At Beehive Bail Bonds, we’re proud to serve as your top bail bond agents throughout Utah. Providing 24/7 bail bond services and additional assistance to numerous clients for many years, we’ve helped both those incarcerated and their families navigate this often frustrating process.

We get a number of common questions from clients during this process, including this popular basic query: If I was recently arrested, can I bail myself out of jail instead of going through a bail bond process? The answer is yes – but there must be several specific circumstances met, and there are a few pretty significant roadblocks that often get in the way. This two-part blog series will help you understand the ins and outs of posting bail or a bail bond yourself, starting with some basics on the process and then digging into some of the specific conditions that must be present for this to be a possibility.

Bail Vs Bail Bond

A quick primer here for those who are new to this world: In many cases, the judicial system allows defendants to post money rather than staying in jail until their court date. This is referred to as bail, and will be set based on factors like the seriousness of the crime you’re accused of, how likely you are to flee based on your history, your financial situation and your past criminal record. In essence, bail is a way to hold a defendant accountable for attending their court dates – if they pay the bail amount and do not show up as required, the money is forfeited permanently (it’s generally returned if the date is met).

Many, however, are not able to afford paying this sort of bail money up front. In such cases, a bail bond will be used – this involves a bail bondsman putting up the majority of the funds in exchange for a fee, usually 10% of the bail cost.

Bail Bond Process

Whether you request the assistance of a bondsman or attempt to handle this on your own, the bail and bond process will go as follows:

• The arrest and booking will take place, after which you are considered a defendant.
• You will be held in jail while awaiting a court appearance, or an arraignment, where a judge will set your bail/bond amount.
• If you, a friend or family member has the money to pay the bail on its own, you can do so.
• If not, a bail bondsman can step in and help for a much smaller upfront fee.
• Once the bond is paid in either format, you will be free to leave jail – but must appear at all required court dates, otherwise this money will be lost (possibly along with your freedom).

In part two of our series, we’ll go over some qualifications that must be present for you to handle this process on your own. For more on this or any of our bail bond services, speak to the staff at Beehive Bail Bonds today.