How Bail Bonds Work In Santa Clarita, CA
When someone is arrested in the city of Santa Clarita, they will be most likely taken to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department. The Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department is located at 23740 Magic Mountain Parkway, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. Once the arresting officer arrives at the jail with the arrestee, he or she will be searched again and will have his or her belongings confiscated and placed away for safekeeping for the remainder of time that the inmate spends at the jail.
Once that initial step is done, the jailer will then call the inmate over and gather some personal information such as his or her name and date of birth. This step is used to gather information that the police can use to determine the identity of the individual if he or she is arrested again. If the defendant wants to be bailed out of jail before his or her first court date, then the police will return all of the confiscated personal belongings that do not relate to the case against the inmate. When all of that is complete the jailer will then begin the booking process, which could take anywhere from half an hour to a few hours, depending on how busy the jail is at that time. For the first step of the booking process, the jailer will gather some personal information from the defendant such as his or her name and date of birth.
The inmate will then take a photo so the jailer could put all of that information into the Los Angeles Sheriff’s database. The next step of the booking process is to complete the fingerprinting process, which can be the longest part of the booking process. The fingerprint scan is done via machine called the Live Scan, which is directly connected to the department of justice. This process is used to determine if the defendant has any outstanding warrants or is wanted by any other agency in the state. In order for you to bail out the defendant, you will either have to pay the full bail at the jail or you will have to hire a bail bondsman. If you choose to pay the full bail, then you will have that money returned to you once the case is resolved. If you choose to hire a bail bondsman, then you will only have to pay the agency ten percent of the full bail amount, but you will not receive this money back once the case is finished. Once the jailer receives the information from the fingerprint scan, he or she will then officially assign the arrestee his or her charges, bail amount, and court date.
Once the inmate is cleared for bail, the bail bonds agent will then turn in the paperwork necessary for the bail bond to the jailer. It is important that the defendant understands that he or she needs to show up to every court date assigned to the case. If the defendant fails to show up to any of the court dates, then the court will issue a bench warrant for his or her arrest.