In most cases, when someone is arrested and jailed, they will be allowed to post bail and be let free until their trial although with certain restrictions. How long the process from being arrested to being released from jail due to paying the total bail amount or using a bail bond agent to help secure your release usually varies from one jurisdiction to another. Another factor that is often ignored is that answering the question, “How Long Can Jail Hold You After Bond is Posted?” is a challenge, because it truly does depend how busy the court system and jail is at the time of your arrest.
Average Time it Takes From Being Processed Until a Bail Hearing
Anyone who is arrested has experienced being processed. The arrested party has a mug shot taken, they are fingerprinted, and more. Once the arresting officer has turned the arrestee over to processing, or in some cases, processed the arrestee on his or her own, he or she then has to finish up the arresting records. This includes the affidavit for the judge stating the arrest reasoning.
When that paperwork is completed, it will get sent to the magistrate judge who will decide if there is enough evidence for charges. At that time, defendant will appear before that judge. If the judge feels the charges are warranted, the person under arrest becomes a defendant and is likely to receive bail conditions and a total bail amount. This hearing can take a few hours, but after this appearance, you will have the opportunity to either pay the total bail amount or work with a bail bond agent to have them post bond on your behalf.
Working With a Bondsman to Secure Your Quick Release
Unfortunately, there is no prescribed or set time allotment in which a defendant must be released following the total bail amount being set. There is a general consensus that the average time between receiving your total bail amount and being released form jail is between four to eight hours.
The reason it often takes 4-8 hours to get everything processed is because of current workload of the court system and the jail. It is common practice for a jail to not hold you long after a bond has been posted on the defendant’s behalf.
The best scenario for any defendant is to be able to post bond as soon as possible. The sooner the bond has been posted, the sooner the jail will release you from jail.
Dotting the “I’s”
Even after the paperwork is processed, the arresting officer will want to double-check the records of any individual, most of all to assure that a person does not already have any outstanding warrants. Meanwhile, the court system is filling the bail bond paperwork. It all takes time.
When you hire a bondsman to post bond on your behalf, they become your advocate. The best thing you can do is hire a professional, reliable bail bondsman. All of the bail bond agents who are listed on Bail Agent Network’s online directory are licensed, professionals who know the ins and outs of the profession. So, it might not be possible to answer the exact question of”How Long Can Jail Hold You After Bond is Posted?”, but know that the faster a defendant finds a bail bond agent that will post bond on their behalf, the quicker they’ll be released from jail.
