San Francisco County Bail Bonds

When a person is arrested in San Francisco and taken to jail for booking, the person may have the opportunity to be released from jail on bail bond while he or she awaits the trial. If a person is given the opportunity to pay a bail bond to get out of jail, the courts are essentially saying that they trust the defendant to fulfill a legal obligation to the courts, but that they would desire an additional assurance.

The bail bond is an amount of money that the courts will hold onto until the defendant has fulfilled his or her legal obligation. This bail amount is determined by a bail schedule that is used throughout California. The bail schedule is reviewed by a panel of judges on an annual basis.

When a defendant is required to pay bail in order to be released from jail, the defendant may desire to use the services of a bail bonding agency. A bail bonding agency will provide the defendant with the financial resources that are necessary to pay the full amount of the bail. In exchange for providing the defendant with the funds to pay bail, the bail bonding agency will require a down payment from the defendant.

Most bail bonding agencies charge a down payment of about ten percent of the total cost of the bail in exchange for their services. This down payment may be in addition to other collateral that the bail bonding agency may request. The other collateral will be held onto by the bail bonding agency until the defendant fulfill the obligation to the courts.

When the defendant completes the legal obligation, the bail bonding agency will release the collateral and will receive a refund for the bail amount. However, if the defendant fails to fulfill a legal obligation, then the bail bonding agency will not receive a refund and the agency may take possession of the collateral that the defendant had provided.

The agency may also use a bounty hunter to track the defendant down, rearrest him or her, and return him or her to court in order to fulfill a legal obligation. The U.S. is the only country in the world that still allows legal bounty hunting.