Bail Bonds Basics: Your Guide to the Bail Process in 2025

When your loved one has been arrested, they will need to either have the bail money ready or wait in custody for their trial date to arrive. These trials are often set weeks or even months from the actual date of arrest, which means that without bail, your loved one could be behind bars for a while.

Having your loved one in jail is a very stressful experience to begin with. Knowing that it could be weeks before you can bring them back home is especially painful. However, before you panic, there are a few things you should understand about the bail system.

Bail refers to a specific amount of money used as a type of insurance between the court and the criminal defendant. This will typically work in one of two ways:

1. The bond is paid in full by the defendant or on the behalf of the defendant, also known as a cash bond. If this same defendant continues to attend all of their court dates, then the bond will be refunded aside from any court costs, court fees, fines or any additional criminal penalties that might be owed.

2. The defendant will instead pay a set fee, usually a small percentage of what the full bail payment would have cost, to a bail bondman who can provide the bond in full to the courts. As long as the defendant continues to attend their court dates, no additional fees will need to be paid.

However, if the defendant pays the bail, but fails to appear in court, the court will keep the full payment of the bail. If the defendant had a bail bondsman represent them and still failed to attend their court dates, then the bail bond agent will have the authority to locate them in order to surrender them to the court.

At Raleigh Bail Bonds, we take pride in being able to provide you with flexible payment plan options to ease your financial burden. With every unique situation, we make sure you have an option that suits those unique needs. We know how scary this experience can be for you are your loved ones and that is why we are committed to making the process go as smoothly as possible.