Hi, I'm Charlie Roadman, Austin criminal defense attorney. And today, we're going to talk about paying for the personal bond that you got when you got out of jail. Now, the personal bond is free from Travis County. However, they have this little amount that they want you to pay for it to be basically an administrative fee, I guess we could call it, for monitoring your bond. And we're going to talk about what that is. So this is what it looks like, and this is how it's typically stapled to your personal bond. A couple things I want to point out there. There's a bureau code down there on the middle left, 7270508. And that's when you pay this online, that's the code that tells them this is a Travis County personal bond fee.

And then that little PT number up there, which I've got blacked out, of course, this is someone else's case. And then you'll see there, the bond amounts. This person, it's $90. But most people, it's going to be $40. This person is $90 because there's an ignition interlock device part of it. Okay. So basics, what you need to know. The fee is going to be $20, $40, or 3% of the bond amount if you have an ignition interlock device requirement. You are supposed to pay within seven days of your release. But do not panic if you miss this deadline. There're really hardly any consequences of not paying this fee. You might get some nasty letters saying, "Hey, you owe us this fee," and stuff like that. I definitely recommend that you pay it. Just get it done with, and don't...

But if, at this point, you're watching this video and you realize you haven't paid it, and if it's even months and months and months later, there just aren't any consequences. It doesn't make your case worse. If you do have an ignition interlock device requirement, they will bug you a little bit more about it. But go ahead and pay it. And the yellow coupon tells you how to pay. Sometimes if we do a jail release, we have the coupon. You can just... And if somehow we didn't get it to you or you don't have it, just say, "Hey, can you send this to me?" We're happy to do that. But the main thing is you can pay online, which isn't...

You have to read it carefully to find it, the certifiedpayments.net, and then that bureau code, which, again, is on the coupon. You put that in. So let me show you what that looks like. So here's the website. You put that bureau code right in there, 7270508. And then you'll see it says, "Hey, Travis County, Texas Pretrial Services Web." Yep. And then you just hit continue. And then you put in your payment amount. I put in here $40 and the PT number there and my name. And then I put a Visa, and it's a personal bond. Hit continue, and then it just starts asking you questions about who you are and how you're going to pay. And that's it. Okay. Good luck with that. If you have any questions, give us a call. Go ahead and pay your personal bond fee. Just get it over with.