The ABC of Bail Bonds Utah

The reason why anybody needs to look up Bail Bonds, Utah, is because they have loved ones facing trial and bail bonds are the only way in which they can get their life back on track with.  Before you start looking for an agent who will help you get a bail bond for a loved one, it is necessary to understand what exactly a bail bond is.

When a person is in the custody of the court and not yet sentenced, he can be temporarily freed basis a document. This document is a guarantee to the court that for a certain fee known as the bail, the defendant will appear before the court when summoned. The document presented to the court is known as the bail bond.

The process and working of Bail Bonds, Utah

Here is how a typical bail bond, Utah process works:

·         The accused is taken into custody

·         The local court or jurisdiction sets a bail for the accused for a particular amount. The amount of the bail varied depending on the nature of the crime and the financial equivalence of the individuals associated with the crime

·         Either the defendant, or someone close to the defendant(a friend or a family member) gets in touch with a bail bond agent. The person getting in touch with the bail bond agent is known as the indemnitor

·         Every bail bond agent needs the indemnitor to fill out paperwork

·         The indemnitor has to pay the bail bond agent a premium for presenting a bail bond in court. This premium is usually a percentage amount of the total bail. The percentages vary from agent to agent. Generally the bail bond agents charge 10-20% of the total bail amount as premium. However, recently certain bail bong agents have a fixed amount (around $100-$500) as a premium for posting a bail bond

·         By signing the paperwork, the indemnitor also bears the brunt of responsibility of paying the full amount of the bail bond, if the defendant fails to put in an appearance in court

·         Bail bond agents have a practice of taking collaterals from the indemnitor as surety that, should an occasion arise, the full amount of the bail bond can be paid by the indemnitor

·         The collateral can be in the form of cash, property papers, jewelry or any such thing which the bail bond agents holds of value

·         If the defendant appears before the court and the case is successfully resolved the bail bond agent returns the collateral to the indemnitor

This might sound like a long and tedious process and might make you wonder what happens to your loved one while you complete this process.  All paperwork required by a bail bond agent usually takes less than an hour. The major chunk of your time will be consumed in finding a reliable and efficient bail bond agent.  Once the paperwork is completed, the release of the accused is entirely at the discretion of the jail. Some jails release the accused within thirty minutes of receiving the paperwork, while some other can take up to forty eight hours to sanction the release.

The courts hold the bail bond agent presenting the bail bond to the court responsible for the defendant. Should the defendant fail to put in an appearance in the court on the day of the trial, the bail bond agent has to pay the court the full amount of the bail bond. In such a situation, however, the court declares the defendant as a fugitive and authorizes the bail bond agent to arrest the fugitive.

Most bail bond agents Utah employ the services of a bounty hunter to bring back the fugitive. For a fixed sum known as the fee or reward, the bounty hunter takes the responsibility of hunting down the defendant. Bounty hunters of late have also been given adages like Bail Bond Enforcement Agents and Fugitive Recover Agents. It is not uncommon for bail bond agents to include the fee of a bounty hunter while charging a premium to the indemnitor for the bail bond.

Many bail bond agents in Utah have signed up with defense lawyers. It is a common belief that is not the bail bond agent but the defense lawyer who will finally help free the loved one. Usually families of friends of the accused think it is a waste of time hunting for a bail bonds agent and get in touch with a defense lawyer directly. Any defense lawyer, who accepts a case, has a lot of work to besides freeing the accused on bail. For this purpose, defense lawyers have started employing the services of bail bond agents to free their clients.

This association of defense lawyers and bail bond agents is gaining rapid popularity as it reduces the stress levels faced by the accused and his or her friends and family. They do not have to conduct two individual searches in order to help the arrested. Just one stop at the office of the defense lawyer assures them that they have employed the services of a competitive lawyer and that their loved one will be set free on bail within a matter of some hours. Defense lawyers pay the bail bonds agent a percentage commission of the total fee they charge their clients,  above the premium charged by the bail bond agent.

Bail bond agents Utah, believe that every arrested person deserves a chance at a trial and that no individual is a criminal unless declared so by the court of justice. To this end, they accept the responsibility of the accused with the court of law. The presence of the accused at the trial becomes the responsibility of the bail bond agent. Bail bond agents accept this responsibility in return for a premium. It is because of the presence of bail bond agents willing to put faith in the accused that it is possible for loved ones of the arrested to spend time with them even before the trial.

Most bail bond agents have a strong online presence. A quick internet search can give you a list of bail bond agents in Utah. A survey of testimonials from prior clients can ease your search of reliable and efficent bail bond agents.