Do Bail Bonds Expire?

Every so often, I run across a criminal defense attorney in court asking about the bail bond process and its procedure. Unfortunately, I find that the criminal lawyer has been either misinformed or mislead by some competitor in the past. Thus, by popular belief, many criminal attorneys and clients assume the client's bail bond will expire on the one year anniversary or some future date.

Sure, an unused bail bond has an expiration date of one year from the date of issue, but a client's issued bail bond never expires. At least this is true for the State of California. The bail bond or "power of attorney," as known in the commercial bail bond industry, is a legal instrument (contract) promising the defendant's appearance in court.

The "face sheet", is a letter size document accompanied with the bail bond. It outlines the defendant's case information; court of jurisdiction, appearance date, bail amount, and conditions of bail pursuant to sections of the California Penal Code. In the example given below, there is no mention of any expiration date?

  

 Furthermore, the power-of-attorney or bail bond, is attached to face sheet when delivered to the county jail, detention facility, or courthouse. The bail bond does not indicate any expiration date as well. The illustrated power-of-attorney below is general example of what is used in the industry for the release of  an arrestee from jail.

Hopefully, this information will give you some insight on how to better serve your clients when it pertains to bail.