Upon arrest anywhere in the state of North Carolina, a person must be processed at the local county jail. In order to be released from jail, several steps must occur, including being booked and posting bail. If your arrest is for a simple charge, the bail can be set quickly via a bail bond schedule which shows bail amounts for common misdemeanors, however the judge may need to be involved in setting the bail amount when it comes to larger, more violent offenses, which typically takes longer to process. Once your bail amount is set, it's important to know your bail options so you can better understand how bail bonds work in North Carolina. Before using a bail bondsman, you should know all bail options that exist in North Carolina in order to be released from jail. Bail bondsmen will fall under surety, or bail bonds, which will cost you a small percentage of the total bail amount. To avoid the fee, you have 3 other options in North Carolina. You can 1) pay in cash but you have to pay the entire bail amount; 2) the jail can release you on Own Recognizance (OR) which is typically used on smaller crimes committed and the judge finds you low risk and has strong confidence that you will show up to court; or 3) you can be released from jail in North Carolina by using a Property Bond. You will need personal property or land/home value that's equal or greater than the bail amount. If you don't show up to court or violate your release terms, the North Carolina court will issue a warrant for your arrest and can take over your property. When the bail bond amount is decided, a bail bond agent can post the bail bond at the local jail. Now the release process starts and typically can take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours to be completed. Using the service of a bail bondsman typically requires collateral and someone to co-sign on the bail bond. We highly recommend reading of our complete guide on how bail bonds work to learn more about the bail process. If you are attempting to bail someone out from another state, you can talk with your local bondsman - that's the bondman in your county, and not the state where the person is detained.