A Reminder, "Don't Drink and Drive"

Many people misunderstand why law enforcement publishes the time and locations of DUI checkpoints.  I think it was stated well in a press release from the Huntington Beach Police Department  on June 24, 2010 
http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/government/departments/pd/news/DUI%20Ckpt%206-26-10.pdf

A major component of the checkpoints, beyond taking dangerous drivers off the road, is to increase awareness of the consequences of impaired driving and to encourage using sober designated drivers. A DUI checkpoint is a proven effective method for achieving this goal. By publicizing these enforcement and education efforts, the Huntington Beach Police Department believes motorists are deterred from drinking and driving.


The Orange County Sheriff's Department, along with law enforcement everywhere, will be extra vigilant about being on the lookout for people who are driving under the influence and/or driving while impaired.

They do not publicize them so people can purposely avoid them, although I'm sure there are people who do.  There are other officers on the road, it is likely they will get pulled over and arrested anyhow if they are driving while impaired. 


If someone feels guilty enough to avoid a checkpoint, they should just pull over and get out of their car.  They can call a friend, family member or taxi driver.  No one to call? Walk or find somewhere safe to sit and wait it out.  It is just not worth the risks.


DUI enforcement will increase even more as the end of summer and Labor Day approach.

Here is a link to a Press Release from the Orange County Sheriff's Department:

http://egov.ocgov.com/vgnfiles/ocgov/Sheriff-Coroner/Docs/Press%20Releases/2010_Summer_AvoidThe38.pdf

Bail Amounts for DUI'S 

23152(a),(b), (c), &(d)

DUI-1st offense

$2,500

DUI-2nd (within 10 yrs.)

$10,000

DUI-3rd (within 10 yrs.)

$15,000

DUI-4th (within 10 yrs.) (A felony)

23153(a),(b),(d)

DUI with injury 1st offense 2nd offense (within 10 yrs)

$25,000 $25,000

If a child is in the vehicle the bail can be as high as $100,000 for child endangerment.

Should you bail someone out who is going to be serving time?

Some things to consider when trying to decide

When we get a call to bail someone out of jail, there is so much about that person, their life, their family and their situation that we don't know. There is no possible way we can make decisions about whether or not they should stay in jail or be bailed out. What we can do is ask you questions that may help you come up with the answers. The more information we have, the better we will be able to help you in regards to posting a bail bond if that is what you decide to do. We will not pressure you. We will try to help you weigh your options. We will try to be as helpful as we can. So for example, if someone calls and wants to know if they should spend the money to bail the person out if she knows he is going to serve time. One thing to consider would be does she have the money? Can she afford to spend it and if so how much of a hardship will it be? How much is the bail? Is there enough money for both bail and an attorney? If not, are they okay with just a public defender or should all of the money go towards an attorney instead of bail? Do they really want to do both? If so, we can discuss payment arrangements so they will have money for an attorney. Is he going to fight the case? If so, how long is it expected to go on? Some criminal cases can go on for a year or more. How much time will he serve? If it is going to be a long time, he may want out before he is sentenced so he can get his affairs in order. How each question is answered determines the subsequent questions.

If the decision is to post bail, we explain how it works and can start the process immediately or as soon as it is convenient for our client.

If the decision is to let the person stay in jail, we let the caller know we understand and support their decision. We let them know we are available if they have any further questions. They don't have to feel obligated to tell us they are going to call us back. Many people feel that pressure, maybe from other companies they have called.

Orange County Bail Schedule

My daughter has never been arrested before. Isn't her bail kind of high?

The bail amount for most charges is pre-determined near the beginning of each year by a group of judges in each county. They decide how much the bail will be for certain charges. For example, in Orange County the bail for possession of a controlled substance is $20,000 and possession for sale is $25,000. The bail for domestic violence is $50,000. A first time DUI is $2,500 and if you have a California Driver's license, most likely you will be cited out. For a second DUI, the bail is $10,000 and for the third it is $15,000. These are all misdemeanors. If someone gets four DUI's, it then is charged as a felony and the bail is $50,000.

Someone arrested for Domestic Violence may have never been arrested before. They might have even been the one that called the police! We often see these cases don't get filed, no charges are filed. Of the ones that do get filed, they are often reduced to a misdemeanor. Usually the sentence requires the person to attend anger management classes and/or counseling. If the classes are completed and proof is turned into the court on time, it may be possible to get the misdemeanor expunged.

Click Here for Orange County Courts Case Access

Look up cases online

Whenever I post a bond for anyone, if the court is in Orange County, I give them the website for the court and tell them how to look up the case information online. New cases may not show up until the day before the initial court date is scheduled and in some cases may not show up until the date of appearance.

Once the case has been filed though, you will be able to keep track of the court dates online. This is useful if you signed to guarantee a bail bond for someone. It gives you a way to verify the information they tell you about the court dates. You will also be able to see when the bond is exonerated. The case status will be listed along with the details of the person's sentence if one was imposed.

For people on probation or if you have a friend or family member on probation, this website is useful for making sure the court hasn't violated the probation for any reason. We have posted bonds for many people who seemed to have no idea they had a warrant for their arrest. It's a good idea to keep track of any open cases. Get proof of any payments made to the court and a copy of the docket once all requirements have been met. Make sure what you have in writing shows you have done everything you were supposed to. A mistake often results in a probation violation. The bail for a misdemeanor probation violation is $15,000 so a mistake-no matter who's fault it is-could potentially cost you $1,500. You want to do everything you can to prevent mistakes.

A Deeper Understanding of Bail Bonds

Although most people have heard of bail bonds, when faced with unexpectadly having to obtain one, they may find they have little knowledge of how bail bonds work. The bail bond process overall can be very simple. You pay 10% of whatever the total bail amount is to the bail bond company. The bail bond company posts a bail bond for the full amount of the bail with the jail. The person you bailed out makes all of their court appearances and when the case is over, the bail bond company sends you a notice letting you know you are no longer financially responsible for the bail bond.

For most of the people we post bonds for, it remains a fairly simple process without any complications. When something does come up, you want to make sure you have knowledgeable bail bond professionals available to help you. The other important thing to note is bail bond companies have different ways of handling common situations that may occur. The way these situations are handled can mean the difference in whether or not you have to pay additional money or whether or not the person you bailed out gets to remain free on bond. These situations can be somewhat complicated to explain and you may never have to deal with them but it is better to at least have some knowledge about them and the different ways they are handled.

I will address these situations in separate entries. To clarify, these are things that may come up after you have paid the money to the bail bondsman and your friend or loved one is out on bail. It is important to know, the premium you pay for the bail bond is fully earned upon the release of the person you had the bond posted for. If he or she walked out of the jail and got arrested just outside the jail, you would not be entitled to a refund. This rarely happens but it can. This would apply whether the person was out on the bond for one second or one year, the premium is fully earned and you do not get a penny of it back. Most agents these days are pretty good about explaining this to people. Even so, there is still confusion about the premium. Some people call up thinking the cost for the bond is going to be 10% of the 10%. Usually they are calling on a large bond, say $100,000 or more. Or we will explain that the cost for the bail bond is going to be $10,000 (on a $100,000 bond). We will explain it a few different ways. Then they will ask, "what do we pay you?". Other people are under the assumption they just have to give us something for collateral. They call up wanting to know if we can use their car for collateral. When that is the first question people ask, I find out how much the bail is and explain how much the cost for the bail bond will be. I explain to them the two parts of a bail bond, the premium and the collateral.

Bail Bonds: The "Chain of Liability" and what it means to you

When you sign a bail bond agreement, you are signing to be financially responsible for the person you are bailing out to make all of their required court appearances until the bond is exonerated. If that person fails to appear, most contracts state the bail bond company can demand that you deposit the full amount of the bail with their company right away. If the person is not found within the timeline allowed by the court, you will be required to pay the full amount of the bail PLUS any costs incurred while trying to find the defendant. If you have deposited collateral with the bail bond company, they will send you a demand for the money and/or take action against whatever collateral they are holding to recover their money. If there is no collateral, the bail bond company can sue you in a court of law to recover the money they had to pay the court and also any expenses they can document they incurred while trying to search for the defendant.

People often mistakenly think that the insurance company who supplies the bail bonds to the bail bond company will pay the court if the bond goes bad. This simply is not true. Where the "insurance" part comes in is to the County the bond was written in and to the State of California. If the bail bond company fails to meet their financial obligation to pay the court in regards to a bail bond forfeiture, the insurance company is next in line to pay that bail bond forfeiture. If the insurance company DOES NOT pay the bail bond forfeiture, their bail bonds will no longer be accepted in that county until that forfeiture is paid in full.

Bail agents don't usually let the situation get to the point where their insurance company has to step in and pay the bail bond forfeiture. At least not ones that want to stay in business for very long. Insurance companies usually hold collateral in the form of assets that belong to the bail agent. The collateral can be a lien on one or more properties and/or cash. Typically, bail agents pay a small percentage of each bond they write into what is called a "build up fund". This is money the insurance company holds onto for the bail agent in case they do get a forfeiture and it has to be paid to the court. It's sort of a forced savings account.

So if you talk to a bail bond company and they ask you for collateral, they are not asking you to do anything they haven't already done themselves. YOU know the person you are bailing out is going to make all of their court appearances, right? This will lead into a whole other discussion which I will address in another post.

I know he's going to have to serve time. Is there any reason I should spend the money to bail him out?

Some things to consider when trying to decide

When we get a call to bail someone out of jail, there is so much about that person, their life, their family and their situation that we don't know, there is no possible way we can make decisions for you about whether or not they should stay in jail or be bailed out in most situations.

Every situation is different. When we can offer some sort of opinion, we will. We can never give legal advice and won't try to but we will try to be as helpful as we can. So for example, if someone calls and wants to know if they should spend the money to bail the person out if she knows he is going to serve time. The first thing to consider would be does she have the money? Can she afford to spend it and if so how much of a hardship will it be? How much is the bail? Is there enough money for both bail and an attorney? If not, are they okay with just a public defender or should all of the money go towards an attorney instead of bail? Do they really want to do both? If so, we can discuss payment arrangements so they will have money for an attorney. Is he going to fight the case? If so, how long is it expected to go on? Some criminal cases can go on for a year or more. How much time will he serve? If it is going to be a long time, he may want out before he is sentenced so he can get his affairs in order.

What happens if I get arrested while I am out on bail?

In general, as long as you are bailable and have the means, you can get bailed out. Our company policy is to help people get out of jail whenever we can. This is not true with all bail bond companies.

There are bail bond companies that will surrender your bond if they find out you are in custody. The reason they do this is so you will have to post bail on that same case, AGAIN. Is this legal? Yes. Is this moral, ethical, etc.? We don't judge how other people run their businesses. We just like to make people aware of the different ways things are done.

For example, if you were already out on a $10,000 bail and you got arrested for a new charge and the bail on that was $5,000. We would post a new bond for you and you would only have to pay for the new bond which would be $500.

If you were bailed out by a company that decided to surrender the $10,000 bond, your bail now would be $15,000 instead of just $5,000. This would mean you would have to pay a bail bond premium of $1,500. If the company did surrender the bond, you would have no obligation to do business with them. At that point you could use another company to post the bonds since they are going to make you pay for them all over again.

These are the types of things people don't know about when they are calling bail bond companies. There is no way you would know unless you had been through this situation before.

Beware of Bail Bond Scams by People Without a Bail License

I ran across a newsletter published by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. It has a lot of useful information. I ran across an article about a scam I have heard of before. Con artists pretend to be a family member calling from jail and get the unsuspecting victim to wire them money in someone else's name. This is a scam being run in Northern California. I have heard of this same type of scam in other states as well.

One way a person could check out a story like this is to call the jail where the person is supposedly located. You can call yourself or ask a bail bond company to call for you. All of their ads say free bail information, take them up on it. They should be happy to help. If the person can't be found in custody, you may try calling them at home or on their cell phone!