Planning for Your Child’s Future

What's Going On? How to Cope With a Loved One in Jail

It can be scary or nerve-wracking if you realize that your loved one is depending upon you to get them out of jail. To help ease your uncertainty, the below is a summary of what is going on with your loved one and what you can do to help.

Arrested and Booked

An arrest involves being handcuffed and read Miranda rights. Defendants are usually then taken to the jail used by the arresting authority. If arrested in a city, that is the city jail. If the arrest is outside of the city limits, that might the county jail. Once at the jail, your loved one is searched, photographed, and fingerprinted. They may then be lodged in a cell. Finally, your loved one's identification is entered into a database and past arrest records are noted. That information has a lot to do with whether or not your loved one is offered bail.

Arraigned

Your loved one will come before a judge shortly after the arrest. When you are called, the arraignment may or may not have already occurred. Among other things, bail is discussed during the arraignment. If bail is offered, your loved one must agree to several conditions. Most important among those is a pledge to return for future court appearances.

Two Ways to Deal With Bail

Once bail is offered, your loved one will remain in jail until bail is paid and there are two ways to pay bail. You can pay the court directly for the full amount of bail. That sum is usually too high for most to afford, however. The other alternative is to use a bail bonding agency. Bail bonds are far less expensive than paying the full amount.

What to Know About Bail Bonds 

Bail bonds are offered by outside, third-party agencies that are often located near the jails and courts. When you do business with a bail bond agency, you pay only a small percentage of the total bail cost and your loved one is released within hours. It works like this:

  1. Phone a bail bond agency in the area near the jail.
  2. Be ready to provide the bail bonding agent with your loved one's name, what they are charged with, and the amount of the bail.
  3. Bail agencies charge a percentage of the bail known as a premium. Once you pay the premium, your loved one is hours from being released.

To find out more, call a 24/7 bail bonds company. They could help get your loved one out of the dangerous and crowded conditions of the jail.


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