Answering bail calls around the clock

Bail does not keep office hours

Arrests happen at any hour, and many jails take bonds at any hour too. Arizona law requires its jails to be open to take bonds and cash twenty-four hours a day, every day, including holidays. The Flagler County Sheriff's Office in Florida says on its bail page that it takes bonds and cash around the clock.

Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3969: bail bond agent lists and rotation; Flagler County Sheriff's Office: bail bond information

Jails hand out lists of bail agents

In some states the jail gives the person arrested a list of bail agents. Arizona law says the list holds the names and telephone numbers of everyone authorized to post bail bonds in the county, that the order of the names rotates, and that jail staff may not recommend anyone on it.

A word number does not move you up a list like that. It helps after the first call, when the family needs to find you again, and when someone who passed your sign months ago needs you tonight.

Source: Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3969: bail bond agent lists and rotation

Rules on when you may call

Taking calls at any hour is one thing; making them is another. Florida law bars a bail agent from starting in-person or telephone solicitation at the home of a detainee or the detainee's family after 9:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m.

In California, a bail agent may solicit an arrestee's family only between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., unless the arrestee or the arrestee's attorney has authorized it in writing (California Code of Regulations, title 10, section 2079.1).

Neither rule limits when a family may call you. A number that answers at night lets them.

Sources: Florida Statutes 648.44: prohibitions for bail bond agents and agencies; California Department of Insurance: reminder of bail solicitation laws (September 21, 2023)

Answering after hours

A word number can ring wherever you choose. Forward it at night to the on-call agent's cell phone, to an answering service, or to a phone system that rings several agents at once. The number on your sign stays the same.

Answer with your company name every time, at any hour. A caller in the middle of the night wants to know at once that they reached a bail agent and not the jail.

If a call goes to voicemail, say in the greeting when you will call back, and do it. A family that waits too long calls the next name.

Moving a number to your phone system