Reasons to Seek Bail Bonding Instead of Staying in Jail

Unfortunately, it can sometimes be weeks or even months from the time a person is arrested until they have their day in court. Once the trial starts it too can drag on for weeks or more depending on the complexity of the case and the quality of a person’s legal representation. While it doesn’t happen too often there are instances when, for whatever reason, people are offered bail and reject it, electing to stay in jail until their court date rolls around. While no one is legally obligated to work with a bail bond agent, there are a lot of good reasons why it’s not in your interest to reject bail.

Why You Shouldn’t Stay In Jail While Awaiting Your Court Appearance

As an experienced bail bonding company we’ve seen it all, including people who, for reasons no one can figure out, decide to turn down bail and remain behind bars until their scheduled court appearance. While it is their prerogative to do so we would respectfully suggest that languishing in jail is not a great idea, and we’ll tell you why:

Posting bail shows that you’re a responsible person

The court weighs a lot of factors when determining how to treat those accused of crimes. If a defendant is routinely hostile and uncooperative the court will weigh that during sentencing. On the other hand, if the person gets out on bail, adheres to the conditions of their release, shows up for work every day, and avoids getting in more trouble, the court will consider that too and will likely go easy on them. So if you're offered bail, accept it and show the court what a fine upstanding citizen you really are.

Jail is not a nice place to be

Food in county jails is typically pretty bland, the beds are worn, and the people you’ll be staying with may not be the most desirable company. Any visitors to Colorado jails are typically separated from defendants by a sheet of bulletproof glass and if you get sick don’t expect anything like quality medical care. Perhaps most importantly there is a culture of violence that permeates not only high-security prisons in the US but county jails as well. So if you think you’ll be immune to intimidation, threats, and worse because you’re in Denver County Jail, think again.

The walls have ears

You’ve probably heard it repeated a thousand times on TV and in movies “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. Well, that doesn’t just apply to people during the arrest process. It also applies to them while they’re in jail. The longer you’re behind bars the more likely it is that you will say something incriminating that will be overheard by a guard or someone else. Remember, all your phone calls are recorded and there are lots of would-be snitches hoping to earn brownie points by reporting things they’ve heard to the authorities. When you post bail you eliminate the possibility of incriminating yourself in this way.

You might be found not guilty

So you decided not to call a bail bonding company, instead choosing to remain locked up while awaiting your day in court. You also calculated that any time you spend in jail now will be deducted from your sentence under “time served”. Great. But what happens if you’re found not guilty and allowed to go free? You will have wasted who knows how much time festering behind bars for nothing. Even if you are found guilty you may not be sentenced to anything more than community service or probation, which again means you endured weeks or months in jail for no good reason.

It’s probably going to cost you a lot of money

You can’t work while you’re in jail, but bills keep arriving at your home nonetheless. If you’re one of the millions who effectively live paycheck to paycheck spending just a few weeks in jail could seriously upend your life. Your credit rating might take a hit if you miss some payments and the people that count on you will be left to fend for themselves. Even if you’re eventually found not guilty you won’t have any money coming in for a while after you leave jail.

Your case might go stale

While it's not common, it does sometimes happen that the statute of limitations expires on a charge before a person has their day in court. Review the following table to learn the current statute of limitation imposed for each type of crime under Colorado state law.

SOURCE: Colorado Revised Statute: CRS 16-5-401.

Class 1 misdemeanors in Colorado - including 3rd-degree assault, certain types of child abuse, criminal mischief, and theft valued at less than $2,000 - have a 6 to 18-month statute of limitations. So it's conceivable that a person could get arrested for a Class 1 misdemeanor in Golden, spend seven months in jail awaiting trial, and then discover that the statute of limitations has expired and the charges were dropped.

FAQs About Colorado Bail Bonding

What types of bail bonds may be offered?

Review the following infographic for more information on five common types of bail bonds for United States citizens.

Click here to download the infographic as a PDF