Types of Bail Bonds

For more information about Houston Traffic Ticket Warrant Bail Bonds contact us at 1-713-864-2464

It is important to understand the consequences of not going to court for a traffic ticket.

For many people the thought is I did it, I’m guilty, so I’m just going to go down and pay the fine.

Traffic ticket convictions can sometimes result in a driver’s license suspension and state surcharges that are required to be paid before a driver’s license can be renewed. So again before just pleading guilty to something it might be wise to speak with an attorney or find out if a Houston Bail Bond is an option that might work for you.

Cases are often dismissed for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes a police officer fails to show up for court and a judge will dismiss the case. Cases are frequently dismissed by a judge because of an agreement between the defense and the prosecution, and for Class C Misdemeanor offenses many times the defense is the defendant representing themselves and the prosecutor will simply make an offer, “if you agree to plead guilty to this charge I will agree to dismiss this charge,” posting a bail bond can definitely be an option worth looking into.

We are a Houston Bail Bond Company and we do not practice law so to get proper legal advice we would suggest consulting with an attorney.

We do try to offer the lowest possible prices on our traffic ticket bail bonds so that a person can post bail if arrested or a non-arrest bond to prevent being arrested.

We encourage you to contact us for a price quote, and then shop around, we are certain you will find our prices to be lower than any other.

For information about Houston Open Warrant & Non-Arrest Bail Bonds please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you. We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464

If a person has an open warrant for their arrest and a bail bond has been set by the court then a non-arrest bail bond can be posted so that the person who has the warrant can keep from being arrested and going to jail.

If a person has an open warrant for a more serious offense such as a Class A or B Misdemeanor or a Felony, then the Bail Bond must be taken to the Harris County Sheriff’s bonding window by the person that is being charged with the offense. The person is lawfully placed under arrest when they present the non-arrest bail bond at the window; the person is not placed in hand cuffs or put into jail.

The next few paragraphs are going to be redundant, but it’s better to understand completely than not understand and end up in more trouble.

It is very important to understand what was just said, (when the bond is presented), after you have handed a non-arrest bail bond to the Sheriff’s Department you are no longer free to leave until they say you can.

There is a lobby with benches to sit and wait. A Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy will eventually call for the person to go with them to be officially booked by going through the Harris County Sheriff Identification process where their picture (mug shot) is taken and finger prints are taken. This waiting process can easily take 3 hours or more.

The reason this is important to understand is because even though a person is not hand cuffed or placed in jail, they are under arrest and they are no longer free to leave until they are released by the Sheriff’s Department.

In most counties throughout Texas a person must be booked into jail before being released and even though this is not the policy of Harris County for non-arrest bail bonds, once a non-arrest bond is given to the Sheriff you are being detained, you are free to walk around in the lobby but you are not free to leave until you are released by the Sheriff.

Without thinking everything through properly and probably not having the process explained to them properly by a bail bondsman, someone will from time to time decide that the process of waiting is taking too long and simply leave. They think that since they are turning themselves in and they didn’t realize the process was going to take so long that they can come back at another time when they are more prepared to sit and wait. This can result in an additional warrant of arrest being issued for a felony charge of escape.

If a person presents themselves for arrest to post a non-arrest bail bond then they cannot leave before the process is complete, in fact if they have to go to the bathroom they should first report with the deputy at the window to inform them of where they are going.

The next thing to have an absolute understanding of is how quickly a court date will be set for the person posting a non-arrest Houston Bail Bond.

The first court date for a Felony offense is typically set within a day or two after the bail bond is posted. If someone were in jail they are typically set for court the next day. This is not always true, court dates are set by the court on Felony cases and they set them how they want.

The important thing to remember is that once a felony non-arrest bond has been posted the process isn’t over until you know what your court date is going to be. The bail bond company will call the court the following day or if on a weekend or holiday the next day in which court is in session. It is best to be proactive and call the bonding company the next day so that you will know what your court date is going to be and do not stop calling until you do know.

Most people do not understand the criminal justice system and truly believe that if something goes wrong and they didn’t know, weren’t told, or if anything happens that in their own mind couldn’t possibly be their fault that they are somehow protected by not knowing. This is completely false, never ever just assume anything, if you don’t know ask, if you’re not sure find out.

In the Harris County District Courts and County Courts, court dates are given quickly and every future court appearance if the case is not completely disposed of is given each court appearance. Not knowing your court date means going to jail (period).

This first court date is an arraignment or a hearing where the defendant makes a plea of guilty or not guilty.

If the defendant enters a plea of not guilty then the court will reset the case in order to give the defendant time to contact and hire an attorney so that they may properly prepare for their defense.

The process is the same for a Class A or B Misdemeanor except the court date for arraignment is usually 5 days and in most cases the Sheriff will write the court date at the top of the bond in the upper left hand corner where it says surprisingly enough (court date). If a court date is not written on the bond (to be set) will be written and again it is necessary to find out the next day “what is my court date?”

Non-arrest bail bonds for Class C Misdemeanor offenses are handled very differently. A person can either present themselves to the court at the courts designated bonding window if allowed or the bail bond company can take the non-arrest bail bond to the court for them and some courts will only take the bond from the bonding company, and in some courts the bond will be accepted by anyone that brings it.

When Houston Non-Arrest Bail Bonds are posted for Class C Misdemeanors it is obviously very important to then make certain that the future court appearance resulting from a non-arrest bail bond being posted is not overlooked. The result of not knowing your court date is another warrant of arrest being issued and in most cases a larger bail bond being set by the court for the non-appearance, along with a failure to appear in court warrant.

Class C misdemeanor bail bonds are required for Municipal Courts and Justice of the Peace Courts.

Justice of the Peace bail bonds are handled in a variety of different ways.

Non-arrest:

Many people in Houston and throughout Harris County get traffic tickets, I do not know the exact average but it’s safe to say that somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 traffic citations are given each day.

Many of these are handled in the Justice of the Peace Courts. If a person is given a traffic citation by a Harris County Sheriff, Harris County Constable, Texas State Trooper, or a Parks and Wildlife Officer then their court appearance will be in a Justice of the Peace Court. There are 16 separate Justice of the Peace Courts in Harris County.

When a person misses a court date then a warrant is issued for their arrest by the court and in order to get a new court date and stay out of jail a non-arrest bail bond must be posted. The Justice of the Peace Courts are open Monday through Friday and closed on weekends. They are typically open from 9am to 5pm.

Arrangements for non-arrest Justice of the Peace Court bail bonds can be made after hours and on weekends but then the bail bond must be posted with the court on the next business day that the court is open.

In Jail:

If a person goes to jail because of a Justice of the Peace warrant a three ring circus comes to mind. It’s not easy to understand or explain and I get turned around just typing it out.

If a person is arrested by any police officer, keeping in mind police officers do not work for Harris County, this is explained in detail in the District Court and County Court Bail Bonds section, and if they are arrested Monday through Friday, and someone is attempting to post a bail bond for them between 9am and 2pm then it may be possible to get them released from jail.

If a person has been arrested by a police officer and it is after 2pm Monday through Friday or on a weekend then the person cannot be bailed out of jail until they are transferred to the Harris County Jail.

If a person is already in the Harris County Jail then you might be able to post a bail bond and get them out, however this is rarely ever attempted because they will be automatically released within 24 hours anyway which coincidentally is the same time frame it takes if you post a bail bond.

Please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you. We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464

A Municipal Bail Bond is needed if a person receives a traffic citation from a Police Officer in one of the many municipalities throughout Harris County and then fails to appear in court.

There are also municipal citations given for other violations other than traffic, like sign ordinances, food ordinances, petty theft, trash violations the list goes on and if the person does not appear in court then a warrant issued.

Hundreds of people are arrested each day in Harris County in every municipality and in most municipalities the process of posting a bail bond and getting out of jail is pretty easy, simple and quick.

However, the City of Houston Municipal Court and the City of Houston Jail are much larger and the process of getting someone out of jail is much slower.

The difficulties of someone going to jail are when a person is arrested by a police department for outstanding warrants that exist with other municipalities.

For example a person that gets arrested by the city of Bellaire Police Department for an open warrant with the city of Pasadena. Because the person was arrested in Bellaire the Bellaire Police must take the person to their jail in Bellaire. Now the person in jail must either sit in jail waiting for Pasadena to come and pick them up. Or, if someone wants to get them out quicker they must take a bail bond to the city of Bellaire and have the defendant sign and thumbprint the bond and then take the bond to Pasadena. Then Pasadena will issue a release so that the person can be released from the city of Bellaire.

The vast majority of municipal bonds are posted non-arrest before a person gets arrested and this too is a simple process of going to a bail bond company and getting a bail bond so that they can remove the warrant and get a new court date.

Please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you. We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464

This explanation is lengthy; Harris County is huge so there are many possibilities when it comes to getting a person out of jail or trying to keep them from going to jail. In this section of our website we are dealing strictly with District Court and County Court offenses which by themselves have a whole array of possibilities.

If a person is charged with a Felony in Harris County then the criminal case is prosecuted in one of many Criminal District Courts in Harris County.

If a person is charged with a Class A or B Misdemeanor in Harris County then the criminal case is prosecuted in one of the many County Criminal Courts in Harris County.

Many people are arrested throughout Harris County by many different Police Departments. Each Police Department has its own jail and if a person is arrested by a Police Officer that works for a specific Police Department such as, (The City of Pasadena Police Department), or (The City of Bellaire Police Department), and there are many others, then the person being arrested is taken to that specific Jail in that city.

Again, there are many Police Departments throughout Harris County the largest being The City of Houston Police Department.

Harris County also has its own individual Police Departments; they are not referred to as such, instead they are Sherriff’s Department and Constable’s Department.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Department patrols all of Harris County.

The Harris County Constable’s Department patrols each individual Precinct in Harris County, there are 8 different Precincts with 8 different Constable Departments, Precinct 1, Precinct 2, Precinct 3, and so on.

The State of Texas also has its own different Police Departments and they are not referred to as such, instead they are Texas State Troopers, Texas Parks and Wild Life Department “The Game Warden”, and the infamous “Texas Rangers”.

Texas State Troopers patrol the State Highways and many rural areas of the State and can certainly make an arrest anywhere in the State. Texas Parks and Wildlife Officers “Game Wardens”, patrol our parks and waterways.

Texas Rangers of course are feared by outlaws (everywhere). My apologies, I may have gotten off of the subject, what I meant to say is “Texas Rangers can go anywhere in the State of Texas” but I would still like to add, and are recognized and respected all over the world.

Okay enough, “I’m from Texas” stuff and back to how all of this effects how a person is released from jail on District Court and County Court cases.

If a person is arrested by a “Police Department” somewhere in Harris County for a felony or a Class A or B misdemeanor as I said above the person is taken to that particular jail first. They will remain in custody there until the formal complaint against them has been either accepted or denied by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, THIS PROCESS USUALLY TAKES 8-12 HOURS.

If the charges are accepted and a criminal charge is filed against the person in custody then after this information is entered into the Harris County Justice information Management System and after the Police Department receives this information then this person can be bailed out of jail.

The Police Department that has the person in custody now has no lawful reason to hold the person in their jail and the person must be transferred to the Harris County Jail which is the jail where they will remain in unless they are bailed out of jail.

A person can also be released from the first jail now before they are transferred to the Harris County Jail, (if), the person trying to get them out of jail moves quickly before the person is transferred to the Harris County Jail; this will get a person out of jail hours earlier.

Once a person has been transferred to Harris County they are put in the back of the line (a long line) of people being booked into the jail so just because we know they are in the Harris County Jail does not mean that Harris County knows they are in their jail and will not accept a bail bond until they acknowledge that the person is in their jail. And, trust me when I say this, “just because you know they are there means nothing”, Harris County is not going to drop everything to run and go find out if your loved one is somewhere in line in their jail, they will take the bond only after they acknowledge that the person is in their custody.

If a person is arrested by any of the above County or State law enforcement departments they will be taken directly to the Harris County Jail and it will take the typical 8 to 12 hours before any information is available in order to make bail arrangements.

Once a bail bond has been posted the typical release time is also between 8 and 12 hours. It is possible for a person to be released a few hours earlier but not typical.

When someone signs to guarantee a bail bond they are guaranteeing that the defendant will make all court appearances until the criminal case is finally disposed with a finding of innocents or a finding of guilt. In Harris County it is not unusual for a criminal defendant to be required to appear in court every month sometimes for more than a year. Many criminal cases are disposed of within a few months; each case is different with a different set of circumstances.

All District Courts and County Courts are located at 1201 Franklin, Houston Texas in the Harris County Criminal Justice Center (Courthouse).

All District and County Court Bail Bonds are posted at 49 San Jacinto, Houston Texas at the Harris County Sheriff’s Bonding Department. This process can sometimes take hours of just standing in a line awaiting your turn.

Please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you. We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464

Houston and Harris County, Texas are home to one of the largest city and county jails in the State and within the United States.

Because Houston is a large metropolitan city the experience of going to jail here is vastly different than what a person may experience in a smaller community.

In most places in the United States getting in and out of jail is a process that takes a few hours, in Houston however getting in and out of jail for the most part takes 24 hours and sometimes longer.

It is possible to get out of jail quicker if a person is arrested for an open traffic warrant in a small municipality within Harris County.

Please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you. We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464