[TxMex]

I know there is someone in here that's going to know this 😁

Fortunately I have made it to this point in my life and don't know how bail works. Let's suppose I would need bail for some reason. Could I pay the money myself or would I need someone else to pay it?

 

[muleskinner2]

I know there is someone in here that's going to know this 😁

Fortunately I have made it to this point in my life and don't know how bail works. Let's suppose I would need bail for some reason. Could I pay the money myself or would I need someone else to pay it?

If you are locked up, sooner or later they will let you make a phone call. Jails are one of the few places that still have pay phones. There will be phone numbers for Bail Bonds on the wall near the phone. After you talk to them, someone from the bail bond company will come visit you in the jail. They will have the paperwork that needs to be filled out, and they might bond you out right then. Or a few hours later, depending on how big the bond is. They will escort you from the jail to the bail bond office, where you will sign a contract promising to pay your bond and to appear in court.

When you are bailed out of jail, you are not set free from custody. You are released into the custody of the bail bond company. You will sign a contract that allows the bail bond company to check in on you at home, and to arrest you and return you to jail if you violate any of the terms of the bail contract. This is the reason that bail bond companies, or their agents, (bounty hunters) can arrest someone and transport them back to jail. Even across state lines, it's because they have written permission from you to do so.

 

[nchobbyfarm]

If you have the money, you can bail your self out. Or someone else can bring the money. If you don't have the money, then you will pay a bondsman as described above.

ETA- and always remember, you have the right to remain silent. Exercise your right!

 

[67drake]

I know there is someone in here that's going to know this 😁

Fortunately I have made it to this point in my life and don't know how bail works. Let's suppose I would need bail for some reason. Could I pay the money myself or would I need someone else to pay it?

What are you planning? Get video if possible.

 

[muleskinner2]

Back in 1980 and 81, I worked for a Bail Bond company in Odessa Tx. We had customers who would come by the office and leave an envelope full of money, before they took off for Mexico. If they got caught with contraband on the way back, they would call us. We had their paper work filled out and waiting. I have bonded out quite a few smugglers from the County Jail in Marfa Texas.

 

[ryanthomas]

If you use a bondsman, you pay a percentage to him, usually 10%. You don't get that back, even if you show up for all your court proceedings and are found not guilty.

If you pay the full amount to the court yourself and you show up for all your court proceedings, you get the money back when the case is finished. If you're found guilty, they can use your bail to pay the fines and court costs and give you back the balance if there is any. If not guilty, you get it all back.

 

[TxMex]

Y'all are awesome! I never did understand how that system works.
No I'm not planning to break the law but I may step on some toes and with my life experience I try to anticipate the worst case scenario.
All my friends are broke so I wanted to be sure I could get myself out should I end up in that situation.

 

[kinderfeld]

Y'all are awesome! I never did understand how that system works.
No I'm not planning to break the law but I may step on some toes and with my life experience I try to anticipate the worst case scenario.
All my friends are broke so I wanted to be sure I could get myself out should I end up in that situation.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Danaus29]

Y'all are awesome! I never did understand how that system works.
No I'm not planning to break the law but I may step on some toes and with my life experience I try to anticipate the worst case scenario.
All my friends are broke so I wanted to be sure I could get myself out should I end up in that situation.

Do we need to set up a gofundme for bail for @TxMex?

 

[kinderfeld]

Do we need to set up a gofundme for bail for @TxMex?

Sounds like he's planning and making arrangements ahead of time.
I'll bet he has already called the county asking for offense specific bail estimates.

 

[TxMex]

Sounds like he's planning and making arrangements ahead of time.
I'll bet he has already called the county asking for offense specific bail estimates.

I'm a she 😉
Granny didn't raise a stupid granddaughter! No way I'm going to give them a heads up 😂

However, on most things, you would be absolutely correct. I would make all possible inquiries and do research before committing to something.

 

[Forcast]

I can't tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we're gonna hurt some people................who's car we taking

 

[Clem]

As a heads up, and it may be different in your state: Last time I bailed someone out, bail bondsman wanted 10%, no refund. At the courthouse/jail, they wanted cash, or would wait til the check cleared(pre-internet and instant check cashing). So to save $500 or waiting a week for check to clear, I put up $5k in cash. I few days later the assistant prosecuting atty for the city of Danville, VA(a real clown show of a legal system in the 80's and 90's where a judge, prosecuting atty, and chief of police got busted for trading confiscated guns to hookers for hooker services...and even worse, the citizens wanted the fired chief back in place so he was reinstated with full back pay, pension, etc) Anyway the assistant prosecuting attorney had a bunch of papers he shuffled around and ask me where I got $5k in cash. I just looked at him. Then he wanted my records. I went home and came back with a cardboard box full of old 45's and left it with his receptionist. When the woman I had bailed out was cleared, I went to the clerk's office and ask for my 5k back, She talked about they don't actually keep the money(although I had been assured by the magistrate when I bailed the person out it would get put in an envelope and given back to me untouched) So they were going to send me a check, not even give me a check on the spot. It took nearly a month to get a check for cash I'd put up with a 10 minute advance notice.
So, the moral of that story is that unless you want to lose 10% of the amount for a little convenience(or you don't have the access to total amount of bail) expect to get jerked around by the system.

ALSO if yiu get arrested with a large sum of cash, you're going to be really screwed. Some places the cops just take it, some places the police department takes it and you have to prove it's not drug related, and almost anywhere you'll get reported to some federal agency or another for having "terrorist sized cash". And, as you can imagine, it could be worse. You can easily get killed for 5-10k.

 

[Danaus29]

I know someone who was arrested with about $20 in their pocket. That cash was not returned, nor was it applied to legal fees or bail. The police dept just kept it, no explanation, no chance of return.

 

[TxMex]

Thanks for the reminder about large sums of cash. I normally buy and sell for cash even big ticket items. So I tend to keep cash on hand rather than running back and forth to the bank. Of course depending on what I've purchased lately I may not have any cash 😂

Every time I go to Mexico I deposit all but about $300. Used to it was only the US side that asked if you have over $10,000 cash. Now it is the Mexican side too....though I wonder if they have the same motivation for asking 🤣.
Oddly enough they never ask about pesos. My bank will send me pesos via FedEx at a good exchange rate. I usually have several thousand dollars of pesos on me when I cross the border.

 

[mreynolds]

Thanks for the reminder about large sums of cash. I normally buy and sell for cash even big ticket items. So I tend to keep cash on hand rather than running back and forth to the bank. Of course depending on what I've purchased lately I may not have any cash 😂

Every time I go to Mexico I deposit all but about $300. Used to it was only the US side that asked if you have over $10,000 cash. Now it is the Mexican side too....though I wonder if they have the same motivation for asking 🤣.
Oddly enough they never ask about pesos. My bank will send me pesos via FedEx at a good exchange rate. I usually have several thousand dollars of pesos on me when I cross the border.

I worked for a guy once that was cigarette boat. They towed it to Austin and the guy gave the driver 780,000 dollars cash. The driver was so nervous on the way home he had to check his blood pressure when he got back. Who pays cash for something that big? I'm thinking cartel and that baby went on into Mexico from Austin.

 

[TxMex]

@mreynolds very probably! It's much easier to get an expensive boat across the border than that amount of cash. Which explains some of the absolutely eye popping super yachts in the marinas in Mexico.
I was thinking my 30ft Catalina was a really nice boat until I went to some of the bigger marinas in Mexico! Almost felt like I needed to ask if my humble boat could be docked next to their floating party city.

 

[Forcast]

So we don't need a van with rubber sheets and a shovel after all?
X boyfriend of neighbors had to put their house up for bail. They lost the house . cousin had the same thing happen. Maybe you cant put your house on the line anymore. Think they both tried to get a bank loan to release the house. The criminal ran. So they lost that money or value.