Bail Bonding in Walhalla South Carolina

The South Carolina Legislature recently passed a law requiring bail bondsmen to charge 10% of the face amount of the bond. This was due to systemic undercutting by a contingent of the bail bond industry that got away with posting $100,000 bonds for as little as $25.

Drolet Bail Bonds has never done that, and we follow the law with each bond posted. Undercutting the industry is predatory and trashy, and how we carry ourselves as bondsmen matters. That’s why we have a no drugs, no alcohol policy for our agents.

Our bondsmen are 100% sober, which seems rare considering the activities of others in the industry. While people in jail are usually there for a reason, we are to set an example for the people we bond out instead of partaking in the same behavior that got them locked up in the first place. If your bondsman can’t pass a drug test, you shouldn’t use them!

The answer is: A good bondsman has a code of ethics that they follow. How we carry ourselves as bondsmen matters. We hold tremendous power as bail agents in South Carolina; we don’t need a warrant to arrest a defendant if they decide to jump bail. We can also cross state lines to return them to jail. In order to respect that power and not abuse it, we have a no drugs, no alcohol policy for our agents.

Our bondsmen are 100% sober. The reason we carry ourselves to that standard and feel the need to say it is because it’s an open secret that a small segment of other bondsmen engage in illegal activity. These irresponsible, reckless people give bail bondsmen a bad name, which isn’t fair to those of us who conduct business in an honorable way.

Part of our job is to set an example for the people we bond out instead of partaking in the same behavior that got them locked up in the first place. If you don’t think your bondsman can pass a drug test, you shouldn’t use them! They have no business posting bonds.

Once we post the bond, release time can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour. In my experience, most defendants are released from custody within 20 minutes of me leaving the jail. Remember, the speed of release is out of our control once we post the bond. If you’ve been waiting for your loved one for some time, it’s best to call the jail at 864-638-4228.

If we agree to post your bond, we’ll need some basic details to start the application on our end. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Name + Date of Birth
• Length of residency in Oconee County, or length in the state if from out-of-county
• Phone numbers, including questions about how often the defendant changes their number
• Current and past addresses. If the mailing address is different from where they lay their head down at night, we want to know both!
• A list of the defendant’s closest associates, including family and friends
• Your basic info as co-signer and relationship with the defendant. How long have you known them? 

No, it is not. We don’t work for free! The premium you pay to us is for the service we provide in bonding out your family member or friend. Once the bond is posted, the premium is fully earned. It works the same way regardless of the bail bond company you use, and any surety bond application you sign states the premium is nonrefundable at this point.

We take on tremendous risk with every bond we write. To state it plainly, if a defendant misses court, we may have to hire a bounty hunter to track down the defendant and return them to jail. Furthermore, the 10ᵗʰ Circuit Solicitor’s Office demands us to pay 50% of the face amount of the bond if we cannot locate the defendant within the 111-day grace period. We deserve to be compensated for this risk.