Merced Bail

I have a friend that was arrested in Merced and has asked for my help getting her out on bail. What do I need to know about bail?

First, you need to know what bail is. After a person has been arrested and booked, sometimes a judge will release the person on bail pending the trial. Bail is the amount of money that a court charges in order to get a person out of jail pending his or her trial. The bail money will be returned to the person that pays for the bond as long as the defendant shows up to court for trial. However, if the defendant fails to show up to court for trial, the bail money will not be returned. As such, bail is an assurance that a defendant will actually go to court to stand trial for a crime that he or she is accused of committing.

Bail amounts are usually expensive and usually range between about $5,000 and $1 million, depending on the alleged crime and the circumstances of the case. When a person is offered the opportunity to get out of jail on bail, there are a number of payment options available to that person. However, the defendant also has the option of not paying for bail and, thus, staying  in court pending the trial.

If the defendant decides to pay the bail amount, then the defendant has two basic options: paying the bail amount him or herself and enlisting the help of a bail bonding agency to pay the bail amount.

When the defendant decides to pay the bail amount him or herself, the defendant can either pay the full amount on his or her own (if he or she has the money), or the defendant can ask friend or family members for help paying bail. In your friend’s case, it sounds as if your friend may have opted to try to pay the bail amount on her own by asking for financial assistance from you, her friend. When the defendant pays for the bail, the money is fully refundable as long as the defendant shows up in court to stand trial.

If the defendant opts to pay the bail using a bail bonding agency, then the defendant will have to pay a down payment to the bail bonding agency that is usually at least ten percent of the amount of the bail. As such, if the bail is set at $100,000, then the defendant would probably be required to pay $10,000 as a down payment for the amount of the bail that the bail bonding company puts up. The defendant will not get this money back if it is paid as a down payment. However, the bail bonding company will get the full refund, minus administrative fees for the services.

In the event that you choose to help your friend pay for bail, keep in mind that you may not get the money that you loan her back. Therefore, only help her pay for the bail if you are comfortable letting go of the money permanently.