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Bail Bonds for Misdemeanor Charges

Individuals who are arrested for misdemeanor charges face a large set of challenges. There may be an impact on their freedom or their ability to secure employment and housing. Individuals may also be ostracized and have to redeem their online reputations. But there is a step that people can take to diminish their liability and improve their chances of avoiding a misdemeanor conviction. People can respond by using a bail bond to get out of jail as soon as possible. Misdemeanor bail helps individuals avoid the criminal justice and penitentiary systems as much as they possibly can.

The purpose of bail for Misdemeanor Charges

Both misdemeanor bail and felony bail are used to help an individual secure release from jail pending trial. After an arrest, an individual is given a court date when their charges will be heard in a court of law. There is a desire by the court system to have individuals go home prior to this date because they may be innocent. The court has to balance this desire with a desire to keep people from skipping bail and not returning to face justice. As a result, the court will determine an amount of bail based on the severity of misdemeanor charges in California and whether or not an individual has proven to be a flight risk. The court allows individuals who cannot meet bail to contact a bail agent.

Bail agents provide bonds whereby an individual can put up a smaller amount of money or a piece of property and secure a much larger amount of bail for their misdemeanor charges in California. This procedure may not seem particularly necessary for smaller amounts of bail. But millions of Americans do not want to go into debt just to make bail. They may not have thousands or even hundreds of dollars to simply spend on bail at a moment’s notice. As a result, these individuals need the services of a bondsman for both misdemeanors and felonies.

Bail for misdemeanors

Bail for misdemeanors is often much smaller than its felony equivalent. This smaller amount is due to the misdemeanor definition and the chances of flight. Courts reason that an individual is less likely to flee and jump bail if the charges they are faced with are relatively minor according to a misdemeanor definition. They are not trying to avoid years of jail time and do not need the massive incentive of lots of lost money in order to stay in a particular area. Misdemeanor jail time is short and maybe nonexistent for a first-time misdemeanor offense. As a result, bail amounts for many types of misdemeanor charges are often small. Individuals are even sometimes released on their own recognizance for particularly minor misdemeanor crimes. Other bail amounts when they are offered in many types of misdemeanor charges may range in the hundreds to thousands of dollars.

What to do

Anyone who is arrested and charged with a list of misdemeanor charges needs to secure bail and release as quickly as possible. This step is even true for individuals charged with a first-time misdemeanor offense. Individuals need a release from jail in order to ensure that they can put together the best defense possible against their charges for criminal offenses. Being locked inside a jail cell keeps people from receiving proper sleep and nutrition. It causes them to be more likely to take problematic plea deals and launch weak defenses. As a result, individuals should seek bail immediately after being arrested for a wide list of misdemeanor charges for criminal offenses. They should contact a bail bondsman. The number needed to contact these individuals is often posted in a convenient place in a jail. Bail agents will then help an individual meet bail and get out of misdemeanor jail time as quickly as possible.

Conclusion

Individuals who are arrested for misdemeanor crimes may seem conflicted on what to do. They may not believe that their potential time in jail after a misdemeanor conviction warrants the securing of a bail bond. Bail bonds for misdemeanors ensure that an individual avoids a conviction and possible jail time. While it is not a felony, a misdemeanor can cause problems that can still ruin a person’s life.