Arrested? Before You Panic, Make Sure You Follow These 3 Important Steps

Whenever a person faces an arrest and criminal charges, it can disrupt every area of life. While this can be a period of great confusion, it does not have to result in complete upheaval. No matter what the pending counts might be, there are a few actions that anyone in this situation can take to make some sense of his or her circumstances. The steps listed below will be a good place to start.

1. Understand Your Charges

This might seem basic, but it is important to know as early as possible what a defendant will be up against if and when the case goes to court. Start by determining if a period of release will be allowed before a trial starts. If so, go ahead and secure the services of a reputable bail bondsman Jacksonville FL or wherever the charges are being filed.

2. Understand Your Options

In addition to searching for the right source of bail funding, there are many other professional services needed to successfully navigate the criminal justice system. For starters, it is imperative to find a team of expert attorneys with plenty of relevant criminal defense experience.

3. Understand Your Next Steps

Talk to the lawyers involved and be honest about all the details relevant to the case. In some situations, a plea deal might make the most sense. Other cases will call for a vigorous defense and potentially a lengthy trial. It will be up to everyone involved in the decision-making process to determine which path is best given the particular details of the event.

Although it is not a scenario anyone would want to voluntarily find themselves facing, criminal charges are a reality for many people across the country. In most cases, however, staying as calm as possible and following the guidelines listed above could be a big help.

Strange and Interesting Facts About Bail Bonds

If you have never been in trouble with the law, never been arrested, or don’t know anyone that has, you may not know much about bail bonds and how they work to help the judicial system ensure people return for court appearances. They can also help people get out of jail instead of spending several days waiting for a court attendance. Here are some strange and interesting facts about bails bonds you probably never knew.

Who Can Get Bail?

There are some arrested individuals that are not entitled to be released on bail. Those include suspects that are accused of violent crimes, crimes against children, or high-risk individuals. Those defendants are kept in custody at the jail until their hearing date.

Who Can Post Bail?

Anyone can post your bail, but your bail bonds Stroudsburg PA bondsperson can not negotiate your bail. He or she is only allowed to pay the full bail amount, and then he or she can collect a fee of around 10 percent of the total. Most of the time, the bail amount charged for a crime is set by the state, not an arbitrary number from the judge.

Who Can Decide Bail?

Although the bail amount is state or federally determined, the judge does have the discretion to award leniency if it is warranted by the first offense rule, if the defendant is elderly, or there is a question if the crime took place.

Who Can Get Re-jailed?

If you are out on bail and the restrictions or rules the court asked you to comply with are not followed, you can . When that happens, there is no chance for a secondary bail release. The most common reasons defendants end up re-jailed is due to drugs, alcohol, or gun possession.

These are only four of the strange and interesting facts associated with bail bonds. The next time you play a trivia game, and the subject of bail comes up, you will have all the answers!