If you end up in jail, you might be tempted to get it all over with right away by paying with cash instead of securing a bail bond. While this might seem like a good idea if you can afford it, it really is not. As a bail bondsman in Oklahoma, Laurie is familiar with the court system. In other words, she is aware of a few things that can happen if you pay with cash versus a bail bond.
#1: Financial Awareness
As weird as it might sound, it is not always a good thing for the court to be aware of your financial standings. The thing is that courts are more likely to take that which they can see. In other words: providing the court with cash for your bail increases the chance that cash will be used for future fines and court costs. In addition, it can also make establishing a payment plan for the court fines and fees a bit more difficult.
#2: Court-Appointed Lawyers
If you pay your bond with cash, you risk losing your chance to receive the help of a court-appointed lawyer. The general idea is that a representative will be appointed to defendants that demonstrate the inability to afford a lawyer. If you use cash for your bond, you are showing the court that you have the money to use cash for your bond. They might see this as a sign that you can afford your own lawyer; even if you technically cannot.
#3: Cash Forfeit
On the off chance that you commit a bail violation – even by accident – you will forfeit the entirety of your bail money. This can mean something as trivial as showing up in the wrong department, causing you to be late to your court date, can cause you to lose your money. Whatever the reason might be, stupid or extreme, that money will be gone and you will be SOL. Securing a bail bond instead of forfeiting your cash, even if it is technically only temporary, is definitely the better solution.
#4: Convenience
Using a bail bond as opposed to cash offers its own convenience. If you hire a bail bondsman to help you during your criminal justice journey, you are also hiring someone to take care of all of the paperwork and other tedious tasks involved in the bail process. Even better, bail bondsmen are professional and experienced. They know what they are doing – and unless you are a jail regular, it can be difficult to know exactly what to do.
#5: Privacy
Finally, using a bail bond instead of cash can offer you privacy. If you post bail on your own, that information becomes public. No one wants their arrest to be on public alert. By hiring a bail bondsman like OKC’s Laurie Poole, you are utilizing the ability to keep your information in strict confidence. No one needs to pry into the private matters of your life, and with a bail bondsman, they do not get the opportunity to even try.