Ryan Wells -
Lic #: P105790

When you’re working with a bail bondsman, remember that they cannot speed up the legal system. They’ll be ready to go—provided you have the right paperwork and information for them—once the defendant is eligible to be bailed, but you’ll have to remember that there are some circumstances that can make this take a long time. Here are some things to consider.

Jail Occupancy

If the person you’re trying to bail out happened to be arrested when the jail is very busy, it may take a long time before they’re even booked. People do tend to disappear into a sort of limbo for a while when they’re being processed, so it may take three or four hours before you have all the information you need to bail them out. Be patient about this. The jail will usually be fairly accurate when they give you an estimate of how long it will be, so you don’t need to call them every 10 minutes and make everything take even longer.

Busy Nights at the Bond Office

There are busy nights at bail bondsman offices, as well. There may have been some sort of an incident that resulted in a lot of people being arrested—a protest, for example—and there may be a lot of people who are having their bail bonds processed at the same time that you’re trying to get someone out of jail. The bail bonds companies are usually very fast at processing, however, and they’ll be able to offer that speed day or night, so this isn’t usually the problem.

Other Circumstances

If you’re bailing someone out that you thought you knew very well, keep in mind that there may be circumstances that you’re not aware of. For instance, that person may have a lengthy record and that may mean that it could take some time to process them. They may not be eligible for bail at all if they’ve committed a serious crime or have a lot of past instances of committing crimes.

Posting bail can take several hours.  The Tallahassee, Gainesville, Stuart, and Fort Myers bail bond process have been the quickest.  It also may turn out that it costs a lot more than you thought, if the person arrested has a checkered past. If either is the case, talk to the bail bonds company about what you can get done while you’re waiting. There is a lot of paperwork involved, and getting that done as soon as possible will speed up the entire affair.