Are bail bonds public records?

I have to admit, sometimes the questions people search for about bail bonds surprise me. One question I’m not entirely sure why people need to know the answer to is whether or not bail bonds are public record.

Maybe you’re looking for a job and are wondering what types of records are out there. Maybe you have a job, and are worried your current employer may find out you’re out on bond.

Bail bonds are part of the public record. A bail bond is attached to a criminal case, and all of that information is public. Now, in Oklahoma that works in different ways depending on what county you’re looking at.

In some smaller counties in Oklahoma, the documents will be put online on OSCN.net. In counties like Cleveland County, you can simply go online and click on the bail bonds documents to see them.

Oklahoma County does not make it quite that easy. They don’t put the documents online. You have to go down to the court clerk and request specific paperwork. You have to know what to ask for, and you have to pay a small fee for that.

Once you get there, you can use their computers to look at it, or you can request paper copies. But you do actually have to go to the court clerk.

Now, if you look up the criminal records on OSCN.net, you can find some of the information. You can see the bondsman’s name, the power of attorney number, the insurance company that insures the bond, and the amount. But if you actually want to see the form we fill out to write a bond, you have to go to the court clerk.

The reason this question is a little odd to me is because a bond is always attached to a criminal case, and you can see online if someone has a criminal case. And if they’ve bonded out, you can even get their bondsman’s name.

In general, people tend to care more about the criminal record than they do the bail bond paperwork. But if they really want the paperwork, it is public record in Oklahoma.