Volume is a Bail Bond What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a criminal defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who charges the defendant a fee in return for guaranteeing the payment.
The bail bond is a type of surety bond..:
The commercial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In other countries, bail may entail a set of restrictions and conditions placed on criminal defendants in return for their release until their trial dates..
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full payment of the bail set by the court.
The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
Judges typically have wide latitude in setting bail amounts.
Bail bondsmen generally charge 10% of the bail amount up front in return for their service and may charge additional fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The bail system is widely viewed as discriminatory to low-income defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works A person who is charged with a crime is typically given a bail hearing before a judge. The amount of the bail is at the judge's discretion. A judge may deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears likely to be a flight risk. Judges generally have wide latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical amounts vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor could see bail set at $500. Felony crime charges have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines.
Once the amount of the bail is set, the defendant's choices are to remain in jail until the charges are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is resolved. In the last instance, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or other collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also called bail bond agents, provide written agreements to criminal courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to appear on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen generally charge 10% of the bail amount up front in return for their service and may charge additional fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The agent may also require a statement of creditworthiness or may demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally accept most property of value, including cars, jewelry, and houses as well as stocks and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is released until trial..
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System The bail bond system has become part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American men, in the U.S. The bail bond system is considered by many even in the legal profession to be discriminatory, as it requires low-income defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a 10% cash fee and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even before they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 people are being held in jails in the U.S. because they cannot afford bail or a bail bondsman's services. Four states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and instead require a 10% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to eliminate cash bail requirements from its court system..
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Arrests, Jail, Bail and the Criminal Justice System
Bail is a term that describes the release of a criminal defendant or arrestee after an arrest prior to the end of the criminal case. Bail can – but does not always – involve the defendant (or someone on the defendant’s behalf) paying money to a court. The money ensures that the defendant returns to court for the remainder of the criminal justice process. Therefore, bail is not a punishment given prior to a person being found guilty of any crime, but a way to ensure that criminal defendants return to court without the necessity of keeping them in custody the entire time.
Bail can play an important role in the criminal justice process, as it serves to both limit the amount of jail space needed, and ensure that people who are free while their cases are ongoing will return to court. People can be released on bail at almost any stage in the criminal justice process, such as immediately after an arrest, or even after a court has issued a sentence.
In general, any time someone is arrested there will be three possible outcomes: the arrestee is released, the arrestee is charged and released on bail, or the arrestee is charged and remains in custody until the case comes to an end. Bail is one way people can be released from jail prior to a court determining guilt.:
Arrests
When police or law enforcement officers arrest people, they physically take the arrestees into custody. People under arrest are typically taken by police into custody, placed into a police vehicle, and then transferred to a jail or criminal processing facility for an administrative process often referred to as “booking. ” Sometimes the police will release arrestees without filing charges, but if charges are filed, the arrestee will have to remain in custody until released on bail, until a court renders a judgment, or until the case is otherwise resolved.
Booking
Booking is the administrative process that follows an arrest. During this process, the police perform a series of tasks, such as taking the arrestee’s photo, recording personal information such as name, date of birth, and age, taking fingerprints, taking any physical possessions the arrestee has and placing them into a storage facility, searching for any warrants, performing a health evaluation, and placing the arrestee in a detainment holding area.
Post-Arrest Custody, Pretrial Release
After the police have arrested and booked someone, one of three things will typically happen: First, the police can release the defendant with a written notice to appear at court. Second, the police can release the defendant only after he or she pays the appropriate bail amount. Third, the police can keep the defendant in custody until a court holds a bail hearing.
Bail Schedules Bail schedules are lists of bail amount that apply to individual crimes in any jurisdiction. For example, a state’s bail schedule may set bail for the crime of disorderly conduct at $1,000, or set a $5,000 bail for burglary. States laws will determine not only what bail amounts are appropriate for each crime and whether police can release a defendant without requiring bail, but also whether defendants are allowed to post bail following booking or if they must wait for a bail hearing. They also typically allow judges significant latitude in increasing or decreasing bail when the court deems it appropriate. (Federal courts do not have bail schedules, and bail amounts are up to the discretion of the court.) For example, the State of California requires a bail hearing in all cases involving specific crimes, such as spousal battery, spousal rape, and making terrorist threats. In general, if state laws allow for it, a defendant can be released on bail immediately after booking as long as the defendant is able to pay the appropriate amount. If the law requires a bail hearing, the defendant will not be able to pay bail or otherwise be released until a court holds the hearing.
