How Bail Works in Colleton, South Carolina
In case your or a loved one is arrested in Colleton, South Carolina, it is important to understand how bail works. Bail works in Colleton in the same basic way that it works for counties across the state of South Carolina. In essence, bail is an amount of money that a defendant will have to pay to the courts in order to get out of jail while awaiting the completion of his or her trial. This amount of money is simply held onto by the courts until the defendant completes the legal obligation. Once this legal obligation has been completed, the defendant receives a full refund of the bail amount.

The exact amount of bail varies a great deal depending on the crime that the defendant has been accused of committing. The bail amount is the same for the same crime across all counties in South Carolina. For example, a defendant will have to pay the same bail amount in Colleton as he or she would in Charleston if she or he were arrested for the same crime.

In the event that an individual is unable to pay for bail on his or her own, the defendant may elect to stay in jail until the completion of his or her criminal trial. Alternatively, the defendant could choose to use the services of a bail bonding agency.
A bail bonding agency provides a defendant with the amount of money that is needed in order to get the defendant out of jail while he or she awaits his or her criminal trial. This amount of money is given to the courts in the form of a bail bond and is refundable to the bail bonding agency when the defendant completes his or her legal obligation.

In order to pay for the services of a bail bonding agency, a defendant usually has to pay about ten percent of the total cost of the bail. This payment is non-refundable, but can be made by credit card, cash, check, money order, collateral, or even loved ones.

If the defendant fails to complete his or her legal obligation, the bail bonding agency will track the defendant down in order to rearrest him or her. If the bail bonding agency needs to track a defendant down, then the agency will charge the defendant additional fees and may seize some of the assets of the defendant in order to cover their costs, including the cost of not getting a refund on the bail amount.