If you have been arrested for whatever reason, you are going to go through an arraignment process. During an arraignment, the judge will ask you if you plead guilty or not guilty. After they have your plea, the next step is to decide whether or not you are going to be able to get bail. The judge will ask the prosecutor what their stance on bail is, and then they will ask your attorney what they think about bail and the amount of bail that the prosecutor asked for. After the judge has all that information, then they will make a final decision. There are a few things that the judge could decide at this point. 

Own Recognizance

One option is that they can release you on your own recognizance. With this choice, the judge is letting you out, without having to pay any bail, and under your own supervision, within some possible exceptions. For example, you may have to wear an ankle monitor so that your location can be tracked. You may also have to report to someone on a weekly basis just to make sure that you are doing everything that you should be doing. But, in general, you are being trusted to appear on your court date on your own. 

Bail

Another thing that the judge could do is to set bail for you. Bail is the amount of money that the court will accept to let you out of jail until your trial date. The money acts as a safeguard that will appear on your trial date. Most of the time, bail is set higher than you might have access to. In that case, you can seek out a bail bond agency. The agency will take a deposit that is equal to a certain amount of your bail, and then will pay the full amount to the court so that you can be free until your trial. The bail bond agency will want to have something that can act as collateral. What the collateral is will depend on how high your bail is. It could be something like your car or a house. The collateral is designed to make sure that you appear before the court when you are supposed to. 

If you have been arrested, you probably don't want to spend any more time in jail than you have to. You will have to appear before a judge to get their decision as to whether or not you are going to get bail or some other disposition. 

For more information, go to web sites about bail bonds and arraignment.

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