When a family member is arrested and charged with a crime, bail may or may not be set by the judge. Bail is usually set for crimes of significance, which is why bail for running a red light or walking on the wrong side of the street does not exist. If you are unfamiliar with which crimes bail is typically set, here are the more common ones.

Murder

Murder is a rather heinous act. To protect everyone else in the community, a judge will set bail. Even though your family member is innocent until proven guilty, courts like to err on the side of caution by setting bail and preventing actual criminals from committing more crimes.

Drug Charges

Drug charges fall under federal penalty charges. As such, anyone arrested and charged with crimes related to drugs will most definitely be held in jail with a bail amount set. The amount varies widely, depending on the type of drugs and the number of charges against him or her.

Violence

Acts of violence, which are not limited to domestic abuse but also include rape, assault, battery, and physical harm to children and the elderly, are also grounds for bail. If the police caught your relative in the midst of a violent act, then bail will be set extremely high because the police were there to witness it and report it back to the courts. Bail bonds services will work with you to release this person, but you may want to be very cautious about doing so.

Theft

Theft is huge. It is one of the leading crimes with which people are charged. When theft is petty, the bail amount will be really low. When you are talking grand larceny, as in a bank robbery or stealing a car, the bail is set very high. Depending on which kind of theft your relative is charged with, you may or may not need the assistance of a bail bond agent like those at Christine’s Bail Bonds.

Extortion and Racketeering

There is a lot of extortion and racketeering going on in the biggest cities. It goes hand in hand with murder and theft, although each of these crimes may be mutually exclusive and each may cause the judge to increase the amount of bail. If extortion involves V.I.P.s, such as politicians, judges, district attorneys, etc., then the amount of bail set will be extremely high. You may not be able to afford the ten to thirty percent of the bail amount required to hire a bail bond agent, but you can try.

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