Freedom is what everybody yearns for and enjoys. Even so, trouble might still come our way, inevitably resulting in an arrest. The first thing that comes to mind at such moments is to regain your freedom. What can you do to avoid going to jail? The law has made provisions through bail.

While this seems a convenient alternative, it can be devastating if neither you nor your family can raise the required amount. If you are arrested in Long Beach, you can contact 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds to help post your bail. You won't have to wait for the bondsman to come in person since the entire process can be done online, making your release much faster and convenient.

The Arrest Process

The first thing that happens when arrested in police custody is booking. This is what the police will do:

  • Make a list of your details (name, physical traits, date of birth, etc.)

  • Keep track of the details of the purported offense

  • Keep a record of your fingerprints plus photos

  • Check to see whether you have a criminal record

  • Search you, and confiscate any personal items such as keys, phones, or purses (to be restored upon your parole)

  • Put you in a holding cell at a police station or a municipal jail

Booking takes about an hour, but it can take considerably longer if many people have to be registered at a facility with insufficient staff. Following the completion of the booking, the matter is forwarded to the local prosecutor's office. The prosecution and their team must then decide whether or not to pursue charges and the kind of charges to file within 48 hours of booking. However, this deadline is frequently missed.

Suppose you're arrested and charged with a minor infraction (a traffic violation, misdemeanor, or petty crime). In that case, most police officers will give you a written ticket and release you after taking your signature and pledging that you'll show up in court later as specified. If you don't, you can be taken to the police station and given a bail amount.

Whether you sign the written citation or go through the bail process, you will still secure your release. Either the police or district attorney will tell you when to appear in court for arraignment in both cases.

What is Bail?

In some situations, a written pledge to show up in court is insufficient, and thus the jury will require a financial assurance of your appearance in court. Bail is a method of obtaining your freedom from police detention by paying a certain sum of money. The release says you promise to appear in court as scheduled. If you do as promised, you will receive a bail refund. But if not, the bail-jumping clause applies, and you will be subject to arrest, and you will forfeit the debt.

It is pretty usual to work with agencies that help you process your bail physically. However, in the wake of technology, some agencies in Long Beach are taking these services online. With this option of processing bail, you don't have to travel to different points to fulfill your services. There are systems in place where you can fill and sign all the documents required online. Transferring funds to respective courts is also flawless, using different payment platforms to transfer the bail amount to respective court departments.

The judges could also place restrictions on the bail that the accused person must agree to be released. The most common requirement is that the arrested person agrees to meet with a rehabilitation or probation officer regularly. Another usual need is that the parties agree to abide by the terms of a restraining order or other kinds of order of protection.

Different bail sums are posted for different offenses, with more severe crimes needing a more significant sum of money in bond. Judges have the authority to increase or lower the amount of bail necessary modestly, but they are typically bound to follow the bond amounts listed on a bond schedule. The bail schedule establishes how much someone must pay in bond for certain types of alleged offenses. California does not have a statewide bail schedule; rather, each county sets its bail schedule.

In Los Angeles County, there is a misdemeanor bond schedule and felony bond schedule You can check them out to have an overview of the bail amounts for the varying crimes.

Using Cash Bonds

Most people use cash to settle their bail requirements. Since no one can anticipate and prepare for an arrest, raising the required amount might be tricky. Friends or relatives might come to your aid to ensure that you obtain your release. Even so, when choosing this alternative, you ought to approach it wisely.

At such a moment, you are facing a criminal charge. Unfortunately, obtaining your release on bail is just the beginning of your journey towards freedom. Therefore, you need to consider your expenses in other needs, like getting an outstanding criminal attorney to represent you.

Although you might be financially stable, you may want to consider these expenses considering that it might take you some time to receive your bail refund. Before you settle for cash bonds, you can explore other relatively cheap alternatives like the use of surety bonds/ property bonds.

Property Bonds

If you cannot afford the cash bail or do not wish to pay your bail in full, you can use the property as collateral to secure your release from jail. The only setback is that you might have to use another person's property in some cases, who might sometimes deny the hold on their property. In such cases, the court will cancel the bond as you return to custody until you get a new bail.

Note that the property's value has to be more than double the bail price. This excess is necessary to guarantee that all expenses associated with securing the property are covered.

It can take you days or weeks to get out of jail with a property bond since processing this bond is time-consuming and arduous. Despite all these, it can save you financial constraints, provided you don't forfeit the bond. If you forfeit it, you risk losing your property permanently. Note that the property you use doesn't have to be yours for the court to accept it. Even so, there are exceptions that you will discover in subsequent sections.

Property bonds are commonly utilized in cases involving illegal immigration because they require plaintiffs to remain in the country to fulfill their legal commitments. Be aware that securing a property bond is a more time-consuming method of obtaining your loved one discharged on security, as it necessitates the completion of significantly more printed information before obtaining a release. It's not advised for those looking for a rapid and smooth discharge.

Release on Personal Recognizance

When the court determines that you are an "upstanding citizen" who they can trust to be freed without paying any bail, you will be released on your recognizance This is uncommon, but it is conceivable if you don't have a criminal history, have lived and worked in the community for an extended period, and have brilliant character witnesses.

If you don't have the cash, property, someone to bail you out or fail to obtain your release on personal recognizance, you can always contact a bail bond agency. This is where bail bonds come in.

Understanding Bail Bonds

Bail bonds are court-filed promises out of a bond firm that assures a defendant's conformity with all court-ordered appearances, through and including the trial. This surety firm guarantees the jury that if the offender fails to attend all proceedings, including the trial, they will settle the entire sum of the bond.

The surety bond company thus has a personal stake in seeing that you keep up their "bond" with all court appearances. You will thus pay the surety bond agency a non-refundable premium, typically 10% of the overall price of the bond needed by the bail protocol, in exchange for the guarantees to the tribunal and the right to go free before paying the whole bond.

If you obtain your freedom on bond from jail, you need to appear in court for all court proceedings, including your trial. The surety bond agency can invalidate the bail and send you back to court for detention if you don't. To prevent going back to jail, it is critical to meticulously follow all obligations and court proceedings while using a surety bond company.

An agent from the bail agency firm will ask the person acquiring the surety bond for information on the specific suspect and the type of offense the defendant allegedly committed to draft the contract required to start the surety bond process. The staff will then run a background investigation on the accused to evaluate if, based on recent behavior, the defendant is likely to show up in court.

If the background investigation results are satisfactory, the employee will complete the agreement and seek money to cover a portion of the total bond amount. Furthermore, this agent may seek collateral from the individual acquiring the surety bond.

After the compensation has been finished, the surety bond company will dispatch a licensed bond dealer to the location where he must deposit the bail. The certified bondsman will settle the total amount of bail outlined in the bond schedule and complete any documentation required to secure the suspect's freedom. Apparently, it is possible to complete this entire process conveniently online at any time.

Revoking Bond

It's vital to understand that bail isn't a certainty if the offender doesn't follow the court's instructions. There are a few reasons why a safeguard can be rejected. Judges frequently disclaim a defendant's security if they have reason to believe they will not comply with the court's instructions. These include being a flight risk, not showing up to court on time, getting charged with an additional offense, failing a medical test, and failing to check in weekly.

Securing your release on bail is a benefit that is constitutionally protected. If the offender abuses the privilege and defies the court's orders, the court has the liberty to revoke the benefits. In such a case, you will have to go back to custody within thirty days, and your co-signer will have the responsibility of settling the entire bail amount.

If the judge or the co-endorser rejects a defendant's security, it will be released once the offender has been remanded to a detention facility. Although the statutory 10% charge will not be repaid to the co-endorser, any cash or property that outperforms that amount will be. Depending on the court and how soon the writing is prepared, the process of discharging a bond might take approximately 30 to 60 days.

As mentioned before, there are situations when the police or prosecutor might reject the bail posted from friends or relatives. Sometimes they might apply this to property as stipulated in the Penal Code 1275 Hold on Bail.

PC 1275 Hold on Bail

The prosecution will not accept bail when there are substantial grounds to believe the funds or property used to post bail came from illegal activity, according to Provisions of Section 1275.1. This is referred to as a section 1275 Hold.

The Penal Code 1275 Holds can be placed on bail by anyone involved in the arrest or prosecuting process. This means they suspect the funds used to get someone out of custody were unlawfully obtained. Gang-related operations, drug dealing, extortion, embezzlement, or theft are all possible sources of funds. Any one of these acts would disqualify the proceeds from them being used to pay the bond.

Bail is a financial guarantee that a person will appear in court for all hearings related to their allegations. The court presumes that if unlawful funds are being used to settle for bail, the defendant will not care much about the cash to continue appearing in court if they are released on bail.

Hearings Under PC 1275

Whenever a 1275 Hold has been placed on someone's bail, the court will convene a hearing to ascertain if you obtained the money needed to pay the bond illegally. The individual posting bail will have to submit a credit card and bank statements, car payment details, billing statements, tax returns, and evidence of income to their Penal Code 1275 Hearing to verify that the funds are "clean."

When you arrive for the 1275 Hearings, it is recommended that you bring a bail bond agent and a lawyer with you. You might also bring someone who can vouch for your income source and help clarify your financial condition.

Taking out a Penal Code 1275 Hold

The judge will remove the Section 1275 Hold, and you or your loved one will be permitted to pay bail the moment the judge determines that you did not acquire the funds used to pay your bail through illicit means.

The Cost of Long Beach Bail Bonds

You can use the felony bond worksheet to determine the amount of bail required to secure someone's release from jail.

You'll need to take the following steps:

  1. Make a list of all the charges brought against a defendant.

  2. Find the accusation with the enormous bail amount on the bail plan.

  3. Record the bond costs necessary for each charge and include these in the initial charge if the accused person is indicted with several offenses on different days or against different victims.

  4. Next, see if any modifications necessitate an increase in bail. The following are examples of enhancements:

  • Offenses involving gangs

  • Offenses involving the use of a weapon

  • Are there any previous convictions on the defendant's record?

  • Has the person arrested been incarcerated in the last five years?

  • Is the offender over the age of 65 or under the age of 15?

  1. After you've found all of the core charges and enhancements, sum them all up to discover the total cost of bail needed to get the accused out of jail.

Long Beach Jails and Courts

The Long Beach City Jail is among California's largest municipal jails. The city uses both a female and male correctional facility. The women's jail has a capacity of 70 inmates, whereas the men's jail has a capacity of 132.

The Long Beach City Jail was not built to hold people for long periods. For those detained in Long Beach, CA, the facilities serve as a booking and interim holding facility. The facility is designated as a Type 1 jail, which means it is only used to hold non-sentenced convicts for up to 96 hours.

The defendant must be transported to one of Los Angeles County's larger county jails after the 96 hours have expired, and possibly even before that. Therefore, it is prudent that you start the bail process as soon as you receive an arrest warrant. This is the Long Beach Jail address:

Long Beach City Jail

400 West Broadway

Long Beach, California, 90802

572-570-7260

For all your court proceedings, you will attend the sessions at:

Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse

275 Magnolia Avenue

Long Beach, California, 90802

562-256-3100

Find a Long Beach Bail Bonds Agency Near Me

If you get arrested for any crime, it is best to process your bail immediately. This is because you might be transferred to the county jail, where the bail bond process might delay. We at 24 Hour Online Bail Bonds are always ready to process your bail at affordable rates. Call us today at 800-930-8999 if you are in Long Beach.