The Realities of Arrest and Making Bail

Anyone who’s seen a recent episode of “Law & Order” will have a sense of what happens when a “perp” is taken in under arrest. The police will likely put handcuffs on the arrested person and then put them in a car and take them to a police station where they will be “booked” and then put in jail. Somewhere in there the “perp” will be read their rights and told they have a right to an attorney. If they can’t afford an attorney on their own, the court can provide one for them. After all that, the arrested person will go to jail and wait until their bail amount is set. If someone is able to post bail for them, they can be released until their court date.

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What is Bail?

Sure, we hear the term “bail” bandied about quite a bit on these police shows, but what is bail? Basically, it’s an amount of money deemed fair by the court that serves as a guarantee that the person arrested won’t disappear before their court date. If someone is considered too much of a “flight risk,” they may not be allowed to post bail. Once the bail level is set, however, someone close to the person under arrest can borrow the needed funds from bail bonds near me pittsburgh pa or another local area. This money will be given to the court and then returned once the trial is over, so it can be repaid to the bail bondsman.

A bail bondsman basically is giving out a loan to the person arrested so they can be free before their court date. The bondsman will take out interest on the loan so they can make money off the exchange once the process has ended.

The reality is that no one ever wants to face being arrested and going to jail, but if it does happen, it’s good to know there’s at least a way to deal with a very difficult situation and get some peace of mind.

One thought on “The Realities of Arrest and Making Bail

  1. Mindy Jollie

    Thanks for the definition and explanation of what bail actually is! I didn’t realize it was basically collateral against someone returning to court. A friend of mine knew someone that skipped bail, but I never really knew what that meant. If that were to happen again, the court would probably procure a bail bondsman to find that person.

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