While there can be many reasons why a bond is revoked, either by the court directly or by the bail bond company, the actual causes come in two distinct flavors: the accused doing it on purpose or the accused doing it on accident.
Skipping bail on purpose, aside from being horrific for your current case and legal future, is also… for the lack of better words, stupid. Even if you reach a non-extradition country this way, your papers will be blocked, your accounts will be frozen, and any bail guarantee will be activated. Next time you get stopped for a routine check, you will be arrested and thrown back into jail.
Also, one of the countries you can be arrested and sent back to jail is Mexico. For serious crimes, especially those involving children, even Russia will gladly bundle you up and send you back on the first plane.
Much more frequently, a bond revocation happens by accident. Usually because, the bail bond company wasn’t able to reach you or you got stuck in traffic and missed your court appointment. This can be addressed with lesser penalties if you act immediately and appeal to have the bail agreement reinstated.
If you are dealing with professional bail bond companies, the primary focus will always be to fulfill all legal requirements with as little fuss as possible. Because of this, getting in touch and explaining your situation calmly and clearly will resolve most issues fairly quickly.
Valid Reasons for Skipping Court
The obvious first reason for a bond revocation is if you skipped your court date. This is something you never want to do, but there might be reasons why it happened, and there are some that would keep you completely in the right.
The most common ones are bereavement, child care, and dependent care. If you need to take care of a close family member depending on you in an emergency, or you have lost a close family member, your lawyer can notify the court, and the date will be moved to a later date.
Unforeseen accidents, medical emergencies, and natural disasters are in the second category. If everyone were evacuated due to a hurricane, you wouldn’t be pestered for missing a court date. You will need to request a new one.
Finally, there are two legal issues that supersede a court date. One is military service, as a given military order is above civilian court orders. You just need to send a copy of those orders to the court. The second is being in jail or prison because you can’t appear in court if you are imprisoned.
Most of these issues can be communicated to the court and the bail bond company in advance. If done in advance, there will be no issues with the court date, and they will just set a new date when it is more convenient.
Stay in Touch with Your Lawyer and Bail Bondsman
Nine out of ten bail revocations happen because the bail bonds company or the court could not reach the defendant. This happens because the defendants list only one phone and one way they could be reached, then proceed not to answer unknown callers, which might be from the bail bonds company.
This may sound somewhat ridiculous because it is, but this series of unfortunate events is way more frequent than anyone would imagine.
Because of this, it is important to list as many venues for communication as you possibly can. Your mobile phone, with allowances for instant messages and email, is the very basic one. Also, leaving your lawyer's contact information and staying in touch with your legal representation will usually prevent such issues from ever occurring.
Even if you are leaving the state or the country while on bail, ensure you can stay in contact with your bail bondsman. Going on a vacation isn’t an issue, provided everyone knows you will return and go to trial. If the court wanted to prevent you from traveling, they would issue a travel restriction.
Additionally, if there are such restrictions or any others, you should follow them to the letter.
Consequences for Revocation
For one, you go back to jail. Once the bail agreement is revoked, the judge will issue a bench warrant for your arrest. If you haven’t actually skipped court yet, this won’t invoke additional charges, but it would land you back in jail.
Next, any guarantee you have placed for your bail will be used completely. If there is a co-signer who made a guarantee, you will appear and pay 10% of the bail amount; now, they will have to pay the other 90%. If the guarantee was a vehicle or property, a lean will be issued on that vehicle or property.
Finally, a bail bonds company may hire a head hunter to track you down and get you back in custody. Unlike the police, these professionals don’t have a lot of restrictions when it comes to surveillance and tracking and will be working over an open warrant.
And that is just what happens in the current case. Skipping bail will stay on your record and will be terrible for any future case against you as the courts will be way less inclined even to allow bail.
Roads to Bond Reinstatement
If you receive information that your bond has been revoked, your first call will be to your lawyer. Tell them what happened and explain what you think may be a reason for that. If you have received just a warning, it may be as easy as calling the bail bonds company and clearing the air.
Next, call the company and investigate why they have requested a bond revocation. In some cases, they have not yet contacted the court, and you can solve the issue before it occurs.
If the court has already revoked your bond, you must make a motion to reinstate it and provide it to the court. If you have actual valid reasons and haven’t done anything against your bond agreement, in most cases, it will be reinstated, and you won’t face any problems in the future.
But, if you have broken the agreement and don’t have a valid reason for it, there is a chance that you will be returned to jail. This is still a better option than not appearing at all because the bail payment might be waived, and this issue will stay on your permanent record.