The Fastest Way to Get Your Loved One Released From Jail
FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO GET THINGS DONE QUICKLY
Before you do anything else, GO HOME or to some other place where you can receive phone calls and talk privately. This is a personal and private problem, not one to talk about in public where you have no privacy and don’t really know who is listening.
You usually do not need to go to the jail right away. If your loved one was just arrested, they will usually be taken to the local police station for processing (2 to 4 hours) then either taken to the county jail to be lodged or they will be held at the local police department so they can be taken to court in the next couple of days.
If your loved one was just at court they will be taken back to the jail where they were held before
they went to court and the new paperwork will need to be processed (2 to 4 hours) before the jail or court will accept a bail bond anyway. Here at Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency we know that there is no need or sense to sitting in an uncomfortable jail lobby for hours on end waiting for the jail to finish processing paperwork for all the individuals that went to court that day.
¨ The Bail My Tail underwriter may need to contact you more than once to obtain information and provide you with information as it becomes available throughout the process.
¨ Make sure you know, and give the Bail My Tail underwriter, the correct telephone number to contact you at in order to keep the process moving swiftly and efficiently. The faster we can contact you regarding what is going on, the faster we can obtain the release of your loved one! If you are calling from a cell phone and the signal is poor or the battery dies, please call the Bail My Tail underwriter from a “land line” or another cell phone to give us another number where we can reach you.
You w
ill need to give the Bail My Tail underwriter the full legal name of your loved one including any variations or other names they may be held (Lodged, Booked) under. Also, have the person’s date of birth and, if possible, their Jail Identification Number.
Make sure you know exactly which jail is holding your loved one. If your loved one calls you, make sure you ask them the exact detention facility where they are being held.
¨ Is it a County Jail, if so, which one? Some counties have more than one detention facility it will speed things up if we know exactly where your loved one is being held.
¨ Is it a City Jail, if so, are they at one of the Districts/Precincts or at the main City Police Department Headquarters?
¨ Are they being held in a Federal detention facility or a County Jail for Federal Warrants?
¨ Bail My Tail Underwriters have access to the telephone numbers of jails and police departments all over the United States but, since you know exactly where your loved one is being held, the best thing to do is to obtain the telephone number of the detention facility from them so you can give it to the Bail My Tail underwriters to reduce the time lost from trying to locate them through other means.
¨ If the detention facility is very large you should attempt to obtain your loved one’s
booking or inmate number to avoid confusion.
Don’t worry about calling the jail to obtain a list of all bond amounts and the charges for each, the Bail My Tail underwriter will do this for you. (See below for more information on obtaining bond information)
¨ If you do have the bail and charges information when you call it will help things to go faster, but it’s not necessary. Bail My Tail underwriters will also do this to make sure the jail has given you all the correct information.
¨ In
addition, since you may have been in communication with your loved one, maybe you have even been at court, you will have an idea if there is a difference between what you believe the bonds to be and what the jail is telling you. That way the Bail My Tail Underwriters will know if an information problem exists and how to go about solving it for you.
¨ If you cannot get through to the jail, just let us know and one of Bail My Tail’s
underwriters will make the call for you. We know that jails, especially in major
metropolitan areas are often extremely busy and may not answer their phone for hours. They are just as busy when it comes to processing your loved one’s paperwork as well.
If you cannot come up with all the money, Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency underwriters will work with you to try to find a financing solution that works for you. We also accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover and, under some circumstances, personal checks.
When obtaining bond information follow the guidelines below to help things go faster
¨ If there is more than one bond, make a list of the amounts
¨ Ask what offense (crime) is charged for each bond
¨ Ask if the bond is Cash or Surety or if a 10% option is available
¨ If Surety is available; ask the officer how much the surety bond is
¨ Be sure to ask if there are any fines and court costs that must be paid in addition to the bonds (Bail My Tail cannot loan money or pay fines and court costs)
¨ In many states you will also need to ask if there are any “jail fees” that must be paid. These a
re usually called “booking fees” or “warrant fees” and must be paid in cash at the
time you post the other bonds, in Michigan the Booking Fee is $12, the Warrant Fee is $10 for each bond being posted and includes Friend of Court Bonds (Child Support). (Bail My Tail cannot loan money or pay “booking or warrant fees”)
How Much Money Will You Need?
¨ Total all of the surety bonds needed for your loved one’s release
¨ The price for bail bonds is set by state law; depending on the state you are in, you will usually need between 10% and 15% of the total amount of surety bonds (Michigan is a 10% State)
· (If you cannot raise all of the money now, don’t worry, our Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency underwriters will work with you to find the best payment plan possible for your circumstances)¨ Add any “fines & court costs” that must be paid (These must be paid in cash by you)
¨ Add in any “booking and warrant fees” (These must be paid in cash by you)
Will You Need Collateral?
Not Usually!
¨ Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency guarantees the full amount of the surety bail bonds to the court as security that your loved one will appear in court each and every time the court requires them to appear.
¨ In turn, Bail My Tail will require that acceptable “guarantors” (indemnitors) guarantee that your loved one will meet their obligation to the court and, if not, the “guarantors” will pay Bail My Tail the amount of the surety bonds before Bail My Tail is required to pay the court.
¨ As an option to paying the court, the “guarantors” could work with Bail My Tail to get your loved one to return to court and the court may set aside all or a portion of what is owed if your loved one returns within approximately 28 days.
¨ Although Bail My Tail underwriters usually do not require collateral, you still should consider what you have and what you would be willing to use as collateral to guarantee the bond should collateral become necessary.
¨ The most often used types of collateral are: Real Estate, Vehicles (this included mobile homes, motor homes, RV’s etc.), or Additional Cash.
¨ If collateral is necessary, you will need to have proof that you own it, such as a deed al
ong with the most recent property tax notice (Bail My Tail underwriters may waive the need to see the deed and property tax notice if your property records can be viewed online at the county’s Register of Deeds site.), a vehicle title, etc. If you use a vehicle as collateral you will be required to drive it to the jail to show it to our bail bond agent and we will need the title that is in your name.
Call Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency by dialing 810-234-5776, toll free, 1-877-869-TAIL(8245) for the nearest bail agent you can call 810-234-5776 or our toll free number from anywhere – 1-877-869-TAIL(8245)
¨ A Bail My Tail underwriter will ask you some basic questions relating to who, what, where, and why your loved one is in custody.
¨ A Bail My Tail underwriter will also ask you questions about the personal history of your loved one such as where they work, previous arrests, time living at current residence, family status,etc.
¨ Bail My Tail underwriters will call the detention facility and, if necessary, the court to locate exactly where your loved one is being held and to determine exactly what will be necessary to obtain their release.
¨ Bail My Tail underwriters will also contact the courts and jails to help “straighten out” any discrepancies in bond amounts or types (For example, the Michigan Constitution and statutes prohibits the setting of “cash only” bonds prior to a defendants conviction yet, mistakes are made and some jails will insist that a bond is “cash only”. Bail My Tail underwriters are trained to work with courts and jails in an attempt to straighten out these matters.) If your loved one has not been convicted of a criminal offense, yet has a bond that is “cash only”, please go to our page on the cash only bonds for more information.
¨ The Bail My Tail underwriting staff will determine the best plan to quickly get the release of your loved one.
¨ Once the plan has been formulated, an underwriter will call you to fill in any last minute
details and to set an appointment time for you to meet with one of our agents locally to get the bond posted.
Try to Remain Calm, Our underwriters Will Apply All of Bail My Tail Bail Bond Agency’s owner’s years of experience to work as diligently and efficiently as possible on Getting Your Loved One Out of Jail Quickly, But Sometimes the Criminal Justice System Moves Slowly, Very Slowly!