When someone is arrested, particularly for charges where they’ll be eligible for immediate bail and able to secure their release with the proper steps, friends or family members often become very important figures here. A point of contact outside the jail is often vital for completing several steps of this process, one of the most important of which can be contacting a bail bond agent to find out about the options for securing release via bond rather than the full bail amount.

At Beehive Bail Bonds, we’re proud to offer 24/7 bail bond services to all clients in need of them. We’ve spent years working with friends and family members who are on the outside and communicating with someone who is temporarily in jail, helping them secure the fastest possible release. In this two-part blog series, we’ll go over a number of steps and areas friends or family members should be prepared for in the event someone close to you is incarcerated and calls you for assistance with this process.

Phone Call and Preparation

The first step that will take place here upon your friend or family member being taken to jail is they will be processed and booked. During this period, they will have the opportunity to use the jail phone to call someone, which might be you.

In many cases in today’s modern world, given cell phones and other forms of communication, you might be aware of their arrest well before this phone call takes place. In these situations, you can get started on other parts of this process early, helping expediate the entire thing.

Finding a Bondsman

One of your first steps after confirming that a friend or loved one is in jail is finding a reputable bail bondsman to help cover the bail cost and secure release. We highly recommend doing your due diligence here and calling a company like ours, with a sterling reputation for fairness, diligence and pricing for these services.

Bondsman Questions

When contacting a given bond agency, it’s important to ask a number of basic questions. The top items here are regarding the premium for the bond, plus you’ll often have to provide information for someone co-signing the bond along with the detainee.

In addition, confirm that the bondsman you’ve contacted is licensed to issue the bond you require. In certain situations, some bondsmen can only issue bonds for specific crimes and not others.

Waiting Period

It’s important for both those detained and their friends or family to realize that even once you’ve contacted the bond agency to get things moving, this process may take a while. Depending on which day it is, the time of day, the jail in question and other factors, securing release could take between an hour and most of a day in some cases, or even longer for certain crimes.

For more on the bail bond process if you’re a friend or family member of someone who has been incarcerated, or to learn about any of our bail bond services, speak to the staff at Beehive Bail Bonds today.