If you have been placed under arrest in Moreno Valley, it helps to know you can be freed from custody pending the resolution of your case. California statute permits arrested suspects to be set free on bail and awaits their trial date outside the jail. At Fausto's Bail Bonds, we will assist you in making bail within just a short time. Our aggressive bond dealers will do all they can to ensure you are content with the bond services they offer you.
How Moreno Valley Bail Works
Most people in Moreno Valley have only learned of bail and bonds through news reports and television adverts. If at some point you have asked what bail is and how it works, your answers are in here. We will give you a straightforward explanation of what bail and bonds mean, the bail bond services available, and what you should expect before and after a judge sets bail.
You want to understand how a Moreno Valley bail bonds procedure works and your rights. Understanding what the bail bond process is like may assist you in securing a jail release sooner, allowing you more time and space to seek expert legal advice while being capable of providing for your loved ones.
The Definition of Bail
What bail and a bail bond or simply a bond mean are questions you need not be asking when confined. Therefore, it is essential to start with the definition to understand the bail process. Bail is the money you must post with the court or jail facility to secure your release from custody. It is a means of ensuring you will present yourself for any future court appearances for your case, as the court requires.
On the other hand, a bond or bail bond refers to a financial arrangement a Moreno Valley bail bonds company makes on your behalf as the defendant, and in turn, you have to promise that you will appear in court as required for that particular case. ‘Bail’ and ‘bail bond’ are terms often used interchangeably, but as we have seen, these two terms do not mean the same thing.
A bail bonds company can organize to have you released from custody before your trial, and in exchange, you will have to pay some money. This money is called the premium and is usually 10% of the bail amount that the judge sets. In addition to the premium, the bail company may also need you to put up collateral, which could be a valuable asset or cash.
The judge sets the bail amount, and the bonds company will deposit the whole amount with the court or jail facility after you pay the premium and collateral. Therefore, a bail bond is a pledge or surety that the company will deposit the entire bail value, and the defendant will show up in court as the judge orders.
Note that the premium is non-refundable. Even if the court eventually finds you innocent of your charges, the bonds agency cannot return the money to you. On the other hand, the company will refund the property or cash you provided as collateral as long as you made all the required court appearances.
Bailing Someone Out of a Moreno Valley Jail May Sometimes Not Be An Option
There are cases when bail is not an option for defendants. You could only post bail and secure your release from custody if you do not have other detainers or holds. A detainer/hold is placed on an accused by another government agency, and it necessitates that the accused be confined until that hold/detainer is cleared. For instance, another state or jurisdiction may have placed a warrant against you for pending criminal charges. Or, if you have numerous traffic tickets you have not paid for, you might remain in custody until you pay them off in jail time or monetary form. If you cannot post bail or do not otherwise qualify for release before trial, you will remain in custody pending the resolution of your case.
The Bonds Process
The bonds process is as follows:
1. Pre-Bail Process— Arrest and Booking
When you have been arrested for committing an offense in Moreno Valley, the arresting officer will take you to the nearest police station, jail, or Sheriff's office to undergo booking. The officer will search you for any weapon, take a mugshot, record your fingerprints, and ask you to record your statement. The officer will also confiscate your personal belongings, which will be returned when you leave custody. Once your belongings are seized, you will not have any access to cell phones, money, or credit cards.
Also, as part of the booking procedure, the arresting officer will conduct a warrant check and background check and update the database with your information, including your criminal charge. The booking procedure involves several steps and may last anywhere from one to four hours, depending on the jail size and how busy it is.
Once you are processed, you will be transferred to a holding cell. At this point, you are allowed to make the infamous ‘one phone call.’ It is also when you can request bond services either right from a Moreno Valley bail bonds company or ask family or friends to raise the amount of money required to make bail.
2. Securing a Bond
The accused's relative, friend, lawyer, or the accused themself usually calls a bonds company to secure a bond. However, bail bond services cannot commence until you have been arrested and booked. After you have been arrested and booked and the bonds company has been contacted, the agency will kick off by gathering basic info about your situation. To evaluate the involved risk if they grant the bond, most bail agents will want to know where you are being detained, how long you have been there, where your workplace is, and what crime you have been accused of, among other matters. If there is no government hold on you and the bonds agency establishes there is no or little risk of you not showing up in court as required, the bail agent will avail the bond for purchase.
Since you will be in jail, it is most likely that someone else will purchase the bond on your behalf. The person will be known as the co-signer. The co-signer will have to sign bond paperwork, including a bond application, bond indemnity agreement, and receipt.
After the paperwork has been finalized, the bail agent will travel to the facility where you are detained to post the bond, and you will be released. From the moment you, your relative, or your friend first calls a bonds agency to secure a bond to the moment you are released, there is a waiting period between twenty minutes and two hours. Therefore, the process of securing a bond is generally relatively faster. The faster the process, the better the defendant hopes for, so bond agencies do everything to have the paperwork finalized on time.
Failure to Appear In Court
Failure to appear in court is also called skipping or jumping bail. The bonds agency that posted your bail is in charge of ensuring you appear before the court on your trial date and any other date the judge will order. If you do not appear, the company will contract a bounty hunter to look for you. The court usually allows the company up to 180 days to find you and hand you over to the authorities.
If you wish to be a co-signer, always know your bond indemnity responsibilities before agreeing to co-sign the bond. Should the defendant that you secured the bond for skip bail, the bonds agency will come after you since they expect you know where to find the accused. And a bonds agent may even need your help to return the defendant to court. If the defendant is not found, the company will require you to pay the bond amount.
By involving lawyers, coworkers, family, friends, or collateral, the bonds agency can have a reason to be assured that you will show up in court after release on bail. With their finances at risk, the bonds agency has an incentive to supervise you, including watching your co-signer.
Take Note of Bail Agents Who Offer Cheap Bonds In Moreno Valley
For all bond services offered in Moreno Valley, defendants must pay a premium of 10% of the entire bail amount, as we mentioned above. Some specific groups of defendants pay a discounted premium and will be required to pay only an 8% premium. These groups include:
- A private attorney represents those.
- Union members.
- Teachers.
- Active or honorably discharged veteran members of the United States military.
Note that the 10% is mandated under the state law; therefore, be cautious of bail agents who offer cheap bonds for as low as 5% or even less. Because the state's law sets the cost of bail bonds, any bail agent who offers cheap bonds violates the law or applies unethical methods to sell bonds.
At Fausto's Bail Bonds, we offer payment options that meet your specific needs, and we will always work per the law. Unlike other bond agencies, we do not use unethical tactics to lure clients. Instead, we tell them things straight and provide them with all the payment options and the information required to have their loved ones released.
Other Ways of Posting Bail in Moreno Valley
Apart from hiring Moreno Valley bail bonds company to help you post bail, there are other ways of making bail. They include cash bail and property bonds.
Cash Bail
Cash bail entails paying the entire bail amount using cash. The court will return the money to you once your case proceedings end and you have shown up for all the court dates as required and not violated any of the imposed bail conditions. Instead of paying with cash, some courts or jail facilities accept payment through money orders, traveler's checks, cashier's checks, certified checks, or personal checks.
There are cases where a jail facility or court will not allow you to post cash bail if the money is suspected to be originating from criminal activity. If, for example, you have been charged with embezzling a considerable amount or prosecuted for drug trafficking and you post cash bail worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars or more, the judge may suspect the money's origin to be illegal. You have to prove the funds' source is legitimate; otherwise, the court will not accept it.
Property Bond
Instead of paying cash or contracting a Moreno Valley bail bonds agency, you can give your property to the court as a bond. A property bond involves posting your equity interest in a property to ensure you will appear in court. Although, the property's value must be at least two times the bail value. For example, if the court has set bail at $30,000, it must be content that the value of the property you wish to post as bail is $60,000 at the minimum. To secure a property bond, the court must first appraise the property, disclose any liens, and estimate its equity.
If the court accepts your property bond, it will order that you are released from custody. If you do not show up in court as required, the court will foreclose the property and sell it to recover the bail amount.
Jail Information
Moreno Valley Police Department
22850 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos
Moreno Valley, California 92553
Phone: 951-486-6700
Robert Presley Detention Center
Phone: 951-955-4500
Court Information
Moreno Valley Courthouse
13800 Heacock Street, Building #D201
Moreno Valley, California 92553
Phone: 951-777-3147
Find Reliable Bail Bond Services Near Me
Posting bail with any Moreno Valley bail bonds company can be an intricate process, notably when you have been arrested for the first time. As a result, you want to partner with a professional and reliable bonds agency if facing this kind of situation. You want to work with experts from Fausto's Bail Bonds. Our experienced bail agents are always available and willing to help, irrespective of what time it is and your financial situation. We will do everything we can to ensure you are free and can resume your daily duties as soon as possible. Contact us today at 855-328-7867 and allow us to help you secure your freedom.