Frequently Asked Questions

For many just understanding the process of getting a loved one out of jail brings at least a little bit of comfort.

When a loved one goes to jail in Houston the process of getting them back out can be quite overwhelming, especially for seniors.

With over 45 years providing bail bond services Bada Bing Bail Bonds understands how stressful and frustrating this time is and we are here to ease the process for you.

Houston is a big city and Harris County has one of the largest county jails in the country. It can take many hours and sometimes days to try and get someone released from jail.

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

Short answer, yes, in many situations you can make a Houston bail bond by phone.

First understand what you are asking a bail bond company to do… you are asking them to risk their business by lending you the amount of the bail bond, all without meeting you face to face. Doing this type of loan is no different than getting a loan from a bank and asking them to take the same risk.

Additionally, understand that you will be required to provide us with your personal and financial information that is required to be approved via email and/or fax. i.e. social security number, driver’s license number, banking and credit card information, employment information, etc.

Bail bond companies that allow you to make a bail bond by phone will be required to do all of the footwork that will be needed in order to make the bail bond for you. Generally all of the footwork is done by the person wishing to get someone out of jail.

The footwork includes, for example; if a person is in the Harris County Jail, the bail bondsman will need to dispatch a bail bond runner (employee), or private contractor to go to the jail bonding division and stand in a line. If the person in jail is located in one of the many other jails throughout Harris County or has a hold with another police department then each circumstance dictates several different possibilities. A bail bond runner may have to drive to several different locations and stand in several different lines before the bail bond is finally processed.

When trying to make a Houston bail bond by phone the extra cost is often added in, and as part of the bail bond fee. These costs can be quite a bit extra and is dependent on each individual circumstance.

Bada Bing Bail Bonds can help you make a Houston bail bond by phone. 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

The person that guarantees a bail bond “the guarantor” takes responsibility for the person the bail bond is being made for to guarantee they show up for court and fulfill their obligations as set forth by the court. If the defendent does not go to court or does not fullfill their obligations, the guarantor will be responsible for the full amount of the bail bond.

Bail bond companies all operate differently and each determine their own risks. Typically when considering a guarantor, a bondsman looks for stability. They will look closely at a guarantors family and community ties, work history, and residential history. The process of guaranteeing a bail bond can be, and most often is, quite invasive. How invasive can be drastically different depending on your situation.

A guarantor will be required to provide detailed personal and financial information in order to secure a bail bond. Information includes employment details and point of contact, driver’s license, social security number, banking and credit card information. Additionally they will need to provide specific information about the person in jail, first, middle, and last name, and date of birth. And if known, where they were arrested and when.

Bada Bing Bail Bonds knows and understands how stressful this process can be and will make the process as easy as possible for you.

Nothing is written in stone, we try to make bail available for anyone so if you are having difficulties please give us a call and let’s discuss your particular situation and options that are available to you for getting a friend or loved one out of jail.

We’re standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to assist you! 1-713-864-2464

In most cases the answer to this question is yes, it depends on each individual case. Non-arrest bail bonds are made every day.

In Harris County all non-arrest bail bonds are processed without the defendant being placed in jail.

In many other counties in Texas the defendant is required to be booked in jail and then released.

In almost all criminal cases bail is set. When an open warrant exists the process of posting a non-arrest bail bond in Harris County is slightly different depending on the type of criminal case.

If a non-arrest bail bond is for a Class A or B Misdemeanor, or a Felony offense, then the bond must be presented to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the defendant must be present.

If a non-arrest bail bond is for a Class C Misdemeanor then the bail bond can be presented to the court by the defendant or the bail bond company with a couple of small municipality exceptions. There are some courts that will except non-arrest bail bonds from any person that presents the bond to the court.

If a court sets a bond amount of zero on a criminal case then it is not possible to post a non-arrest 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

We do not give legal advice because we are not attorneys. To find (legal) answers to questions concerning traffic tickets and traffic ticket warrants contact an attorney.

A warrant of arrest can be issued by the court, however there are many courts that prosecute traffic tickets in Harris County and each court handles the issuance of warrants in a different manner. Some courts allow for a grace period before a warrant is issued. If an individual fails to appear for a court date, a warrant of arrest can be issued and usually is, and the person can be arrested and taken to jail.

Don’t risk going to jail by driving with an open traffic warrant – we can help! Bada Bing Bail Bonds makes traffic warrant bail bonds every single day!

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

What does it cost is the number one question asked, and if you shop around you will find it changes from one bail bond company to the next.

The bail bond business is a competitive marketplace! Because it is competitive consumers are susceptible to the same gimmicks that any competitive marketplace creates.

The goal of the employee of the bail bond company is to bring in business so when questions are asked the answers are always going to be favorable, and like any other business, until you actually walk in to find out what the deal really is and make the deal, it isn’t a deal yet.

After reading the above statement one has to ask, “well if this is true then what makes us any different than anyone else?”

The only real difference is that when you call us you are speaking to the actual decision maker every time. Our goal is to offer the best deal and we feel like we do, day-in and day-out. So obviously we never lose a customer, right?

I wish that were true but if it were then there would only be one Car Company, one Air Conditioning Company, and one Phone Company,- you get the idea; we do the best we can and we hope we get the opportunity to help you.

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

Let’s be very clear…A bail bond company has absolutely nothing to do with determining how much the amount of bail will be. The amount of a bail bond is determined “solely “by the courts, and is based on the offense.

For clarification we are giving information about courts and procedures that only deal with State and Local Government here in Houston, Harris County Texas.

For Class A and B misdemeanor cases and, Felony cases, the bail amount is originally set by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and is based on the nature of the offense. A judge can change the bail amount at any time.

For Class C Misdemeanor cases bail is scheduled by each individual court.

For example if a warrant were issued by The City of Pasadena Municipal Court because a defendant failed to appear, the bond amount for a speeding ticket would probably be a different amount than the bond amount would be if a warrant for the same type of offense were issued by the City of Houston Municipal Court.

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

Absolutely not! Regardless of where a person was arrested within Harris County (eg. City of Houston, Pasadena, Katy, Humble, etc.), they can not be bonded out until they have been processed and booked. This process can take 24 hours or more. Most often, the location of a bail bond company has more to do with how conveniently they are located to the person who is posting a bail bond and has nothing to do with where a person was arrested or what jail they were taken to.

A bail bond company located where the defendant is in jail is “NOT” going to make the process of bonding someone out any faster.

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

No we do not.

Immigration bonds are a specialized area and there are very few companies that make immigration bonds locally or nationwide.

You’ll want to refer to your local yellow pages, or search Google for a bail bonding company that does immigration bail bonds.

It is possible for a bail bond company in Houston to make arrangements to do bail bonds in other cities and counties in Texas; this is referred to by bail bondsmen as an out of county bail bond.

Bail bond companies are licensed individually in each county in Texas. Most bail bond companies do not make bail bonds anywhere other than in the county where they are licensed for a variety of good reasons.

“If anything can go wrong it will go wrong”

Every county in Texas is different; they have different policies and procedures and if a bail bondsman is not familiar with another county’s bail bond policies, how the courts in that county set their court dockets for criminal cases and how they notify bonding companies, defendants, and defense attorneys of future court dates then bad things can happen that were not intended.

The obvious bad things that can happen are that a person misses a court appearance unintentionally for no reason other than they simply didn’t know that they were supposed to appear in court. And, if this happens then a whole string of bad things happening follows.

The court will (typically) raise the original bond amount to twice as much as the original bond amount and issue a warrant for the arrest of the person that missed court.

Additionally the bondsman is sued by that county for the full amount of the bond plus court cost, this is referred to as a bond forfeiture.

And, if this happens the bondsman that made the out of county bond in a different county is then unable to do much to fix the problem.

Because the bail bondsman is not licensed in that county they are unable to help the defendant or to protect themselves from potential liability by posting a new bail bond, in other words the (out of county) county will not accept a new bail bond from anyone other than a bondman licensed in their county.

The bondsman may be able to convince the judge to agree to reinstate the original bond; this simply means that the court agrees to set the bond forfeiture aside or (drop the civil law suit against the bondsman) after the cost of filing the law suit have been paid (court cost) and allow the original criminal bond to remain in effect. However, “if anything can go wrong it will” and so this is an unlikely possibility; the bondsman and the criminal defendants’ best hope of this happening are 50/50.

A bondsman that is licensed in the (out of county) county may or may not want to help because they are wondering “why didn’t the person go to court the first time?”

And, it is difficult enough to get bail bondsmen to agree to make a bail bond for an individual that does not reside in their county to begin with, now add the fact that the criminal defendant has already missed a court date and you have a bail bondsman that simply isn’t going to feel comfortable unless some form of collateral (security) is put up to secure the new bail amount.

The next sentence is a long strung out sentence that sums up the long string of bad events that can and do happen every day when a bail bondsman agrees to make a bail bond for someone in jail in their county that is being detained for charges pending in a different county, an (out of county bail bond).

The end result of all the above being,- that the person that missed their court date ends up with an open warrant for their arrest,- the bail bondsman that originally helped them by posting a bail bond for them from the city and county where they live,- in the (out of county) county where they are not licensed is unable to do anything to help fix the problem and is now being sued,- a new bond is required which is substantially higher than the original bond so more money is needed,- and the defendant is unable to get another bondsman interested in helping them without placing some sort of collateral on deposit in order to satisfy the new bondsman.

Everything stated above then typically ends up with the criminal defendant being placed back in jail with no ability to get back out.

It is always best to try and make arrangements with a bonding company licensed in the county where the criminal case is pending. When this is not possible it is almost always more difficult and more expensive to try and make arrangements with a bonding company that is not licensed in the county where the criminal case is pending.

We do not typically make bonds in other cities and counties throughout Texas, if we do then it is always more expensive and almost always some form of collateral is required to guarantee the bail bond.

Under certain circumstances it is possible to make a bail bond for someone that is in jail in a state other than Texas. However, bail bondsmen typically do not post bonds for people in jail out of state for many very good reasons.

Just as every county in Texas operates differently and has different bail policies the bail bond policies are vastly different in each state. Additionally, if something goes wrong, it is nearly impossible to fix.

There are two different scenarios for a person being detained in another state.

The first scenario:

A person has been arrested in another state for a charge pending in a totally different state. In this situation the reason a bondsman is asked do you make out-of-state bail bonds is typically because the defendant is from and has family in the state where the defendant has the open warrant and so (using Houston as the example) because the warrant is here in Houston the family assumes that it will be possible then to make a bail bond here so that they can be released from jail there.

And, for many years this was the way it was done but it is not done that way in Texas anymore, the practice of posting bail in this fashion was ruled unconstitutional.

Consequently, the only possible way to post a bail bond for someone in this situation is for a bail bond company operating in the city and state where the defendant is being held to post a fugitive (out of state) bail bond. If this type of bail bond is posted it is a temporary bail bond.

I have no idea how these things are handled in other states and in truth because of the rarity in which these types of bonds are made my information may be completely correct or partially correct for how these types of bail bonds are handled in Texas, so this is a rough idea at best.

I apologize for this confusing explanation but to understand the process in another state I have to reverse the situation to someone being arrested in our state and give the best explanation I can since I do not write bail in other states.

If for example someone were detained in Houston for a warrant from another state then the first part of the process would be for a magistrate here in Houston to set a fugitive bond on that person so that if they choose to try and post bail they can.

Then, if arrangements are made for bail the person is released from custody temporarily pending the issuance of a Governor’s warrant from the state that has the warrant for the defendant.

Then, if the Governor’s warrant from the state that has the warrant is issued meaning that they do want to extradite that person back to their state within (90) days after bail is posted the defendant is remanded back into custody here in Houston awaiting extradition back to the state that has the warrant.

If the Governor’s warrant is not issued within (90) days then the fugitive case in Houston is dismissed and the defendant can run around Houston all they like with an unlikely possibility of being arrested again for that same out of state warrant. And, Houston has in effect become a permanent home unless the person wants to possibly be arrested again anyplace else in the state of Texas or any other state on the same fugitive warrant again.

However, getting out of jail in Houston and playing the (90) day waiting game is not the desired outcome of the bail bondsman. The proper course of action is to post a fugitive bail bond in Houston and then travel to the state that has the open warrant and make arrangements with a bail bond company in that city and state to post another bail bond there so that the case can be adjudicated and a final resolution of the criminal case be made or to turn themselves in at the jail in that city and state and show proof to the bonding company in Houston that either one or the other of these things has been done.

Now, all of this being said, you have to step into the mindset of a bail bondsman in order to get a real understanding of what all of this means to the bail bondsman.

There’s a person in jail with an open warrant for their arrest in another state. Common sense begs to ask the question why? Why is this person miles away from the state that has an open warrant for their arrest?

And then, because there’s an incredible shortage of crystal balls with which to find answers, and just as much a shortage of Fairy God Mothers to make all potential liability disappear the bondsman must answer his own question. Maybe the person is in jail because they are on the run! Appearances indicate that this is a very good assumption and since they ran all the way to another state another good assumption is that if I get them out of jail they may possibly run off to a totally different state.

As you can now see the potential for a bail bond like this to be made is not very good unless you have lots of money and are prepared to place actual physical collateral of some kind worth the total amount of the bail bond in the hands of the bail bondsman so that they know if everything goes wrong they have the ability to pay the bond and not take any significant financial risk.

The second scenario:

A person has been arrested in another state on charges from that state and the family wants to make bail arrangements in the city and state where they live rather than try to make arrangements with a bail bondsman in a different state.

This explanation is much more simple and to the point.

The bail bondsman the family is asking help from does not make bail in the other state and has no idea of how that state does anything, (bad idea).

The defendant is miles away with the intention of staying miles away and so the bail bondsman has zero ability to monitor the defendant in order to guarantee court appearances, (bad idea).

The defendant is planning on coming home and travel out of state as often as is needed for court appearances, (bad idea).

Making bonds in other states is a bad idea.

It is always more expensive to make out of state bonds and almost always collateral is required to make these kind of 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

It depends on what jail a person is in, typically all jails are open 24 hours, and the best policy is to call us since we are in contact with the jails here in Harris County Texas every day.

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