FAQ

What should I know before I contact a Bail Agent?

There is certain information that a Bail Agent will need in order to help you:

  • Where is the person in custody? Make sure that you ask the person in custody where they are located (City, State and Name of jail).
  • What is the full name and booking number of the person in jail? The Bail Agent will need this information in order to contact the jail. The Bail Agent can get the booking number for you if you forgot or if it was not available.
  • How much is the bail? The Bail Agent will get this information when they contact the jail if you do not have it. With the bail amount the Bail Agent can tell you the amount it will cost to post a bond and requirements to get the person out of Jail.

 

 
Q1.How does the bail process work?
 
A - Posting of a bail bond. This process involves a contractual undertaking guaranteed by a bail agent and the individual posting bail. The bail agent guarantees that the defendant will appear in court each and every time the judge requires them to.
For this service, the defendant is charged a percentage of the bail amount. Before being released the defendant, a relative, or friend of the defendant typically contacts a bail bondsman to arrange for the posting of bail. Prior to the posting of bail bond, the defendant or a co-signer must guarantee that they will pay the full amount of bail if the defendant does not appear in court.
Typically, a family member or a close friend of the defendant will post bail and cosign. Collateral is not always required for person to be bailed from jail. Often a person can be bailed from jail on the signature of friends of family member. Cosigners typically need to be working and either own or rent a home in the same area for some time.
After an agreement is reached, the bail agent posts a bond for the amount of the bail. To guarantee the defendant’s return to the court.
If the defendant “skips “, the cosigner is immediately responsible for the full amount of the bail. If the defendant is located and arrested by the bail agent the cosigner is responsible for the expenses the bail enforcement agent incurs while looking for the defendant.
 
Q2. What is bail?
 
A - The term bail is used in several distinct senses: (1) it may mean the security-cash or bond- given for the appearance of the prisoner. (2) It may mean the bondsman (i.e., the person who acts as surety for the defendant’s appearance, and into whose custody the defendant is released). (3) As a verb, it may refer to the release of the defendant (he was bailed out). The first meaning is the most common and should be employed for clarity.
Admission to bail is the order of a competent court that the defendant be discharged from actual custody upon bail. The discharge on bail is accomplished by the taking of bail (i.e., the acceptance by the court or magistrate of the security- either an undertaking or deposit- for the appearance of the defendant before a court for some part of the criminal proceeding).
Bail is evidenced by a bond or recognizance, which ordinarily becomes a record of the court. The bond is in the nature of a contract between the state on one side and the defendant and his sureties on the other. The agreement basically is that the state will release the defendant from custody the sureties will undertake that the defendant will appear at a specified time and place to answer the charge made against him. If the defendant fails to appear, the sureties become the absolute debtor of the state for the amount of the bond.
 
Q3. What is the purpose of bail?
 
A - The purpose of bail is to assure the attendance of the defendant, when his or her presence is required in court, whether before or after conviction. Bail is not a means of punishing a defendant, nor should there be a suggestion of revenue to the government.
 
Q4. Do I get my money back after the defendant goes to court?
 
A - When the bail bond has served its purpose, the surety will be exonerated (i.e., released from the obligation). Exoneration normally occurs when the proceeding is terminated in some way or on the return of the defendant to custody. After conviction, the defendant appears for sentence. If sentenced to imprisonment the defendant is committed to the custody of the sheriff, and the liability of the surety terminates. You will not receive any money back that you have paid a bail bondsman.
 
Q5. What if the person I bail out skips?
 
A - The surety or depositor may arrest the defendant, or authorize a bail enforcement agent or private investigator to do so for the purpose of surrendering him into custody to ensure his future appearance. The extraordinary power of the bail bondsman is of ancient origin. When bail is given, the principal is regarded as delivered to the custody of his sureties. The following may be authorized to arrest a bail fugitive: A certified law enforcement officer. A person licensed by the state to do so(i.e, holding a bail license in another state and authorized in writing by the bail or depositor to make the arrest). A person contracted and authorized in writing by the bail or depositor to do so, bail recovery agent, a private investigator. Persons doing the foregoing have been called bounty hunters, yet the term does not fit the facts of today’s world, they are acting under contract.
 
Q6. If the defendant does not appear and the court orders a forfeiture can it be set aside if he later appears?
 
A - A court will sometimes order bail forfeited on the defendant’s nonappearance, then vacate the forfeiture to reinstate the bail when the defendant appears and offers an explanation for the absence. Some instances of this would be the nonappearance because of death, illness, or insanity, or detention by civil or military authorities, and if the absence was not with the connivance of the bail (acquiescence of the bonding company to the absence). An example of illness would be where the defendant is confined to bed by reason of a doctor’s order. If a defendant flees and the prosecuting agency does not seek extradition the bail may be exonerated.
 
Q7. If the defendant has skipped town, what must the bail fugitive recovery person be able to show? Is that person a bounty hunter?
 
A - That he possesses the authority to arrest by virtue of satisfying any licensure requirements a state may impose upon such a person. Additionally, he or she must have in their possession proper documentation of authority to apprehend issued by the bail or depositor, which shall include the name of the individual authorized to apprehend the bail fugitive, the address of the principal office, the name and business address of the bail agency, or other party contracting with the individual authorized to apprehend a bail fugitive. In a historical sense they are bounty hunters as they generally are contracted to do this and are remunerated for their services by the bail agency or other contracting party. The bounty hunters of old are not the bail enforcement agents of today. Some jurisdictions required significant training and licensure of persons engaged in the recovery of bail absconders.
 
Q8. What if the underlying criminal charge is dismissed?
 
A - Statutes provide for exoneration of the surety in the event of dismissal. However, there is usually a time period within which the prosecuting agency may seek to re-arrest and charge with a public offense arising out of the same act or omission upon which the action or proceeding was based. You will not receive any money back from the bail bond company.
 
Q9. When can bail be increased?
 
A - After a defendant has been released, the court in which the charge is pending may require him to give additional bail in an amount specified or to meet an additional condition upon a finding made in open court that the defendant has failed to appear; or that additional facts have been presented that were not shown at the time of the original release order. And the court may order him to commitment unless he or she gives such bail or meets such other conditions.
 
Q10. What else may happen when a defendant fails to appear?
 
A - The court may issue a bench warrant for his apprehension and arrest for the failure to appear upon the underlying charge, which would thus be a separate triable offense, separate and distinct from the original charge. The appropriate agency will enter each bench warrant issued on a private surety-bonded felony case into the national warrant system (National Crime Information Center (NCIC).
 
Q11. What is a bail bond indemnitor?
 
A - A bail bond indemnitor is the co-signer for the bail bond. The indemnitor is responsible for seeing that all premiums are paid for a defendant’s bail bond.
Bail bonds are normally good for one year. If the case continues longer than a year, additional premiums will be due and collected for each year the case goes on.
Bail bond premiums are not refundable, as they are used for the bail agent’s expenses, etc. the indemnitor is also responsible for additional expenses incurred by the bail agent in the transaction of a bail bond, such as long distance calls, travel etc.
An indemnitor is no longer liable for the defendant’s bond when the defendant has completed all of his/her court appearances, and when all premiums have been paid. It is best to contact the bail bond company when the bail bond is exonerated by the court, for the expedient return of any collateral pledged and to confirm that the bond has been exonerated.
In the event of forfeiture, the indemnitor is liable until the full amount of the bail has been paid, plus any expenses incurred, or until the court exonerated the bond. The bond then becomes void.
 
Q12. Can the defendant leave the state or the country while on bond?
 
A -  You will have to get permission from the bonding office in writing before attempting to do so. If the court has given you direct instructions not to leave the state or country you must then get permission from the bail agent and the court before leaving. Otherwise you are subject to arrest!
 
Q13. What happens if the defendant gets rearrested while out on bond?
 
A -  Once the defendant is back in custody the bond can be surrendered and your liability will be terminated. There are a few problems here: if you decided to surrender the bond you will lose the premium that was paid, and if you decided to get the defendant out on bond again, you will now have to post two new bonds and pay the premium on both bonds again.

Contact

T&T Bail Bonds  L.L.C.

Frank & Donna M. Taylor
3205 Dutchtown Road
Homer, Louisiana 71040

Office
(318) 927 - 9214

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Cell
(318) 927 - 7508 

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Fax
(318) 927 - 2956

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Email
ttbailbonds@bellsouth.net

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