It’s a common enough occurrence, both in movies and in real life: a defendant in a criminal case, out on bail, decides not to show up for a court date. It’s known as “bail jumping,” and it sets in motion a complex chain of events that usually end up with the defendant back in jail, facing a longer sentence and higher fines than they did before they decided not to appear in court.
In this article, we’ll look at what happens when a defendant decides to jump bail, how law enforcement and any involved bonding agent will react, and what penalties can be imposed when the offender is caught and brought back to jail.
What Is Bail Jumping?
While the term bail jumping brings to mind someone leaving town and going on the run, fleeing from the jurisdiction is not actually required for a bail jump to have occurred. If you have secured a release from jail by paying bail or signing a bond agreement with a licensed bonding agent and fail to appear for a required court appearance, you have jumped bail – even if you never left town.
What if I Jump Bail?
At the beginning of your scheduled court appearance, the court will recognize that you have failed to appear and start the process of finding you and bringing you back:
A Bench Warrant Will Be Issued
The judge presiding over your proceedings will immediately issue a bench warrant for Failure to Appear (FTA). This warrant will authorize law enforcement to arrest you. Depending on the severity of your initial offense, this might mean that law enforcement takes an active role in hunting you down, or it may just mean that if you encounter law enforcement during the course of your day-to-day life, you can be arrested on sight.
Your Bonding Agent Will Be Notified and Your Bond Forfeited
If you signed a bonding agreement with a bail bonds company, the bonding agent who signed your bond will be notified, which will start a second set of wheels in motion. The first step will be that your bond will be immediately forfeited, and if your bond required collateral, that will be forfeited as well. No matter what happens going forward, you will not receive the expected refund at the end of your trial, and your collateral will be sold to recoup some of the bonding agent’s losses.
Bond Enforcement Will Start Looking for You
Bail bonding agents will employ members of their staff, third-party bond enforcement specialists (sometimes referred to as bounty hunters), or both to start trying to track you down. Your failure to appear will have cost them a significant amount of money, and they’ll want to get you back to the jurisdiction and back into court to recover as much of that loss as possible.
So, now you’ll have two different sets of experts, both trained in finding people who don’t want to be found, looking for you – and most bail jumpers are found and returned to justice.
You Will Be Charged With Bail Jumping
In addition to whatever charges you were facing before you failed to appear for a court date, you will now also be facing charges of bail jumping. This charge will vary depending on the nature of the original offense. If you’ve been charged with a felony, you will be charged with felony bail jumping. If the original offense was a misdemeanor, you will be charged with misdemeanor bail jumping – unless you leave the state.
If you leave the state and are charged with any one of several qualifying misdemeanors, your bail jumping charges can become out-of-state bail jumping charges, which are prosecuted and penalized like felony bail jumping.
You Will Face Severe Additional Penalties
You Can Be Labeled a Flight Risk and Denied Bail
When you’re returned to the jurisdiction, the judge presiding over your case can declare you a flight risk – meaning that bail will be denied to you in the future, or your bail amount will be set prohibitively high. The odds are good that you will end up detained until the completion of your trial.
You Can Face a Prison Sentence – Even if You’re Acquitted of the Original Charge
Penalties for felony or out-of-state bail jumping can include a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $5,000 – in addition to whatever sentence is handed down if you’re convicted of the original charges.
Even if you’re acquitted of the initial charges, you’ll still have to stand trial for bail jumping, and the court will not be concerned about your earlier acquittal. If convicted, you’ll still end up in prison.
What if My Failure to Appear Was a Genuine Mistake?
Life happens, and the court does understand that. If you think you may have to miss a scheduled court appearance, you should contact your legal counsel and let them help you work with the court to make whatever scheduling changes are possible.
If you’ve already missed a court appearance due to a genuine error or unexpected event preventing you from appearing, you should contact your counsel and your bonding agent and explain the situation. With proper legal guidance, you may be able to apologize to the court and avoid a charge of bail jumping.
Arrested in Macon-Bibb County? Don’t Wait in Jail; Call All State Bonding: 478-745-1966
All State Bonding is located directly across the street from the Bibb County Jail in downtown Macon. We’re available 24/7, and all our bonding decisions are made on-site, so you never have to wait for an answer.