Under Arrest in The Los Angeles Area: Posting Bail

When you are arrested, getting out of jail is accomplished only by posting bail.  Bail is a cash payment or a piece of property that holds value, which you give to the court to insure that you will show up when ordered to do so.  If you show up when you promised to, whatever you gave as bail is returned to you. 

If you have been arrested, you must post bail in order to be freed.  Bail can be paid in a few differing ways.

•   Paying by cash or check the full amount of your bail

•   Signing over the temporary rights to property such as a car or a condo

•   Signing a statement that says you will appear in court, though courts will hardly let you leave jail without some sort of payment

•   Giving a Bond:  This is the most common way of getting out of jail because some people do not have the money or the property at the time to hand over to the court.  So, a citizen has the right to have a bail bond company pay the bail.  The bonds company is basically lending you the bail.  Bail bond companies will charge about 10% of your total bail to spring you.  But some companies, like BailQuote will not charge interest.  It’s important that you use a bond company that doesn’t charge interest because sometimes, these prices are steep and it might take a while to pay them back in full.