Many people have probably heard the term appeal bond before but few seem to fully understand its function and purpose in the bail bonds world. For those that are unfamiliar, an appeal bond is a bond that is granted by a judge when a defendant has been found guilty of a charge. Keep in mind, when someone is found guilty it is not their right to be issued an appeal bond. It is at the discretion of the judge to allow for an appeal bond to be posted or not.
Appeal bonds are relatively common in Baltimore County, and Big Boyz Bail Bonds services this type of bond on a regular basis. Posting an appeal bond has a much different process than posting a regular bail bond. In order to post an appeal bond, someone must pay an $80 fee to a Baltimore County clerk located at either court house (Towson, Essex, or Catonsville). Once the fee has been posted with the courts, the appeal bond can be posted by a bail bondsman only during regular court hours (8:30am-4pm). Rather than posting the bond with a district court commissioner, we post the bond directly with a clerk and it is typically a pretty quick process.
Many people confuse the purpose of an appeal bond and believe that they can just post the appeal bond, instead of serving the jail sentence issued by the judge. This is not the case. The purpose of the appeal bond is to give you a second chance. If you were unhappy with the initial verdict, or the way your attorney handled the case, you get the opportunity to re-try the case in front of a different judge and with a more qualified attorney.
Recently, Big Boyz posted an appeal bond for a client that was sentenced to just 10 days in jail. She was issued a $3,000 appeal bond which her family member paid the filing fee and posted the bond with our company. Now that the defendant is released on this bond she will be issued a new court date and the opportunity to rid her record from a guilty conviction.
Next time you go to court and you are facing a possible jail sentence, and are eventually sentenced, contact your attorney about requesting an appeal bond. And if you have any further questions about posting an appeal bond, please contact us at any time.
410-534-6070.
