enter a plea at some point.

Clovis Police Department, Jail, and Court Contact Information

The visiting hours are between 8 AM and 5 PM.

If you are concerned that your loved one has been detained in Clovis, call 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds at 800-930-8999. The skilled bailing agents can help you find your friend or relative and secure their release promptly.

Find an Experienced and Knowledgeable Bail Bond Agency Near Me

Today's economy plays a significant role in life, and having the unexpected expense of paying bail can be overwhelming. If you have been arrested, contacting the right Clovis bail agent can make a huge difference in how you will get released and how your case is resolved. At 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds, we can ensure that you are out of police custody promptly. Even when you cannot raise funds, we can work together to develop a flexible payment plan that you can afford without getting into more financial constraints. We invite you to call our office at 800-930-8999 to get straight and honest answers and learn how to help you.