If you get arrested and get out of jail by paying bail or by purchasing a bail bond, you might be wondering what happens to this money. There are a few possible things that can happen with the money used for bail, and what happens to it all depends on your case and on whether you follow through with what you are required to do. Here are several potential scenarios of what might happen to the money.
The court might refund it to you
The first potential outcome for the bail money is for the court to refund it back to you. This can happen if you paid the bail money with your own cash and if there are no fees the court is charging you. To get your money back, you will also have to follow through with the obligations of the court, which will likely include attending hearings for the case. You might have additional obligations as well, and you might not get your money back unless you do everything the court tells you to do.
The court might refund it to the bail bond agency
If you follow through with everything in your case but used a bail bondsman to get out of jail, another possible outcome for the money is that the court will refund it to the bail bondsman. The bail bondsman is expecting this to happen, and if the court does not refund it for a reason that is your responsibility, the bail bondsman will probably come looking for you for the money you owe.
The court could keep it
The court could also keep the money paid for the bail, and this could happen if you paid the bail yourself or if you used a bail bondsman. Courts do not have to refund bail money unless the defendant follows through with all demands and obligations. If the defendant fails to do what he or she is told to do, the court will keep the money and will use it for the expenses they have.
The court may use it to pay for certain legal expenses
One last thing to know is that courts sometimes take part of the bail money a person paid and will use it for certain types of expenses, such as court fees or counseling fees when the court requires that a defendant seek counseling services.
These are the main things that could possibly happen with the money you pay for bail. If you need help paying your bail and do not know where to turn for help, call a 24 hour bail bondsman in your city.
