Many people who are first-time offenders or who have been arrested for the first time do not know what to expect after they are processed by police and incarcerated. However, all people have rights under the law that protect them from punishment and from unfair processing. The law assumes your innocence until you can be proven guilty, and this means that you usually can't be continually jailed for a crime that you are not yet convicted of committing, even after you have been arrested.
This is why you are quickly processed to enter your plea and to be let out on bail. Bail is what allows you to be released from prison with a promise to appear at a later court date for trial or for sentencing. There are many factors that go into determining bail.
Most bail amounts are reasonable; bail is there to protect your right to stay out of jail. However, if you do not pay your bail, the state has the right to hold you in prison until your trial. It's therefore assumed that most bail amounts should not be set so exorbitantly high that people are unable to pay it or obtain a bail bond.
Usually, bail amount corresponds to the seriousness of the crime. For example, if you were arrested for simple assault, the bail amount would be much lower than if you were arrested for aggravated assault or assault with a deadly weapon. For simple misdemeanors, bail amounts might only be a few hundred dollars.
If you are a first-time offender, your bail amount can also be lower simply because you have no criminal history. People who have multiple arrest records show a greater contempt for the law and a higher risk factor for repeating crimes. Since the punishment for repeat offenses is higher, the risk of someone trying to leave town to avoid conviction is greater, which means the judge can justifiably ask for more bail money as a way to make sure the person does not miss their court dates.
Denial of Bail
Bail is not supposed to be a punishment. But even though you have legal right to bail, judges can deny bail based on extenuating circumstances. Usually, bail denial comes with crimes that have an immediate affect on public safety. There also has to be compelling evidence of guilt or evidence of safety concerns. For example, if an arrested individual has a history of stalking victims compulsively, the judge might deny bail on the grounds of public safety.
Judges can also deny bail based on history of being a flight risk. Bail is intended to prevent people from fleeing the law. However, if a person shows that they do not have strong roots in an area, lives transiently, or already has travel plans, a judge might deny bail because the prisoner is a flight risk.
Many people do not have the money to pay bail themselves, so they use a bail bonds company to provide payment to the court. If you use a bail bond company, you pay a small percentage of the bail amount, and the bond company pays the rest. Bail is refundable, and the bail bond company receives the full refund. Usually, bond companies also request some sort of collateral to secure the bond, such as a home or valuable possession. This helps to ensure that people using bail bonds still show up for their court dates, allowing the bail company to recoup their expenses. If you have the funds, of course, you can always pay bail yourself or get a personal loan to temporarily fund bail amounts.
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