Contacting Bail Bondsmen at Inconvenient Times

February 6th, 2014

If someone you’re close to gets picked up for a crime in the middle of the night, you may end up wanting to get them out of jail as soon as possible. Depending upon where they were arrested, staying in jail may be a very bad idea. There is a process involved in this that you can speed along by contacting a bail bondsman right away. Most of them make this easy to do.

Call the Office

Because of the nature of their work, a bail bondsman will generally be available around the clock. The first thing you should do is call their office, no matter what time of day or night it is. If they have an answering service, you’ll simply have your call picked up by them and then that will be forwarded to the bail bondsman. If they do not, you’ll generally be given a number that you can call after hours so that you can get a hold of someone.

If a bail bondsman is not available at all hours of the day or night, you may want to look elsewhere to get bail.


The Internet is a 24-hour place and many bail bond companies have taken advantage of this. Most of them will have contact information on their websites, allowing you to figure out how to get in contact with somebody who can help you out no matter what time of the day or night the person you’re trying to get bailed out got arrested.

Some bail bond companies even allow you to file the paperwork and handle the payment over the Internet. This may allow you to avoid having to go down to the jail house in the middle of the night to sign a bunch of paperwork and to meet with the bail bondsman.

There may be a little bit of back and forth involved with getting someone bailed out of jail. For instance, you may not have all of the information you need to give the bail bondsman when you initially contact them. The bail bondsman will generally let you know how long you should expect to wait and what you should have when you call so that they can process the bail and get the person out of jail as quickly as possible. Remember that the bail bond company is there to help you, so if you have questions, contact them so that you avoid any mishaps or delays.

What if Someone Skips their Bail?

September 5th, 2013

Skipping out on the court date when you’ve been bailed out of jail is a serious matter. It means that a warrant is immediately going to be issued for your arrest and, of course, you’re not going to get bailed out a second time. If you’re considering doing this, don’t. You’re not going to get far and you’re going to make the situation even worse.

Unfortunately, some of the people who do skip out on bail were bailed out by family members or friends who decided to get them out of jail so that they could get their case together, keep their job and take care of everything else that they couldn’t take care of while they were behind bars. If someone does this, there are some things to keep in mind.

Don’t Harbor Them

Some people who decide to skip out on bail may ask friends or family members to harbor them. Remember that this is a crime in and of itself. This isn’t anything like doing something a little bit shady, but not exactly criminal, such as being asked to not tell a collections agency someone’s phone number, even if you do know it. Harboring a fugitive is a crime and you can get in very real trouble for doing so. If you’re being jilted into harboring someone, remember that the person is asking you to risk getting thrown in jail; they’re not just asking you for a simple favor.

Talk to the Bondsman

The bail bondsman is going to face financial liability if the defendant skips out on their court date. You’ll want to make certain that the bail bondsman does not associate this with you. The easiest way to do this is to simply contact the bail bondsman right away and let them know that there’s a problem. Give them all the information you have on the person’s whereabouts.

If someone skips out on their bail, it’s likely that the police and bail agents are going to be looking for that person. They very well may show up at your house asking questions. They’re not doing this because they’re accusing you of harboring anyone, you’re simply the best contact for this person, given that you bail them out of jail in the first place. If you don’t know where they are and you’re not doing anything to try to hide them, you’re not doing anything wrong. If you do try to hide them, however, you very well may find yourself in need of bail at some point.

Good Reasons to Honor Your Bail Bond in Florida

July 16th, 2013
Florida Bail Bondsman

James Brennan

Probably very few people out there would deliberately miss a court date. The consequences are just too steep. There are people, however, who may have a habit of being irresponsible with legal obligations that may end up missing court dates simply out of not taking it seriously enough. If you have a bail bond here are some good reasons why you should make certain that you honor your commitment to the Florida bail bond company and to the court.


It’s Not Just You


If a friend or a family member went ahead and bailed you out of jail, they took a big risk. In fact, if your bail was high, they probably had to put up collateral to get you out of jail. If you don’t honor your bail bond, they may actually be looking at losing that collateral, because of you.


In addition to that, the bail bond company that put their faith in you in regards to your showing up in court will become liable for the full amount of the bond if you don’t show up. Of course, this isn’t just going to affect them. In fact, the second this happens, they’re probably going to send people out looking for you to make sure that you do end up back in jail.


It Makes Everything Worse


Whether you’re looking at charges for something minor or something very serious, trying to run away is only going to make the situation much worse. Once the courts determine that you have missed your court date, a warrant for your arrest goes out immediately. This gives the police the right to enter your property, to search your car and to do just about anything else they need to do to bring you to justice.


When the skip tracers who work for the Jacksonville bail bonds company start looking for you, they’re going to start contacting people who might know where you are. This means friends and family. Not only is this obviously rather embarrassing, you’re also putting your friends and family in a bad situation that they should never be put through.


If you do honor your bail bond in you show up on your court date, nothing that’s going on with you is going to get worse. If you’re facing serious charges, that isn’t going to change, but you’re not going to be facing more charges for having run off when you were supposed to be in court. When it comes down to it, there is never a good reason to miss your court date or violate your bail bond.

Bail Bonds back in Wisconsin

June 10th, 2013

Well, it look like commercial bail will be allowed back in Wisconsin.  After over 30 years of no existence in the state, bail bondsman will be allowed to operate in five counties in Wisconsin.  On June 5, 2013 a republican-backed bill added the proposed budget by the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.  These five counties will be a part of a pilot program that will remain in effect for five years.  After those five years, and if the program is successful, commercial bail will be allowed in the rest of the counties.

Supporters of the proposal, led by the American Bail Coalition, said that bondsmen would make government more efficient by ensuring more defendants make their court date. They say that’s why nearly every state has some form of bail bondsmen.

New bail bond agents will have to pay an agent fee of $1000 and also meet the state requirements for licensure.

The five counties in this pilot program are: Dane, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha

With the cities of Madison, Milwaukee, Waukesha

Why Is Bail Allowed?

April 24th, 2013

Everyone’s familiar with the idea of bail and how it works, but there is more to bail than meets the eye. There is, to be specific, a very important reason that it exists and it has to do with how the justice system works. The US has a justice system that allows people more rights than do the justice systems of many other nations, but it’s not perfect. That’s where bail comes in.

What it Does

Bail allows people to get out of jail while they’re waiting to have their case taken to court. Bail as a legal right dates back hundreds of years and has been reformed many times over those centuries. Currently, US bail policy is the result of many years of legislators trying to balance civil liberties with public safety.

People with Little Money

One of the biggest concerns of civil libertarians is that the bail system can discriminate against the poor. There have been reforms in US law over the years that ensure that people who don’t have a lot of cash on hand can get released from jail with as little financial burden as is reasonable.

Of course, laws are living things and, when bail reform was addressed in the 1960s, it was good news for those who had spent long period of time languishing in jail only to find out that the charges against them had been dropped or to get acquitted, meaning that they’d gone through all the financial and social distress of being held in jail for no reason at all. Conversely, there were problems with the 1960s bail reform that made it easy for violent and dangerous criminals to get out of jail.

Striking a Balance

Reforms introduced into laws regarding bail since the 1960s have made it possible for people who aren’t dangerous, violent or likely to flee to get bail and to get out of jail fairly easily. Commercial bail bondsmen allow such individuals to post bail for a fraction of the total amount required.

At the same time, these reforms made it possible for judges to deny bail in cases where the defendant is very likely to flee the jurisdiction or where they pose a very real and serious threat to others. This helps to make sure that good people can get out of jail but that the people who are actually very dangerous are kept behind bars.