What a “revoked bond” means for you and anyone outside of the legal field and what it means for the court usually ain’t the same thing. While for the court, it is a specific process that has very specific guidelines, for you it doesn’t matter if you lost the bond because you made a mistake or your co-signer decided to flake.
Step one is the same in any case, and it’s always best to act on the first notice. Each next costs way more and is way more bothersome. And if you don’t act at all, you’ll be going back to jail to think about why you’ve procrastinated.
But, if you act on time, even the court bond annulment can be appealed. And, if there is an issue with your co-signer or the bail bonds company deciding you’re too big of a liability, you can solve that much easier and way cheaper.
Similarly, if you ignore the calls from your bail bondsman, or even worse from the court, you can probably find yourself in even more trouble than you had on your original charge. If you don’t appear in front of the court, you will be held in contempt.
The dumbest result that could come out of the whole ordeal is ending up in jail for two years because of a traffic accident and a $50 bail. While most judges won’t give more than a week as punishment, and most, in this case, will just annul your bail and return you to wait for the original trial, the maximum penalties in all states are about six months, and in some, they go up to two years.
Revoked Guarantee vs. Surrendered Bond vs. Revoked Agreement
If you unfortunately find yourself in a situation where you are notified that your bail is no longer valid, the difference between these three situations is something you will need to learn. While for you, they have the same result, in the eyes of the law, they can’t be more different.
For one, there is the revoked bond by the court. This is the worst-case situation, as the court believed that you had done something to break your bail agreement. For one, obviously, don’t do anything to break your bail agreement. Not nothing major, nothing at all, in any situation, under any circumstance, to the best of your abilities.
The court will understand if you have broken your house arrest to escape a burning building, but even in those cases, you would need to plead your case with the court with the reason.
When court ordered, you will need to return to jail first. Then, you can appeal the decision and provide evidence that you have kept your word and that the deal can be reinstated.
Your chances here are not stellar, and in many situations, you will get your original court date before you get this appeal date, but in the case of a prolonged trial, it is still beneficial.
Revoked Guarantee
If you are young, broke, or new to town, there is a good chance that the court will require someone who doesn’t share those features to co-sign your bond. This is usually done when you would be released on your own recognizance otherwise, but you are not in good enough social standing to make that guarantee yourself.
When it’s a money bond, it can be someone with a stable income guaranteeing they would pay the bail if you skip for some reason.
The issues start if they revoke that guarantee, which they can legally do at any time. In that case, your bail bondsman will require you to provide another person as soon as possible. In most cases, they will be reasonable and allow you a few days for the paperwork to be finalized, but you should have someone in mind immediately, ideally.
To ensure you are safe, always have at least two people on board as co-signatures for your bail. If one of them flakes for any reason, you can just switch them up. Also, always make sure that the bail company can contact you in several ways, including sending both you and your lawyer an email. If you act quickly, this is a relatively easy issue to solve, but if you wait, it will be a problem.
Surrendered Bond
This is when your bail is at risk from the bail bondsman, and the main question here is why it is happening. Since this is affecting the income of the bonds company, they are not likely to do it on a whim, but it can be a misunderstanding. And, in virtually all cases, it’s triggered because they can’t reach you.
“Don’t break the terms of your bail” is the cop-out suggestion here, and that would be the only one in a perfect world. In the real world, make sure that there are multiple ways your bail bond company can reach you and that you call them back if you see a missed call immediately.
If you are reachable and you didn’t directly break the bond agreement, there is a good chance that a single phone call would prevent all problems.
If you don’t solve this quickly, the bond will be surrendered to a bounty hunter who will track you down and bring you to jail. This is, by default, a terrible thing, as bounty hunters need to presume that you are running away on purpose and that you are as such dangerous.
It’s way better to explain yourself to someone interested in listening to you and solving the issue, such as the bond provider than with someone who is much safer not listening to you, putting you in handcuffs, and hauling you to jail directly.
Communication is Key
Bad communication with your emotional partner or family can make you sad and alone. Bad communication with your lawyer and the court can make you sad and alone while in prison. Tell your lawyer everything they ask in the best way you can without hiding anything. You can guarantee you are not the worst case they had, so don’t become one.
Same with the court and the bail bondsman. Establish clear communication and negotiate clearly what you wish to happen. Everyone in the process has an interest in everything going smoothly and will be appreciative of those who make their job easier, letting you pass through the system quickly and with as few problems as possible in such a situation.