If you’re arrested you are not allowed you bail yourself out, even if you have the sufficient cash with you, why not?
You can:
http://www.co.bannock.id.us/bailint.htm
http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectId/EA05D2A8-0746-452F-99D3DEE0765E86E6/104/143/272/ART/
In my…er, um…In this friend of mine’s experience: When you are taken into custody all your personal effects are taken from you. This includes your wallet and all your money. These things are not returned until you are released, which doesn’t happen until your bail is paid.
Catch-22.
Perhaps this is a state by state thing with Idaho allowing it.
Unless it is very minor bail or you have great limits on a couple of your CC’s, that much cash is going to be a problem of the first order these days. You can call your bank and have the bail sent which in effect is self bail.
Rich folks do it all the time…
YMMV
It may even go by county.
We allow people to bail themselves out IF they have the cash (no credit cards/triple A cards/checks accepted) and it wasn’t a mandatory appearance charge.
How do you handle the can’t-pay-the-cash-because-it-was-confiscated problem? From what I’ve seen, they take the cash during processing and put it into an account? If it’s not a mandatory appearance matter (for which a judge sets the bail at a hearing) is there a way for the arrested to access that money quickly to post?
I was allowed to bail myself out. I got nailed for driving while suspended (dunno why they feel it’s necessary to arrest you for that, but that’s for another thread…) Anyway, the cops were nice enough to take me to a nearby ATM the next day, after my direct-deposit paycheck had cleared. Pay, sign and I was on my way.
My husband is in the process of becoming a bail agent (taking his test tomorrow). I just asked him, and, at least in Shasta County, California, you would be allowed to pay your bail with cash you had on your person. It would involve filling out a release of property form, and you’d indicate on the form whom you’d like to release your property to. It happens pretty often that an arrestee will release their wallet to the bail bonds agency so that they can run their credit card for the premium. Similarly, if you’re bailing yourself out, you could have the cash released to somebody who would then pay the bail for you, or apparently there’s a way to just release the property to the jail to pay the bail.
You can bail yourself out of jail, but I prefer to try rolling doubles on my next turn, instead.
Bail is a cash bond it cannot be paid with a credit card. You can pay a bondsman with a credit card but you cannot post your own bond with it. The purpose of bail is to assure your appearance at trial. If you abscond you are presumably not out any money since you probably won’t be paying your credit card bill either. This does not apply to minor traffic or other infractions with minimal bail requirements.
Bail schedule in my jurisdiction has the lowest possible bail at $1000. Not many people carry that. Traffic matters excepted.
The only caveat to this is if the police think that the money you have in your possession is ill gotten gains. They would then put the money into evidence, and you would not be able to utilize it. Although after a while, the police can utilize it.
In fact, once they get their hands on your money, it is pretty much impossible to get it back, even if found not guilty.
The police (or the county or other jurisdiction) only get the money that was confiscated if a judge so orders. Otherwise it stays in the evidence lock up, sometimes for years.
I would not say the last part was true. I worked for an attorney who did criminal defense, and if a defendent was found not guilty of let’s say, drug charges, any money siezed during the arrest was ordered returned (by the judge in the case.)
I also worked several years ago in a jail and occasionally someone had enough cash on them to post their bond. We didn’t go through any rigamarole of releasing their wallet or cash to anyone else, but it was a very small jail (42 beds) so this wasn’t a big problem to work out how to do it.
I was allowed to post my own bail of $75.00 in Massachusetts in the early 80’s, with cash I had on me. (They let me cool my heels in a cell for a couple hours while they processed the paperwork.)
It goes into a special envelope before it gets put into an account, with the persons other property. After he/she is booked (finger printed, photo, etc.) they’re told what the bail amount is. If they have it, and it’s not a mandatory appearance, they are told that they can bail out. If it’s an offense that doesn’t have jail time, the bail amount is equal to the maximum amount they can be fined. If they bail out and don’t show up for court, the court finds them guilty and keeps the bail as the assessed fine.
The judges around here rarely set a fine at the max except if you don’t show up. So If you bailed out at $1000, go to the court date, and the judge fines you $750, you’ll get the difference back. If you don’t show the judge sets the fine at the bail amount (the max). THIS IS AN OBSERVATION OF HOW IT WORKS, AND IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Thanks. That’s about how I’d set it up. It only makes sense to make it harder if you want to incur the additional costs of keeping more prisoners longer. (Or of course, if you’ve watched too many movies about sadistic jailers.)
I’ve always wondered about the AAA card myself. They used to work as arrest bond certificates, but now I get separate, paper arrest bond certificates every year. Isn’t that the whole purpose, though, to serve as a bond for bail purposes? Why wouldn’t you accept them? (for authorized purposes, i.e., traffic crimes not involving alcohol, basically). Also, then, rather taking an out of state drivers’ license (if you do that in your part of the world), wouldn’t you just accept their AAA?
During my career I’ve worked on 4 different departments, including the one I retired from in July after 25 years. I know a lot of cops from a lot of different areas and I honestly don’t know anyone who takes that AAA card for any reason.
Since retiring I took a position with another department part-time (to stay in the game 
). We don’t take credit cards for anything, even parking cites. My old department did. No money orders or certified checks either. Just cash.
If money is in your possession when arrested, a couple of things can happen.
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It stays in your personal effects, to be given back to you upon release. You may or may not be able to utilize these funds while in jail. You might be allowed to release to a family member or friend.
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It can be put into evidence, where it may languish for years, or be given back fairly quickly, depending on the outcome of your case.
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It can be taken if part of your sentence requires it.
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It can be confiscated, never to be returned, even without ever being charged with a crime.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/forfeiture.html
Luckily, the only time I was arrested, there was no bail required. I was released on my own recognizance after a DUI arrest back in 1990. At the time, we thought the laws were harsh, but they were nothing compared to now…