There is an uptick in drunk driving and theft around Christmas every year. If you find yourself on the wrong side of the law, you could be facing longer than usual wait times as you’re being processed and booked into jail during the holiday season. Typical timelines may not apply during the holidays. It’s important to be informed and patient during this stressful time in order to make the most out of the unfortunate circumstance of your arrest.
Delays Are Normal Around Christmas Time
Although you may have heard about how you’re supposed to have a hearing within a certain time frame after your arrest, this timeline is often off when it comes to the holidays. Judicial hours, the timeframe that is recognized by the courts, don’t include holidays or weekends. This doesn’t work in your benefit this coming Christmas. Since Christmas falls on a Friday this year, you could be arrested late Thursday night and not even be recognized by the courts until the following Monday.
The point is, you could be waiting in jail for quite a while before seeing a judge if you’re arrested during the holiday season. Processing time itself, right after you’ve been arrested, can also be delayed. Statistically, more people commit crimes around the holidays, which causes a backlog of cases. Additionally, more police personnel take vacation time around the holidays, especially the seasoned employees. This means that not only are there less people working, but there are also less experienced people working around the holidays.
Get Out of Jail Quickly and Efficiently
The holidays are a stressful time. Getting arrested around the holidays makes this an even more stressful time. You or your loved one needs to get out of jail as soon as they can in order to get a lawyer and get back to their family time. You need a good bail bonds company on your side to help you be informed and get you out of jail fast.
While a careful evaluation needs to be done before you choose a bail bonds company at any time during the year, the holiday season is especially important. You need to make sure that your choice has specific holiday provisions that work in your favor. These include:
- Holiday hours with competent employees answering the phones.
- A long history of serving your area. This means that they know how the holidays will affect local jails and judges.
- Full capacity to handle the influx of bail requests during the holidays. You should look for a bigger, more established bail bonds company that can handle not only the workload of, but the amount of money being loaned out in bonds during the holidays.
Mercy Bail Bonds, serving a variety of counties around Florida, has the experience to handle the holidays. If you’ve found yourself in need of a bail bondsman, consider Mercy Bail Bonds. We have 24/7 service and are open through the holidays. Contact us at (727) 856-7775 or learn more about us here.