How A Raleigh Bail Bondsman Can Help Those Arrested

By James Jackson


Law enforcement agencies arrest many thousands of individuals every year. In the vast majority of cases those arrested are not accused of committing serious crimes such as murder, rape or robberies. Most of those arrested simply made stupid mistakes. They too a chance and operated a vehicle whilst under the influence or they become involved in conflict situations where things go too far. Thankfully, when arrested a Raleigh bail bondsman can help to secure a speedy release.

No arrest should be taken lightly. An arrest is just the first step towards a possible criminal conviction. Such a conviction can have a very serious negative impact on the life of the accused and even the lives of his family. It is therefore extremely important to hire the services of a reputable and experienced criminal defence attorney as soon as possible when arrested. Until he takes over, the accused should refrain from making statements.

Most of those arrested for less serious crimes are eligible to go free until the court can hear their cases. This is not an automatic process, however. The court must make sure that the accused will honour the terms of release. In most cases this means that he must not interfere with the case and report to a police station on a regular basis.

When the court grants a release the accused must first pay a specified amount of cash to serve as surety. This money will be paid back to him after the case is finalized. Many accused do not have the necessary cash at hand. This is where bondsmen can be of assistance. They specialize in loans meant to pay the surety for release from custody. Bondsmen normally process loan applications within an hour or two.

The convenience of quick loan from bondsmen comes at a steep price. They typically charge up to fifteen percent of the loan amount as a service fee and they seldom negotiate about the terms and conditions. The payback structure is stipulated in a written legal agreement. In the majority of cases bondsmen will also require their clients to put up sufficient fixed assets to cover the loan amount in case of default.

Many clients of bondsmen only discover the severity of the terms and conditions of their agreement at a later stage. When they signed the contract, they were under stress and still suffering from the trauma of being arrested. It is therefore best to leave all negotiations with the bondsmen in the capable hands of the attorney. He will make sure that the agreement is fair.

The importance of strictly adhering to the conditions of release simply cannot be overemphasized. If any of these conditions are broken, the accused can be arrested once more. This time round the court will be more reluctant to agree to a release. In addition, the accused will forfeit the money he borrowed to pay as surety.

The system whereby those accused of crimes are released has many critics. They say that all accused should be kept in custody until their cases are finalized. This is not practical and it is, after all, the right of every accused to be considered innocent until found otherwise by a court.




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