Top Bail Bond Agency in Laguna Beach
If you or someone you care for needs help getting someone out of the Laguna Beach Jail fast, we can help. Bail Bond Professionals is among the most reputable and reliable bail bond companies in the region. With more than 40 years combined experience, our team not only understands the ins and outs of the local jail systems, we know how to get the job done right. Our company provides no-cost bail bonds consultations, and confidential one-on-one service. We’ll take as much time as needed to answer your questions, address your concerns, and guide you on the best way to get your loved one out of jail.
What happens when someone is arrested by a member of the Laguna Beach Police Department?
If you have a friend or family member who has been arrested in Laguna Beach, they’ll be taken to the local police station to be booked and processed. They’ll be handcuffed, informed of their Miranda Rights, fingerprinted, and photographed. The fingerprint scan is then sent to the Department of Justice so the DOJ can perform a nationwide warrant check. You’ll want to keep in mind that the DOJ gets thousands of sets of prints each hour, from every jail across the U.S.
Suffice to say, it often takes between 4-6 hours for a defendant’s warrant check results to come back. The jailer will not allow anyone to post bail bonds until their warrant check results are returned. At this point, the defendant is considered to be “fully booked.” Then, and only then, can bail bonds be posted.
If the defendant does not have any warrants, their bail will be set based on the crime they’ve been charged with. On the other hand, if they do have warrants, their bail amount will go up and they will need to post multiple bail bonds. For example, if someone was arrested and the bail for their arresting charge was $10,000, but they also have a $25,000 warrant, their total bail will be set at $35,000. They’ll need to post one bond for $10,000 and a second bond to cover their warrant. If a defendant has multiple warrants, multiple bonds will need to be posted.
When should I hire a bail bondsman?
You should start searching for a bail bondsman as soon as you learn your loved one has been arrested. There are numerous benefits associated with starting this process early. First, the bondsman can help you understand what the defendant has been charged with, what their bail is, and how to navigate the bail bonds process. Second, starting the bail bond process early can help ensure the defendant will get out of jail as quickly as possible.
Unlike the larger county jails, the Laguna Beach Jail is a small detention facility that was not designed to hold inmates for an extended period. If there are numerous arrests in a short period of time, and the jail becomes overwhelmed, people who are being detained in Laguna Beach run the risk of being transferred to the Orange County Main Jail.
As we noted earlier, it often takes the jail between 4-6 hours to fully book a defendant. When detainees are transferred to a new detention center, the booking process starts all over again. Being physically transported can take up to 90 minutes and if the OCJ is busy, defendants may need to wait several hours before the jailers start to book them. Additionally, since the Orange County Jail is a much larger facility, the booking time often takes longer. Most OCJ defendants find they’re not “fully booked” for at least 6-8 hours after their fingerprints are taken.
When defendants are transferred to the Orange County Main Jail this delays the bail bonds process significantly. Even if you’re not sure you’ll need to post bail bonds, if you think someone you care for has been arrested in Laguna Beach, you’ll want to contact a bondsman immediately. It is always faster and easier to bail someone out of the local jail than it is to bail someone out of the OC Main Jail.
What are my responsibilities when I cosign for bail bonds?
Arranging bail bonds involves a lot more than paying the bondsman’s fee. You’ll be asked to fill out an application and provide various information about both you and the defendant, such as your dates of birth, where you live, how long you’ve lived in the area, how you know one another, how well you know each other, the type of work you both do, and whether you rent or own your homes. The bondsman will also ask if you’re willing to take full legal responsibility that the defendant will go to court as often as needed to finish their case. This is important, because when you sign the bail bonds contract, that is what you are agreeing to.
When you hire a bondsman, the cost to purchase bail bonds is 10% of the defendant’s bail amount. Many of our clients often wonder if they’ll ever need to pay the rest. For example, if a defendant’s bail has been set at $20,000, and the bondsman’s fee is $2,000, will the cosigner need to pay the remaining $18,000?
As long as the defendant goes to court and finishes their case, you won’t need to pay any additional money to the bondsman beyond your agreed upon fee. However, if the defendant decides to skip bail because they want to evade prosecution, this is when things can start to get messy.
When a defendant skips bail, the bondsman and the person who cosigned for the bail bond will have a set amount of time to get the defendant back into the system. If they fail, the defendant’s full bail amount will become due to the court, and the responsibility to pay that penalty will ultimately fall to the cosigner. Using the same example, if a defendant’s bail is set at $20,000 and you pay $2,000 to the bondsman, but the defendant skips bail and cannot be found, you could also be on the hook to pay another $20,000 to the court. You should also know that if the bondsman needed to hire a fugitive recovery agent (aka, a bounty hunter), you will also be on the hook to reimburse the bondsman for that expense.
Suffice to say, if someone asks you to help them post bail bonds, you’ll want to take the responsibility very seriously. If the defendant is someone you just met, barely know, or haven’t spoken to in ages, cosigning for their bail bonds is not advised. However, if the defendant is a close friend, partner, spouse, family member, neighbor, colleague, or member of your church, you’ll likely want to help them.
What are the advantages of hiring a bail bondsman?
Benefit #1: The number one benefit associated with hiring a bondsman is that when you hire a bail agent, you won’t need to pay the defendant’s full bail amount. Instead, you’ll pay a non-refundable 10% premium. For example, if bail has been set at $25,000, the cost to purchase bail bonds will be $2,500. This bondsman’s fee is considered to be earned in full at the time the defendant is released from jail. It is not something you’ll get back, in part or in full, regardless as to what happens with their case.
If you prefer to work with the jail directly, that’s also an option. However, the jail does not offer a 10% premium option. If your loved one’s bail has been set at $25,000, you’ll need to put up $25,000, in cash, with the jail. The court will hold onto that money for the duration of the defendant’s case. As long as they go to court, the money will be refunded to whomever posted it, less administrative fees, once the case is over. If the defendant skips bail, the court will hold onto that money as a penalty.
Benefit #2. A second benefit associated with working with a bodsma is that bail bonds professionals understand what needs to be done to get your loved one out of jail fast. Many people within this field have long standing relationships with both jails and the jailers. This is extremely beneficial when bail bonds need to be executed quickly.
Benefit #3 Another major benefit of using a professional bail bondsman is that hiring a bondsman helps keep your loved ones safe. When an innocent person is arrested and charged with a crime, they are completely stripped of all their rights. They’ll also be held behind bars with people who have been arrested for a wide variety of serious and non-serious crimes. Jail can be a scary and dangerous place. Working with a bondsman will ensure your loved one doesn’t spend any more time behind bars than necessary.
Benefit #4 Defendants who get out of jail fast are better able to prepare for court. When defendants get out of jail fast, they can start getting ready for court. They can hire an attorney and start to gather documents, evidence, and witness statements that can help prove their innocence. This is much, much harder to do from behind bars.
How Online Bail Bonds Work
Most people assume that if they want to hire a bondsman, they need to drop everything they’re doing, grab their purse and/or wallet, and head to the closest bail bonds office. This idea can be especially distressing if their loved one was arrested late at night, while they are at work, or worse, if they’re currently out of town.
The good news is that our company has streamlined the bail bonds process. If you prefer to meet with us in person, we can absolutely arrange that. Or, if you’re interested in using online bail bonds, we can help you with that as well.
When you opt for online bail bonds we’ll walk you through the application process over the phone. We’ll go through the application with you, line by line, until the app is complete. If you’re concerned that this will be a lengthy and tedious process, you don’t need to be. Most of our clients find this step takes less than 10 minutes. From there, we’ll send you the application as an e-sign document. This allows you to sign your bail bonds paperwork from your smartphone, tablet, or computer, from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Once we complete the application, we can accept a credit or debit card over the phone. Our company accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. If you prefer, you can also make a cash deposit directly into our corporate checking account (we’ll be happy to let you know where we bank and the account number you should make the deposit into.)
Once the documents are signed and payment arrangements have been made, one of our highly-trained agents will be dispatched to the jail to post your loved one’s bail bonds.
Online bail bonds are not only faster, they’re a lot more discrete. They also allow you to arrange bail bonds from your home, your office, or while you’re out on your lunch break. You won’t need to worry about driving across town to find a bail bonds office, you don’t need to worry about getting stuck in traffic, and with online bail bonds, you won’t need to spend 15 minutes circling the block to look for parking.
How do I bail someone out of the Laguna Beach Jail?
If someone you care for has been arrested, be sure to contact a bondsman right away. Remember, the Laguna Beach Jail is much smaller than a lot of the other detention centers in Orange County, and defendants are not held there for long. When defendants are transferred to the Orange County Mail Jail, it takes a lot longer to bail them out.
The steps to bail someone out are as follows:
Step 1: Contact Bail Bond Professionals at (714) 389-2245.
Step 2: Provide us with as much information as you can about the defendant, including their name, date of birth, when they were arrested, and the crime they’ve been charged with, if you know it.
Step 3: Complete the bail bonds application in person or online, and arrange to pay the bail bonds premium.
Step 4: Allow our experts to take over the process and wait for the release of the arrestee.
No collateral bail bonds options
Many people who call our office wonder if they’ll need to post bail bonds collateral. If this is something you’re concerned about, you should know that collateral is only required under certain circumstances. If bail has been set at over $100,000, collateral will likely be required. If the defendant’s bail has been set at $150,000 or more, collateral will absolutely be required. Our company accepts various types of property collateral, including houses, condominiums, and townhomes. If bail has been set at $150,000 and you have more than $150,000 in equity in your home, we can help you understand how to put your house up as collateral. Collateral is released after two conditions are met. First, the court will need to “exonerate” our bond at the end of the defendant’s case. This releases our company from liability. Second, if you opt for a bail bonds payment plan, the balance will need to be paid off.
For more information about how bail bonds collateral works, or the types of collateral we accept, call our office today to speak with an agent.
What you need to know about the Laguna Beach Police Department
The Laguna Beach Police Department is staffed by approximately 96 employees, including 52 sworn offices and 44 civilian staff members. It’s estimated that the department receives more than 45,000 service calls per year. They also manage 15 citizen patrols and a handful of police explorers and volunteers. The police department is headed by Chief Laura Farinella, who continues to oversee high quality policing services for the community of Laguna Beach. The innovations guided by Chief Farinells have allowed officers to make better use of data to predict criminal patterns and assign department resources accordingly. The Laguna Beach Police Department has three unique divisions. These are:
Field Services – Run by Captain Jeff Calvert
Civilian Services – Run by Jim Beres, Civilian Services Administrator
Support And Investigations Services – Run by Captain Rachel Johnson
Under their guidance and support, both police officers and civilians in Laguna Beach PD manage daily operations. These divisions also help provide expert-level service to the residents and guests of Laguna Beach.
The officers at the Laguna Police Department believe in community-based policing, and their principles help serve the community by promoting two-way communication between the department and local citizens.
All personnel from the three divisions are actively involved in serving all aspects of the community. This includes neighborhoods, schools, and other community organizations.
The LBPD operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365-days a year, and they help citizens with a variety of issues, including vehicular theft, traffic incidents, domestic violence calls, grand theft, petty theft, and vandalism, among others.
