Frequently Asked Questions
I have a loved one in custody at Lancaster County Prison. Can you bail them out?
Please send us an email, or fill out this form.
What is bail and how does it work?
There are a number of different types of bail. We are talking about cash bail. When a judge sets cash bail, that person will be committed to jail. Here’s an example using $10,000.00
Someone with $10K can purchase their own freedom by paying that money to the court. That person would get their money back at the end of the case.
Someone without 10K has two options:
1) Sit in jail until their case is disposed of or bail is modified which can be anywhere between weeks to months and sometimes years, or
2) Pay a bail bondsman (if they can afford to). To be competitive, many bail bondsmen will charge between 3 and 5% of the amount of cash bail set. So in our example, an individual with 10K bail set, could pay a bail bond business anywhere between $300 to $500 to secure their freedom. This person would not get their money back at the end of their case. It is a fee for the bail bond business’ services.
Click here for more on how the process works in Lancaster County.
How do you decide who to bail out?
We assess each individual holistically. We do not make any decisions based on charges or criminal history alone. We take into account all factors in someone’s life.
I have a loved one at the Lancaster County Prison. We have the money but don’t know how to post bail.
If it is during regular business hours and the case is at the Magisterial District Court level, bail can be posted at the office of the Magisterial District Judge from which the charge originated. (You can find a list of MDJ courts and their contact information here). There is no fee for posting bail at the MDJ office during regular business hours.
If it is during regular business hours and the case is at the Court of Common Pleas level, bail can be posted at the Office of the Clerk of Courts located at 50 North Duke Street in Lancaster City. There is a fee of $16.50 for posing bail at the Clerk of Courts during regular business hours.
If it’s the weekend, a holiday, or after hours, bail can be posted at the Lancaster County Prison. Call ahead of time. The fees for posting bail at the jail are as follows:
$25.00 if the case is at the MDJ level
$41.00 if the case is at the Court of Common Pleas level.
On the 31st day after a court case is closed, bail is returned, minus an additional fee as follows:
For $100 bail it’s a $4.90 fee (4.9%)
For $500 it’s a $24.50 fee (4.9%)
For $750 it’s a $36.75 fee (4.9%)
For $1,000.00 it’s a $39.00 fee (3.9%)
For $2,500.00 it’s a $73 fee (2.9%)
For $5,000.00 it’s a $113 fee (2.2%)
Will I lose my money if I post my loved one’s bail?
The only way a third-party surety (this means YOU!) will lose the money they post on someone else’s behalf is if the person does not show up to court and stays gone for over 2 years. Otherwise, third-party sureties are entitled to the return of the bail money, or a portion thereof, depending on how long the person has been gone.
Why is cash bail problematic?
Putting it bluntly, cash bail is an abusive system that criminalizes poverty and takes a disproportionate toll on BIPOC individuals. It doesn’t matter whether you are guilty or innocent -- if you cannot afford to post your bail, you will stay in jail.
Not only is this unfair, but it can also have disastrous effects on people’s lives and on our community as a whole. Spending even just a few days in jail can mean losing a job, housing, and custody of children and is correlated with an increased risk of recidivism.
The greatest irony of all is that our pretrial system is making our communities more dangerous — not safer.
How does a revolving bail fund work?
We post the full amount of an individual’s bail. When a case is closed, the bail money is returned by the court, paid back into our fund, and recycled to help additional people. This means that the same donation can be used over and over, creating a massive force multiplier.
How is a Bail Fund different from a Bail Bondsman?
The bail bond industry is an insurance-producing industry. Bail bondsmen do NOT post cash for your cash bail. They write insurance-backed IOUs to the court to secure someone’s release, promising to pay the bail money IF that person does not return to court as required. They are a for-profit business and there is no cap on the amount of money they can charge you or your family in exchange for their service.
Bail funds provide a sadly necessary intervention by raising and posting cash for your cash bail. This is done for free. When you go to court, we get the money back and can use it over and over again.
Have a question not found here? Contact us.
“Improperly setting bail beyond the financial reach of [a person] or otherwise erring in a decision can result in wrongful pretrial detention, with particularly unfortunate consequences if the charges are later dropped or an arrestee is found not guilty.”
— Philadelphia Bail Fund v. Arraignment Court Magistrate Judges, et al., 440 F. Supp. 3d 415, 424 (E.D. Pa 2020).
How Bail Hearings Work
Bail is initially set at “preliminary arraignment” — the first court hearing following the filing of charges. This is usually done by a Magisterial District Judge (MDJ).
There are 19 magisterial districts in Lancaster County. Contact info for the different offices can be found here.
There are two ways to end up before a judge for preliminary arraignment:
in handcuffs or via video from the jail following an arrest
appearing freely at your scheduled hearing following a summons
(In all cases charging felony offenses, it is mandatory under PA law that an arrest warrant is issued. In all other cases, it is up to the officer/MDJ whether to initiate the case via summons—where you get a letter in the mail informing you of your preliminary arraignment—or arrest).
There is no requirement that you be notified if a case filed against you results in an arrest warrant for your arrest.
If you are arrested, your preliminary arraignment must occur without “unnecessary delay.”
If you are arrested during business hours on a work day, you will be taken to the MDJ office in the district where the charges originated for your preliminary arraignment.
If you are arrested outside of business hours, you will be taken to the Lancaster County Prison to await your preliminary hearing by the MDJ on “night duty” shift that week.
Preliminary arraignments at the Lancaster County Prison occur 2x per day, every day (including weekends & holidays) as needed in the mornings (typically starting sometime between 6 and 8 a.m.) and in the evenings (typically starting sometime between 6 and 8 p.m.).
Preliminary arraignments at the jail occur over video with the MDJs in their homes or offices and the accused person detained at the Lancaster County Prison.
If secured (“cash”) bail is set, the jail staff will call one bail bond business for you. If you have the contact information of your loved one(s) memorized, you can provide it to the bail bond business who will contact your family/friend for money.
If unsecured or ROR bail is set, you will be released.
People being arraigned at the jail are not afforded an attorney. If cash bail is set and you cannot post it, you will sit for days to weeks before speaking with an attorney.
See “Court Watching” section below for information on how to watch preliminary arraignments at the Lancaster County Prison if you have a loved one who has been arrested and taken to the jail.
Court Watching
Magisterial District Courts are not “courts of record”. This means there are no transcripts made of preliminary arraignments and there are otherwise no publicly accessible records documenting the reasons behind a Magisterial District Judge’s decision to set cash bail.
Court watching preliminary arraignments is therefore the only way to get close to knowing why a particular judge set a particular bail.
Unfortunately, the public is denied meaningful access to preliminary arraignments that occur during business hours on work days: The ad hoc and decentralized manner in which these hearings are conducted means that it is impossible to know where or when they will occur.
Fortunately, we do have the ability to watch preliminary arraignments that occur at the Lancaster County Prison (process detailed above).
If you are interested in court watching:
1) email CentralArraignmentCourt@co.lancaster.pa.us and asked to be notified when preliminary arraignments are expected to begin that morning/evening. You will receive a response with the anticipated start time.
2) physically appear in the lobby of the Lancaster County Prison located at 625 East King Street in Lancaster City to observe. Court administration has hung a TV monitor in the lobby which broadcasts these hearings.
Anyone can do this on any day. You do not need to be affiliated with us or any one else. But please contact us if you would like company for your first court watching experience!
“Public scrutiny ‘fosters an appearance of fairness’ and ‘permits the public to participate in and serve as a check upon the judicial process.’” Globe Newspapers Co. v. Superior Court for Norfolk Cnty, 457 U.S. 596, 604-05 (1982).
“Public access to bail hearings is clearly guaranteed under the First Amendment.” Philadelphia Bail Fund v. Arraignment Court Magistrate Judges, et al., 440 F. Supp. 3d 415, 425 (E.D. Pa 2020).