Can I Get My Money Back if I Post Cash Bail?

In California, many criminal defendants in San Diego bail out of jail with the help of a bail bondsman. However, you may also get out of jail by posting cash bail. When you post cash bail, this means you are posting the entire amount of the bail and giving it to the court for safe keeping. Most commonly in San Diego, you will receive your cash bail sent back to you once your court case has been resolved. However, if the San Diego District Attorneys do not end up filing charges against you after you’ve bailed out, the court will send your money back to you then too. The process of getting your money back from the court will typically take about one month or longer.

If you have posted cash bail and then you go to court at your arraignment, you can also ask the San Diego judge to modify, or lower your cash bail. If the judge does not do this at the arraignment, you can ask to come back to court for what’s called a “bail review hearing.” At the “bail review hearing,” you can again ask the judge to lower your cash bail. If the judge does this, you can expect to receive a check in the mail from the San Diego court refunding you part of your cash bail. This can be extremely helpful for your case. For example, in a recent case in San Diego where our client posted cash bail, we were able to convince the judge to lower the bail by over 50%, which meant the client had much more money to put toward the defense of the San Diego criminal case.

If you or a loved one is considering posting cash bail in a San Diego criminal case, make sure you first speak to a San Diego criminal defense attorney knowledgeable about cash bail so that all of your questions can be answered. Contact Wallin & Klarich today via phone at 1-877-230-1529 or fill out our consultation form for a free evaluation of your San Diego County criminal case.