It is frustrating and often overwhelming to get the call that cops arrested a friend or family member. People often are at a loss when they pick up the phone and hear that someone they love is sitting in jail. For most, the question one immediately tries to answer is how to get that person out.
Next comes how to find out someone’s bail online. The following is a look at the answers to those and other questions about bailing a person out of jail.
Is your mugshot or arrest record still online?
Get a Free Case ReviewThere are two ways of going about finding someone’s bail amount:
- Official websites
- Nonofficial websites
Where Do I Find the Official Website?
The county’s website is the official online web source for finding out a loved one’s bail amount. Most United States counties and arresting agencies will have their own website. On this website, they should list the most recently booked individuals and, as part of their booking file, the listed bail amount. Thus, this is the first online source anyone looking for a bail amount should use.
The problem is that not all agencies will have such a website or use a website for this purpose. Sometimes, you cannot find a posted bail amount on the official county or otherwise relevant website. So, the next online sources to go to are the unofficial websites.
What are the Online Non-Official Sources to Find Bail Amounts?
Bail bonds websites are the nonofficial online sources that will post peoples’ bail online. These websites have a notorious reputation for which we will get to later. But first, for those who do need to know how to find out someone’s bail online, these websites can be a key tool.
Bail bonds websites like bailbondshq.com serve as a central resource for those needing to look up bail amounts. Some of these bail bonds websites will serve only a certain state while others, like bailbondshq.com, will serve a set region. For whatever area they serve, they collect or aggregate all available arrests. This allows visitors to use a comprehensive search tool to find an inmate in any of the included jails. Once found, the visitor can view various inmate information, including their bail amount.
The Problem With Bail Bonds Websites
Yes, bail bonds websites do provide useful information. They do make it easy for people to know how to find out someone’s bail online, and find it quickly. These websites are especially helpful for those who do not know what jail booked their loved one.
That’s because you can search by name across state and regional databases to pinpoint exactly what organization holds a person. This can save a person a significant amount of time as instead of visiting every local website, you can do a one-shot search.
Thus, if this is all bail bonds websites did, offer loved ones fast access to finding their loved ones’ bail amounts, we’d applaud them. Applaud them wholeheartedly for their service! But that is not all bail bonds websites do.
Let’s take a quick look at the key problems of bail bonds websites:
- Information is not regularly removed. Bail bonds websites purport they are important because they offer aggregated information. Important aggregated information that makes it possible for bail bondsmen and individuals to quickly locate people. And they do that! But they do not delete that information. Once an inmate’s information is up, it remains up long even after they cease being an inmate. That’s right, once a person is out on bail or even out following their full sentence, information may stay up.
- There is a lot of information included. These websites don’t just show bail amounts. They also show essentially as much detail as a dating website might. This means, connected with their full name, is typically an inmate’s:
- Arresting photograph aka mugshot
- Birthdate
- Physical details including hair, eye color, and even tattoos or noticeable scars
- Home area
- Area in which police arrested the person
- All charges related to the arrest
- And sometimes more depending upon the bail bonds website
- These websites rank high in search engine results. Combine the above two things, and you get this third awful aspect of bail bonds websites. Because they use such identifying information and because that information is up online for so long, these websites rank highly. Especially because they see such high traffic. So when someone searches a previous inmate’s name in Google, one of the top results is often a link to the bail bonds website. This happens both in regular searches and Google Images searches because of the metadata that links the mugshot with the person’s name. Appearing in search engine results as a previous inmate years down the line can have some serious negative impacts on a person.
How Does Someone Get Their Name Off of a Bail Bonds Website?
Getting onto a bail bonds website is tragically easy. One only needs to find themselves arrested. But getting off of one of these websites is notoriously hard. Most of these websites purport to have an “opt out” page. On that page, someone can submit to have their information removed. Unfortunately, that does not mean the web master will remove the information.
Because these websites claim to serve bail bondsmen with a very specific service, they get around some laws. This makes them the hardest of all mugshot websites to get information taken down for good. In fact, there are several ongoing lawsuits against the owners of these websites due to it.
But as we wait for those websites to finalize, there are some things individuals can do. First, any case that gets sealed, expunged, dismissed, or pled out as not guilty has a high likelihood of successful deletion. Submit the relevant documents when using the integrated opt out page.
If you still hear no response back, check your state laws. Some states now require all, including bail bonds websites, to remove arrest-related information when requested. Florida, for example, requires removal within ten days of a cease and desist request. Anyone can send this request no matter how the charges played out. Websites that do not acquiesce are subject to fines and civil lawsuits.
If you have trouble finding the right state laws for your area, you can contact our professionals.
Are There Alternatives to Online Bail Websites?
Yes! Every time you use a bail bond website, you help them rank higher in search engine results. This means you may end up hurting your loved one. The good news there are alternatives. Offline alternatives you can use to find out someone’s bail.
These alternatives to online bail websites include:
- Attending the bail hearing. If you act fast following the arrest, you can get the date of the bail hearing. Bail hearings are often open to the public with some operating virtually. At the bail hearing, the judge will hear from the defense attorney and issue a bail amount. Someone can then immediately pay to get the defendant arrested. But note bail hearings do happen quickly, within 48 hours of an arrest.
- Call the courthouse. After the bail hearing, you can still get information from the courthouse. Just make sure you have key information available when you call. This includes their full name, date of birth, and address. A case number or inmate number can expedite the process but usually isn’t necessary.
- Talk to the defense lawyer. If you know the defense lawyer, then this is another avenue. The judge declares the bail amount when the defense attorney stands at the bail hearing. So your loved one’s attorney can tell you exactly the bail amount.
- Talk to a bail bondsman. Remember, those bail bonds websites were ostensibly set up to make things easier for bail bondsmen. But a bail bondsman will also have their own resources to find out the amount of a person’s bail. Most bail bondsmen are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So whenever police arrest someone, they can serve as an immediate go-to resource for financial information. Plus, if the bail is too high, you may need to use them anyway.
Do I Have to Use a Bail Bondsman for Bailing Out Someone?
No. Bail bondsmen are useful but not necessary.
Bail bond professionals exist to provide bail funds when the defendant or their loved ones cannot. Generally, they will request up to 10% of the bail amount and in exchange, they will pay the full bail amount to the courts. After the case is over, they get their money back, but you don’t. What you pay is their service fee for fronting the full cost.
However, if you can pay the full amount, then do it. Paying the full amount upfront means you get all the money back following the case’s end. The idea of bail is to act as a financial assurance that once released, the defendant will return to the courts. Bail is not a fine. Following the end of the case, whether guilty/not guilty or all charges dismissed, all bail money gets returned.
Need Help With Getting Removed From Bail Bonds Websites? Contact Our Team
Back to those notorious online bail bonds websites. Are you having trouble getting your name removed? Or is the online reputation of someone you love hurt by old arrest files? In either case and more, our team is here to help. Contact us today to learn about our reputation services and how we can negative online information removed.
