The high percentage of unsentenced inmates is one of the unforeseen by-products of the war on crime, the war on drugs, and the war on everything else that ails our society. In Tennessee, over 40 percent of county jail inmates are simply waiting for their court dates. They have not yet been convicted of anything and are waiting out days, weeks, and sometimes months to get their day in court.

The alarming thing is that this 40 percent mark is one of the lowest proportions in the country. In many states, including Texas and South Carolina, the figure is about twice as high. The proportion is also much higher in California, a state which has largely done away with the standardized bail bond system. But that’s the subject of another blog.

As outlined below, there are essentially three ways to get out of jail before trial in Robertson County. Two of them involve some kind of security or something that you can put up as collateral against the cost of your bail with your bail bondsman. 

The basic difference between bail and bond is that bail is cash security (your real cash currency or paper money), and bond is essentially an insurance policy. Hopefully, this post can answer some general questions about this issue and Fizer Bonding Bonding Company (bail bonds clarksville tn) can take care of the details for you.

Why Jail Release is Important

Incarceration has some obvious negative effects. People who are in jail cannot spend time with their families and cannot do the other things that maintain the daily duties of their life. There are some hidden dangers as well. And, as is often the case, these hidden dangers may be worse than the apparent risks.

When the cell doors close, stress hormone production increases dramatically. Prolonged exposure to these hormones causes permanent brain injury. The longer the incarceration lasts, and we are talking about mere hours, the more stress hormones the body produces, and the higher the risk becomes. 

In the short term, brain injuries cause cognitive impairment. Simply stated, people are not thinking clearly and cannot reason things out. As a result, they are more likely to accept plea bargain agreements without taking the long-term consequences into account. Remember the old saying, “never make a spur of the moment decision that will last the rest of your life”? Well, often these types of situations require you to make just such a kind of decision. 

Assume “Ramon” is charged with domestic battery. In most jurisdictions, domestic battery is a minimum twelve-hour hold. As a result, when he is arraigned, he is not thinking clearly. The prosecutor offers a 10-day jail sentence, which means he will probably be out inside a week. 

To get things over with, “Ramon” accepts the deal. But he does not consider the long-term consequences. Assault is a crime of moral turpitude, which could mean immigration problems down the road for “Ramon”. Furthermore, the assault goes on his record, and it will come up if he and his wife divorce and possibly cause further complications for “Ramon”.

Brain injuries have long term consequences as well. Many of these effects make it difficult or impossible to function normally at home, work, or school. Some common effects include:

These symptoms come and go. However, brain injuries themselves are always permanent. Once brain cells die, they never regenerate.

Jail Release/Own Recognizance Release (OR)

Limited (OR) release is available in many counties. If the defendant has no criminal record and is charged with a nonviolent offense, like drug possession, a review panel may approve OR release.

Essentially, this process transforms the misdemeanor arrest into a traffic ticket. The defendant promises to appear at trial, and the sheriff releases the defendant. There is little or no fee involved. Furthermore, OR release typically has fewer conditions than bail or bail bond release.

Cash Bail and Jail Release 

Typically, shortly after an arrest, jail officials apply presumptive bail amounts which are set by the sheriff. These amounts usually depend on the severity of the offense and the defendant’s criminal history. So, bail is usually lower for a first-time DUI offender than a person with a criminal record charged with aggravated assault.

There is some evidence that cash bail should be lower in these situations. Defendants charged with serious offenses are more likely to stay and face trial than people facing minor offenses, and defendants who have been through the system before know what to expect. But that’s the subject of another blog.

Anyway, if the defendant posts the entire amount in cash, the sheriff releases the defendant. When the case is resolved, the defendant gets most of that money back. But if you do not have access to this amount of disposable cash on hand, Fizer Bonding Company is available to help you secure a bail bond. 

Jail Release and Bail Bonds

Cost is probably the biggest bail vs. bond difference. The cash bail amount might be several hundred dollars for a misdemeanor and several thousand for a felony. For many families, several hundred dollars might as well be several million.

As mentioned, a bail bond is a lot like an insurance policy. The bond agent, who is like an insurance underwriter, reviews the facts and determines if there is a good chance the defendant will appear at trial. If the answer is “yes,” the bonding company charges about a 15 percent premium to write a surety bond.

The bonding company bears all the financial risk. If the defendant skips bail, the company must pay the entire amount. So, bail bonds usually have lots of conditions, such as:

The court may impose some offense-specific conditions as well, such as an Ignition Interlock Device in a DUI or electronic monitoring in particularly violent crimes.

If the defendant does not appear, bonding companies sometimes hire bounty hunters to track down missing defendants. These professionals are not like Boba Fett. Typically, they use computers to track defendants and then alert local law enforcement when they find them.

For more information about jail release in Robertson and Montgomery Counties, contact Fizer Bonding Company (bail bonds clarksville tn) for a FREE Bail Consultation. We are a 40 year old family owned company and offer 24/7 affordable professional bonding services. Fizer Bonding Company is a proud member of the Tennessee Association of Professional Bail Agents . For more info about Fizer Bonding Company bail bonds, click here .

Fizer Bonding Company in Montgomery County Tennessee

(931) 449-9351

Fizer Bonding Company in Robertson County Tennessee

(615) 667-1109

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