The Worst Advice We've Ever Heard About Bail Bonds downtown LA

What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a criminal defendant to look for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who expenses the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the cost. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines. In different international locations, bail may entail a set of restrictions and situations placed on legal defendants in return for their release till 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 courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges usually have extensive latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen usually cost 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for his or her service and may cost additional charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly viewed as discriminatory to low-earnings defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American males.
How a Bail Bond Works
An individual who's charged with a criminal offense is often given a bail hearing before a choose. The quantity of the bail is at the decide's discretion. A choose may deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical degree if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or seems prone to be a flight risk.
Judges typically have broad latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical quantities vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor could see bail set at $500. Felony crime expenses have correspondingly excessive bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The business bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the quantity of the bail is ready, the defendant's choices are to remain in jail till the costs are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full till the case is resolved. Within the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or different collateral of worth in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also referred to as bail bond agents, provide written agreements to felony courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they assure fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for their service and will cost extra charges. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The agent might also require a statement of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of worth, including cars, jewelry, and houses in addition to stocks and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is launched till trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has turn out to be part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of younger African-American men, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even in the legal profession to be discriminatory, as it requires low-earnings 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. as a result of they can not Go to this site afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
Four states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as an alternative require a 10% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the court docket. In 2018, California voted to get rid of cash bail necessities from its court docket system.