6 Reasons Why Posting Bail Bonds is Better Than Waiting In Jail For Your Hearings

Any time you are arrested, depending on the nature of the charge, posting bail bonds will be an option offered to you by the courts. For those that may not know, posting bail bonds for your charges provides an immediate way for an arrested person to leave jail while they await their court hearings. Posting bail bonds doesn’t mean the case goes away, it simply means the defendant will be able to go back to their lives while awaiting their day in court. As long as the defendant appears at all of their court dates as requested, they will only be required to pay the bail fee, not the full amount of the bond.

If you’re pondering whether or not it’s better to just sit in jail instead of posting bail bonds, here are 6 reasons why that may not be such a good idea.
Unfortunately, choosing to stay in jail has some substantial drawbacks. Southern Bail Bonds would like to discuss them below:

1. Court Hearings Could Take Months

For most counties, depending on your case, you could have multiple court hearings. These hearings could be spread out over several months. Since hardly any counties have a “1 and done” policy when it comes to court hearings, you could literally find yourself waiting in jail for over a year to complete all of your court hearings.

2. What About Your Job?

Jobs are hard enough to come by these days so if you are working, you’ll most likely not want to lose your job because you missed work due to being in jail. Depending on the particulars of your arrest, if you post bail bonds to get out, you could be back at work without missing days of work. Keep in mind that some employers may fire you if you miss work due to an arrest. There are some employers that, if they found out you were in jail, they would fire you even before you have the chance to appear in court.

If you are arrested during non-working hours, by using a bail bonds company, you could quite possibly be back at work before anyone from your job knows anything about your arrest. If you have to wait a day or two in order to get your bail set, you may be able to use vacation time to cover your time off. On the other hand, if you decide to wait in jail for your court date because you think it will be cheaper than posting bail, you may end up losing your job, which would be costly indeed!

Without income you’ll have less money to put towards your defense. Yes, you do have the option of having the court appoint a lawyer to you, but many people feel more secure about their case if they can hire their own lawyer. Not to mention, there may be leg work you need to do to assist your attorney in getting the best outcome for your case. You can’t do that if you’re sitting in jail awaiting court hearings.

3. What About Custody Issues?

Could an arrest and prolonged stay in jail have an affect on any custody issues that might be pending? Or would a prolonged stay in jail open the door for potential custody proceedings? If custody proceedings are in the works, you’ll certainly not want to provide “fuel” for the other party!

4. Bail Bonds May Be The Key To Your Health

Jails, just like schools, are tailor-made for spreading germs due to the amount of people that are in constant close proximity. Whether you’re in a facility where you have to share cells or a facility where there are multiple people in a pod, there’s just no way to avoid close contact with others who may be ill. It’s hard enough trying to dodge the common cold and flu, but now there’s COVID-19 added to the mix. The longer you sit in jail, the more you’re exposed to other folks that may be infected.

There’s not only your physical health to be concerned about, but there is also your mental health to consider as well. Being in jail can be stressful for anyone. Prolonged stress has its own set of side effects, like anxiety, depression, feeling overwhelmed, and becoming easily agitated. Long-term stress will eventually have physical side effects that could be serious or even catastrophic.

I’m just gonna set this right here – Jail Fights and Jail Violence!! – Nothing else needs to be said on that subject.

5. Harmful To Your Defense

If you stay in jail while awaiting your hearings, you could be there months, and possibly over a year. That means your attorney will be left doing all the work with minimal input from your. They will have to make time for attorney-client visits at the jail which gets to be time consuming. Time is something many You’ll want to be able to assist in your case work. Not to mention, being out of jail will help you to have a clear mind where you may think of things to support your case that you may not think of if you’re sitting in jail under stress.

Another thing to consider concerning your defense is first impressions. And in you better believe they DO count! It’s better you appear in court on more equal footing with the prosecution – well groomed, in regular clothes or even a suit – rather than showing up needing a haircut and in a County jumpsuit! We all know it’s not suppose to matter, and that you are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. But this is the REAL world and first impressions DO MATTER!! You won’t be in the courtroom long enough for a judge to get to know you. So you’ll want to get it right the first time.

There is a theory related to how hard people fight their charges when they’re fighting from inside the jail as opposed to fighting from outside the jail. The theory is that people fighting from inside the jail have a larger frequency of taking plea deals. And sometimes they even agree to charges and crimes they didn’t commit if it means getting some sort of deal that will allow them to be released from jail sooner rather than later. Obviously, this is not a position you want to find yourself in.

If you are out of jail, then you may have the opportunity to continue the job you had before being arrested, or maybe start a new job. Either way, the income can be used to help fund your defense. Maybe private investigators will be needed. It’s easier to cover their expenses if you are out of jail where you can work.

6. Don’t Incriminate Yourself!

This may seem like an obvious statement, but many people are not aware of the fact that most jails have video and recording devices throughout the facilities. Phone calls and video chats are routinely recorded. As a matter of fact, at most jails when an inmate makes a phone call to an outside person there is an automated option to identify the call as a “client-attorney” call, which separates that particular recorded call from other calls due to privacy concerns. It doesn’t mean the call isn’t recorded, it just means it gets handled differently, and access to the recording is limited even to legal personnel.

The last thing you want to happen is for you to be on a video call or phone call and say something you thought was harmless, only to have it turn up in court and used against you. Or you could possibly say something to another inmate that you thought meant nothing, then later find out you’ve been set up and your statement has been turned over to a jail guard!