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It can be a huge relief if any charges against you are dropped, freeing you from needing to appear in court or worry about trial outcomes. However, if you’ve already begun the bail process, you may have one pressing question – do you still have to pay bail bondsman if charges are dropped?
The simple answer is yes, you will still need to pay your bail agent fee. Let’s explore why in this article.
Understanding Bail Bonds and Dropped Charges
If you’re arrested for any crime, a bail bond amount will be agreed during a bail hearing. This is an amount of money that you must pay the court to secure your release before trial. That money is then returned to you when you appear in court, regardless of the outcome of your trial. Bail bonds are simply surety bonds and an agreement you make with the judge that you’ll appear on the required date. If you don’t appear in court, you will have to pay the full bail amount without a refund.
Most people are aware of this stipulation, but it can be less clear what happens to your bail bond if your charges are dropped. Dropped charges happen for a variety of reasons, which could include –
- Faulty arrest
- Insufficient evidence
- Confession by someone else
- Missing witnesses
- Etc.
As a general rule, you will receive your bail amount back in full if your case is dropped for any reason and you’ve paid bail upfront. However, some people who can’t pay the full amount of their bail bond may instead choose to work with a bail agent. When this happens, they pay what is typically around a 10% fee, and a bail agent will cover their bail amount for them. This can be an accessible, fast option for securing release. However, you won’t receive a refund on a bail agent’s fee if your case is dropped later on.
Clearing the Confusion: Exploring Bail Bondsman Fees With Dropped Charges
Considering that you’ll typically receive your bail back after your charges are dropped, you might assume that you’ll receive a refund on any bondsman fees, but this is not the case. Any fees you pay a bondsman are non-refundable, and there’s a good reason why.
When you pay bail upfront, you make a direct payment to the court using your own money and time. You won’t lose any money as a result of this transaction, but you won’t gain anything financially either. By comparison, a bail bondsman is offering you a service. They will post your bail for you, to be returned when you appear in court. This is money that they don’t earn anything on but is instead a kind of returnable collateral, Bail agents will provide this collateral for a set fee of roughly 10% in most cases.
If bail agents offered their services without this fee, they would effectively work for free. This money is non-refundable even if your case doesn’t go ahead because you will have already received a bail agent’s services by the time your charges are dropped. As such, you still need to pay for the work your bail agent has done on your behalf.
Money Matters: What Happens to Bail Bond Fees When Charges Are Dropped?
Bail bond fees are a payment you give to your bail agent, who will put the same work into your case regardless of outcomes, including whether or not your case is dropped. Bail agents offer a range of different services for the fee you pay, including –
- Expert 24/7 advice
- Reviewing application details
- Checking your credit rating
- Following up on any references
- Securing fast, anytime release by posting bail
Posting bail is only part of what a bail agent does, and even then, it’s money that they don’t earn anything on, even when it’s returned. Instead, bail bond fees are necessary to cover a full variety of services including background checks and beyond. All of this happens in the first few hours after you contact a bail agent, before your release.
If a bail bondsman returned that fee because your case was dropped, they would operate at a notable loss. Across many cases, this could result in a failure to continue offering bail amounts to defendants who require help in the future.
Dropped Charges, Dropped Payments? No, But Here’s How You Can Navigate Bail Bondsman Fees
Dropped charges don’t mean dropped payments when it comes to bail bondsman fees. Unlike bail itself, this is a fee you’ll need to pay regardless of the outcome of your trial. And that includes a dropped case.
Before contacting a bond agent, you need to make sure that you can afford their upfront fees without return. Luckily, most bail bondsmen in California offer their services for just a 10% fee, meaning you’ll only pay $500 for a $5,000 bail bond. Many bail bond companies will also offer a fee discount for military personnel, making it possible to reduce that expense even further.
It’s also possible to choose 1% bail bonds in some cases. This means you’ll pay just 1% of your bail amount upfront (e.g. $50 for a bail amount of $5,000), and will develop a payment plan to cover the rest of your 10% fee. If your case is then dropped, you’ll have plenty of time to pay that money back in a timeframe that suits you, without the pressures of a looming court case.
Alana’s Bail Bonds Can Answer All Of Your Bail Questions
Navigating bail can be complex whether you’ve been in this situation before, or are facing criminal charges for your first offense. At Alana’s Bail Bonds, our experts are available 24/7 and can help you to navigate even the most complex bail-based questions.
Do you have to pay a bail bondsman if charges are dropped? Yes. But our services will be more than worthwhile when they secure your release within a few hours. Simply contact our team online or at 619-468-9333 to learn everything you might need to know about bail bond fees and more.
