When faced with any criminal charges, the threat of spending time in jail looms large, and the arrested person is always eager to walk out free as soon as possible. However, the legal process of framing charges against an arrested person takes some time, making jail time almost inevitable. Even if it is hard to avoid jail time, it is hard to shorten the stay and seek early release by furnishing bail.
Castle Bail Bonds can come in handy to ensure the speedy release from jail pending trial. Bail bonds are legal documents furnished to the court by the bail agents in the form of an undertaking. It states that once set free; the arrested person would not run away but respect the bail conditions and appear in court for trial when the time comes.
Why bail?
Bail is a right conferred by law to arrest persons who can stay away from jail until the completion of the trial. Despite facing charges, every accused person is innocent in the eyes of the law unless proved guilty. It means that appearing for trial is essential for any arrested person to come out clean or face conviction. The court expects that the arrested person will respect the laws and go through the legal process while staying out of jail until the conclusion of the trial. The law gives a fair chance to people to prove their innocence, and the bail is a move to ensure their judicial freedom.
Bail vs. Bail bond
Although we often talk about bail and bail bond in the same breath, as both serve the same purpose of ensuring the speedy release of arrested persons pending trial, the processes are pretty different.
Bail – Any person who wants to get out of jail soon after arrest must avail bail, which is the process of depositing a certain sum of money in cash to the court. It is a guarantee that the person will abide by the conditions of the bail if released. The principle of bail is to increase the stakes of the arrested person to such a level that it acts as a deterrent and forces the person not to engage in any act that violates the conditions of the bail. Besides accepting the money, the court attaches some conditions with the bail that the arrested person must fulfill to enjoy the freedom awarded by the court. If the person flees after release, the police will re-arrest the person on fresh charges, and the court forfeits the bail amount.
Bail bond – Instead of paying cash for bail, another easier way is to engage a bail bond agent to issue a bail bond equivalent to the bail amount that helps the person get out of jail. The bail bondsman represents the client and prepares all documents for processing the bail bond after going through a complex legal process. The bond is a kind of surety that the court accepts and agrees to release the arrested person on its basis.
Bail bonds take lesser time to execute than arranging cash for bail, especially because bail amounts usually are high. Proving the legitimacy of cash payments is difficult and time taking which makes bail bonds more attractive.
