When you or a loved one has been arrested, you have a right to be released on bail, awaiting to stand trial. Nonetheless, when you cannot consolidate the bail funds, you can turn to a bail bond service to pay the full bail after paying them a premium fee and agreeing to all their conditions. When you violate bail conditions, the court will revoke the bail bond. Discussed below are the reasons for bail revocation, the bail bond revocation process, steps for preventing bail revocation, steps the bail bondsman will follow in revoking your bail bond, the effects of revocation, and the process of reinstating the bail bond.
Bail at Glance
Bail is the amount of money you, an inmate, deposit with the court after arrest to secure liberty on the condition you will attend court sessions. The judge can set the bail amount based on various factors and the case circumstances. The factors that the judge will consider include the severity of your accusations, your past criminal record, the likelihood of fleeing town, and whether your release on bail poses any threat to the public.
Bail Bond Definition
A bail bond is an agreement between the defendant, the criminal court, and the bail bonds company to secure the pretrial discharge of an arrestee. The defendant pays the company a 10% premium fee in the contract. In return, the company deposits a bond equal to the bail amount with the court, promising to owe the court the amount if the defendant jumps bail. The court refunds the company when the case closes, and the defendants adhere to all pretrial release terms. However, the company will not return the premium fee as it is non-refundable.
The company acts as a surety to the arrestee, assuring the court of your future court appearances. Nevertheless, when you fail to obey the release conditions, leading to bail revocation, the bail bond firm will owe the court an equivalent of the bail. The bail bondsman will recoup their losses by selling property or items used as collateral. Also, when the bail bond is revoked, you will be re-arrested and remain in jail until you find another bail bondsman. Again, the court can detain you until you stand trial. Therefore, when you enter into a contract with a bail bondsman, you should commit to abiding by the pretrial release terms to avoid losses for you, your cosigner, and the bail bonds firm.
Reasons for Bail Revocation
Several reasons can prompt your bail bondsman to cancel the bail bond contract. The revocation happens primarily because of the violation of bail terms. The common reasons for revocation are:
Failure to Show Up for Scheduled Court Proceedings
The primary condition of a bail bond contract is to attend all court hearings and appear before a judge when required. When you miss these hearings, the company financing your pretrial discharge risks forfeiting the funds deposited in court as a bond. If you do not present yourself in court after a given duration, the court issues a bench warrant for your arrest.
Violation of Bail Terms
When the court restores your liberty while awaiting a standing trial, they impose particular conditions on bail based on your case’s circumstances to keep you and the public safe. Besides, bail terms are imposed to ensure you do not commit another crime outside or flee town. Common bail conditions that could be breached include:
- The requirement to remain within the jurisdiction until the case conclusion
- A requirement to stay within designated areas
- A requirement to refrain from drug use
- A requirement to avoid interfering with witnesses, alleged victims, and co-accused persons
- A condition to frequently meet with the bail bondsman assigned to your case
- Adherence to any other pretrial release imposed by the judge
Commission of Another Crime
Engaging in another criminal violation while out on bail violates the agreement and can result in bail bond revocation. After canceling your bail, the court will order your arrest, and this time, it will deny you the right to bail, especially if the current violation is severe and demonstrates a behavior pattern that implies the defendant is unlikely to show up for scheduled proceedings or adhere to release terms if they secure another bail bond.
Flight Risk
Many arrestees who use bail bonds to obtain pretrial discharge often require cosigners. These individuals sign the bail bond contract for the arrestee and pay the premium fee. Sometimes, when the bail bondsman needs security, the cosigner puts up their property as collateral. The cosigner assumes massive responsibility, so the law allows them to cancel their contract with the bail bondsman if they believe an arrestee plans to skip town. Doing so ensures they do not lose their property because of the defendant's wrongdoings.
Therefore, when a cosigner reports you to the court and bail bondsman for planning to leave town, the court can revoke the bail bond. A cosigner can tell a defendant intends to leave town if they notice the person making travel arrangements or selling all their property. Under these circumstances, when the cosigner notifies the bail bondsman, the company can cancel the bail bond to prevent losses.
Failure to Pay Non-Refundable Fees
Bail bonds make a pretrial release on bail affordable. However, when the bail is significantly high depending on the crime, even consolidating the premium fee required to retain the services of a bail bondsman becomes a problem. Many defendants ask the company for payment plans that make the premium fee affordable. The plans typically involve depositing a fraction of the premium and paying the remainder in installments.
Unfortunately, some arrestees do not keep up with the monthly installment and default. The company can revoke your bail bond if you cannot pay the premium as previously agreed in the contract. When this happens, the court will cancel your bail, and you will be back behind bars until you find another financier.
Changing Address Without Notifying the Concerned Parties
The bail bond contract requires you to notify your firm and the court whenever you relocate or change addresses. If you do so without informing these parties, they will assume you will skip court meetings, prompting them to revoke your bail. Avoid bail bond cancellation because of these issues by notifying the company and court whenever you relocate or change addresses so that they can be updated on your whereabouts.
Bail Bond Revocation Process
Violating the conditions set by two parties in the bail bond agreement results in bail cancellation. The steps leading to bail bond cancellation are:
A Violation Notice
When the bail bondsman and the court learn of your violation, they send you a violation notice informing you of their plans to revoke your bail bond.
Typically, when you breach bail terms, the company takes several steps. First, they hire a bounty hunter to track and present you in court. Before this step, they take the necessary measures to contact and show you before a judge. If these efforts fail to achieve the intended outcome, which is for you to appear, the court issues a bench warrant.
Court Proceeding
After being served with a violation notice, the court schedules a hearing to review the existing factors and circumstances before issuance of an arrest warrant. The factors the judge considers before issuing the warrant include the severity of the alleged bail conditions violation, whether you breached the contract with the surety company, and whether you are a flight risk.
If the judge determines that you violated your contract with your bail bondsman, are a flight risk, and your violation is severe, they will issue a bench warrant. Nonetheless, the warrant will not be issued when you appear for this hearing. Instead, the judge will explore various reasons for canceling your bail. The court could revoke the bail and send you back to jail, allow you to find a new bail bondsman, impose new and harsher bail terms, or put you in jail until the matter is pending before the criminal court decides on a trial.
Arrestees Return to Jail
You will be re-arrested and sent back to jail once the court cancels your bail because of breaching pretrial conditions. When this happens, there are two possible outcomes. First, the court can keep you in custody for the remainder of your case. Alternatively, they could grant bail and allow you to find another bail bond company. However, they will revise the bail conditions to make them harsher. Your history of compliance with bail terms will inform the court's decision.
Bail Forfeiture
When you violate bail terms, the bail bondsman forfeits the figure deposited as a bond for you. The company will then pursue legal action against you to recover their losses. First, they will try all available means, including hiring a bounty hunter or private investigator to bring you to court. However, when the tactics fail, they will go after the collateralized assets or property. They will sell these and use the proceeds to cover their losses for forfeiting bail.
Preventing Bail Revocation
When you have been arrested, and you or close family members sign a contract with a bail bondsman for your pretrial discharge, you must deposit a non-refundable fee for the bond services. The fee helps the company cover its operational costs and remain in business. Once you make the payment and deposit collateral, the company guarantees the court your future court attendance by putting up a bond, which is a promise to pay the full bail when you violate pretrial release terms.
Once all the parties agree, you will be released from jail and awaiting a stand trial. The release comes with a condition that you will not skip court. Unfortunately, an event can make appearing impossible even when you are willing to do so. Even in these circumstances, you still risk bail bond revocation. However, during the hearing on your bail, you can present genuine reasons for skipping court, such as a medical emergency or being in custody in a different jurisdiction. These unavoidable circumstances can compel the judge not to cancel your bail.
Apart from these instances, do not skip court, and if you plan to do so, inform your defense attorney and bail bondsman in advance to prevent bail cancellation. If your reasons are genuine, the court will be willing to reschedule your hearing, avoiding the need for bail cancellation.
Another step to avoid a cancellation is to adhere to all release terms because a violation will result in time behind bars. You do not want to defend yourself against your charges in jail because the odds will be against you, and you are likely to lose due to poor preparation.
Other measures you can take to stay in the good books of the court and bail bonds firm are:
- Avoid travel out-of-state or county if the court has imposed travel restrictions
- Avoid additional criminal violations while out on bail
- Maintain your best behavior during the pretrial discharge duration
- Stay in frequent contact with the bail bondsman to stay updated with the release terms and minimize the risk of a breach
- Avoid contact with particular individuals the court ordered you to stay away from, especially if the injunction was a domestic violence protective order.
- Find a reliable cosigner who cares about you and will ensure you adhere to the bail conditions every day until the case concludes.
Bail Bond Revocation Effects
The cosigner, defendant, and bail bond firm suffer the adverse effects of a revocation. The consequences to the company are immense because they promise the court to be responsible for your conduct for the time you are out of jail on bail. The common adverse effects of a revocation include:
Being Sent Back to Jail
Your family and friends go through challenging periods when you are in jail. Trying to consolidate your pretrial discharge funds also causes financial distress. Besides, as an arrestee, you want to spend time with your family and earn a living. However, you cannot do this while in jail, so people work tirelessly to release you.
Unfortunately, if you obtain this hard-earned pretrial freedom but then violate release terms, you will end up in jail, which could be until the end of the case. To make matters worse, when in jail, you will not have access to resources to hire a private defense attorney, gather evidence, or discuss your case. You will rely on a public defender, making your chances of a favorable outcome minimal.
Also, when you stay in jail for an extended period, you could lose your job due to absenteeism. Again, families will be separated and relationships broken. Therefore, you should do your best to avoid a revocation to maintain freedom.
Loss of Collateral
The bail bondsman usually requires you to place collateral twice or thrice the bail amount. If your bail is in hundreds of thousands of dollars, it means putting your lifetime investment at risk. When bail is canceled and the company loses its money to forfeiture, it sells your collateral to recoup the losses, which is a significant loss for you or the cosigner.
Other consequences include:
- Additional charges for failure to appear
- Loss of money by the bail bondsman after forfeiture
- You will have problems securing bail in the future due to your dented history
Lastly, bail revocation can adversely influence the judge’s decision during trial. If you have violated bail terms, it reflects poorly on your character, and the prosecutor can cite this as an aggravating factor leading to harsher penalties. Also, it makes it difficult to negotiate a favorable plea deal with the prosecutor, as bail cancellation shows you cannot be trusted to keep your side of the agreement.
Bail Reinstatement
Bail arrangements offer the detainee a way to temporarily obtain freedom before standing trial. Nevertheless, bail can be canceled or revoked when the detainee breaches its terms.
Thankfully, in some instances, the court can reinstate bail through the following steps:
Lodging a Motion or Petition
With the guidance of your criminal defense attorney, you can file a petition for bail reinstatement. You must explain genuine reasons for the revocation to demonstrate to the court that the violation was unintentional and, therefore, they should reinstate bail. Your attorney can cite reasons like the right to bail or that you never skipped court before to compel the court to grant bail again after cancellation.
Court Hearing
Once the court receives your petition, they will arrange a hearing to review the evidence supporting a reinstatement. The judge will consider the grounds you have raised in your petition, and if they are genuine and compelling, they will reinstate bail, giving you another chance to exit custody pending trial. A petition will be granted if you can show the reasons for the revocation were unavoidable, such as sickness or death.
You should know that even if the court reinstates your bail, you will have another task of convincing the bail bondsman to offer their services. If the company refuses, you will stay in jail until you find another one to finance the pretrial discharge. If your current bail bondsman agrees to finance your bail, they will impose additional fees or demand collateral because of the increased forfeiture risk.
Find the Right Bail Bondsman Near Me
The consequences of a bail bond cancellation are severe, especially going back behind bars. Therefore, you should work hard to avoid violating bail terms, which usually result in a violation. Your bail bonds firm is responsible for you after release, so your compliance with court conditions depends on them. Therefore, when looking for a bail bondsman, you should find one who cares about your freedom to lower the chances of a revocation. At Justice Bail Bonds, we have dedicated bail bondsmen who will guide you through the entire case process until you stand trial without a violation. Call us at 714-541-1155 for a no-obligation consultation in Temecula.