What To Do If You Can’t Afford Bail
Bail exists in order to allow people to wait for their trial from the comfort of home. Here in the United States, you are considered innocent until proven guilty. For this reason, it is your right to be let go until your trial date.
However, judges also use bail as a guarantee that you will return for your court date. They know that if you pay the entire bail amount, you will want to return to collect that money. For this reason, they set the bail amount at a different rate depending on how big of a flight risk they believe you to be.
The end result is that bail is often set at such a high amount, you can no longer afford to pay it. This leaves you stranded in jail, unable to enjoy your right to freedom. If you can’t afford bail, there are options for making it work.
Check out these tips for what to do when bail is unaffordable and reach out to our team for help. We provide affordable bail bonds in Gwinnett County and across the local area.
Reach Out To Your Family Or Friends
Affording bail can be difficult. Not only that, but trying to handle the bail process from inside of jail can be nearly impossible. The best thing you can do, if at all possible, is to reach out to family or friends who can help you during this time.
By asking for help, you can have a better shot at being able to afford bail. A friend or family member can also handle the details of posting bail on your behalf. This will ensure that you are not stuck behind bars any longer than necessary.
In order to make the process of posting bail as simple as possible, try to provide the person you call with as much information as you can. Make sure they know your full name, your date of birth, and where you are being held. This can help them as they go about putting together your bail money and working to post it for you. Having a trusted family member or friend on your side can make all the difference when it comes to affording bail.
Determine How Much A Bail Bond Will Cost
If your bail amount is extremely low, your family member or friend might be able to pay for it outright. Perhaps you have the money ready yourself. However, in many cases, the bail is not affordable, even with you and your loved ones working together.
The good news is that when you can’t afford the full bail amount on your own, there is another viable option available. In this situation, your best bet might be to utilize a bail bond company.
A bail bondsman will work with you to pay the total bail amount. However, you will only be required to pay a percentage of the bail — generally around 10%. The bail company will keep this 10% as a fee, but will pay out the rest of your bail on your behalf.
In this way, a bail bondsman makes posting bail far more affordable. Take the time to contact a bail bond company and find out how much your bail bond will cost. This will help you determine the best way to post bail.
Pool Money Together For A Bail Bond
In some cases, you might not be able to afford the cost of a bail bond on your own either. This is usually the situation when your bail amount has been set extremely high. For example, if your bail was set at $10,000, then 10% of the bail amount — $1,000 — might still be far too much for you to afford on your own.
If you are facing this situation, start by talking to your bail bond agent. They can help you come up with a game plan for how to afford bail. Next, reach out to all the family and friends you can. By pooling funds together, you can make it easier to meet your bail requirements. In the end, borrowing money and asking for help is a far better idea than sitting in jail waiting for trial. Getting out of jail will allow you to return to your responsibilities and prepare for your upcoming court date.
Get Back To Work To Pay Off Your Bail
Once you have determined how to pay the necessary money for posting bail, get back home and back to work. Returning to your normal life will help you pay back any friends or family who helped post your bail. For this reason, it is wiser to get out of jail where you have a hope of making money again.
Talk To Us About Affordable Bail Options
It is unfortunate that for many in our community, bail is too expensive to afford. That is why at ASAP Bail Bonds in Gwinnett County, our goal is to make it easier and more affordable for you to post bail. We work around the clock to assist those in our community who need to post bail.
When you call our team, we will start by gathering simple information from you about yourself or your loved one who is behind bars. From there, we will let you know what the cost of a bail bond will be. We will be happy to work with you to determine the best plan of action for your situation. If you need help affording bail, please contact us right away. We look forward to helping you.