Hi, this is Ray Hrdlicka with BidMyBail. Once again we're sitting in the studios of Crime, Justice and America to talk to you today about... how does posting bail work? Realistically, there are 14 million, 13 to 14,000,000 felony and misdemeanor arrests each year. That's a lot. All right, well you figure there's what... 350 million people, 320 million people... what are the exact numbers of the people in the United States? Right. Now, these are adults remember? These are 18 and older... adults... 13 to 14,000,000 arrest, felony and misdemeanor. Okay? So there's a number of ways and we've talked about them in the past... that people can get out of jail, once they've been newly arrested. But today's question is "how does posting bail work?"
Okay? Now bail is... a bail bond is the actual bond that is put up with the jail to get that person out of jail. All right, but that's three or four extra steps down the road. How does posting bail work? Let's start from the beginning. You get the phone call... somebody's been arrested that you know, family, friend, and you want to help them out. All right, so the first thing you need to do is find a bail bondsman to do that. Now we've talked in other videos about the best way to find a bail bondsman, and I'm going to say it again, BidMyBail.com. Because you have the bondsman bid on your situation. They bid their best foot forward to give you the service that you need. All right, so we're not going to go into that. So you found the bondsman. All right, here's what happens. You fill out the paperwork and the paperwork says... folks you're going to be responsible for that person to appear court. Pretty simple. You're also going to be responsible for the fee the bondsman charges, all right and that's paid up front, or a payment plan, or whatever arrangements you made with him. So it's a contract, it's just a business contract, okay? That's what it says. You're responsible for the person to appear in court. Or, you're going to pay the entire amount of the money. The whole amount of the bail, okay? The entire bail bond. Here's an example. A $10,000 bond. You don't pay $10,000 to the bondsman. You pay... In most states... just 10%. $1000, okay? Or, you have a payment plan worked out with them. It doesn't matter, the guy goes to court, not a problem. The case is adjudicated. Everything is done. Contract is no longer in force. If he doesn't go to court, then you are going to be liable for that $10,000. That's the purpose of this business contract.
So you've signed the business contract. Let's go back to the actual steps. You signed the business contract. What does a bondsman do at that point in time? He takes the bond... goes down to the jail... gives it to the jail... They give him a court date... they give him a receipt, paperwork... you get a copy of it... and they release him from custody. You get to take him home... him or her home. All right, so that's the process you need to get this bail bondsman involved... to be able to get the person out of jail and post that bail, because you can't do it yourself. Only a licensed bondsman can do it, post that bond at the jail. All right, so that's how bail bonds work, and again the best way... we encourage you to get on the website BidMyBail.com. Find out the best way to get that person out of jail. This is Ray Hrdlicka, saying be safe, talk to you in another video.
