Approximate Bail Wait Times and Bail Cost Per Offense in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County

The below information and tables outlines bail cost per offense and approximate wait times based on facility, as well as information on what can influence these costs and wait times.

Bail Cost Per Offense in Orange County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County

If you find yourself waiting to post bail in an LA County, Orange County, or San Bernardino County facility, chances are you’re being charged with one of the following four crimes: domestic violence, battery, criminal threats, rape/statutory rape, or burglary.  

But how long you’ll be there and the total cost to get you home free hinge on a slew of different factors including which country you were arrested and the escalation of offense.

Take domestic violence for example. It can get range from $10,000 to $100,000 in LA County since there are varying degrees of penal codes and bail amounts. Get charged with a 243(e)(1) in San Bernadino County and you’re looking at a $10,000 to $25,000 penalty while a 273.5 in Orange County will cost you in the $25,000 to $50,000 range and so on. 

Typically speaking, the initial cost cannot exceed 10% unless it's a federal or immigration bond. Further, bail amounts can be less than 10% if certain parameters are met including designation as a Union employee, Property signer or Veteran.

 However, these are subjective guidelines established between the surety company and an individual’s bail bonds agency. 

Here’s a quick breakdown you can use to start budgeting:

Now on to processing times:

Approximate Wait Times for Los Angeles County Jails

When posting a bail bond at a jail in Los Angeles County, there can be delays due to warrant checks, shift changes, holds, fingerprinting, and days of the week. Wait times after posting bail can range from 15 minutes to 26 hours.

For example, the Los Angeles Police Department falls under City jurisdiction, while the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is run and operated by County officials. Perhaps not surprisingly, make it to a local police department and you may be eligible to post bail within 2 or 3 hours. Find yourself in a large LA county Jail such as Twin Towers or Wayside and you could be there 24 hours or more.

Ultimately, all facilities' wait times will depend largely on whether or not anything comes up during the fingerprint check and warrant search. It will likely come as no surprise that if a defendant is flagged as having pending warrants, a previous failure to appear in court, or other ‘fresh’ open charges for recent a arrest it could take longer to post bail.

Here is a breakdown of approximate wait times for Los Angeles County Jails.

Approximate Wait Times for Orange County Jails

There can be delays in release after posting a bail bond in Orange County due to fingerprinting, warrant checks, business, shift changes, holds, and other factors. Wait times range from 15 minutes to 8 hours. Here is a breakdown of approximate wait times for Orange County Jails.

*Note: Data provided by Bail-Bonds.com.