Bail Bond

What Is a Bail Bond?

A bail bond is an agreement by a criminal litigant to show up for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who charges the litigant a fee in return for guaranteeing the payment.

The bail bond is a type of surety bond.

The commercial bail bond system exists just in the United States and the Philippines. In different countries, bail might involve a set of limitations and conditions put on criminal respondents in return for their release until their trial dates.

How a Bail Bond Works

A person who is charged with a crime is commonly given a bail hearing before a judge. The amount of the bail is at the judge's circumspection. A judge might deny bail through and through or set it at a cosmic level in the event that the litigant is charged with a brutal crime or shows up prone to be a flight risk.

Judges generally have wide scope in setting bail amounts, and regular amounts differ by jurisdiction. A litigant charged with a peaceful misdeed could see bail set at $500. Lawful offense crime charges have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more normal.

The commercial bail bond system exists just in the United States and the Philippines.

When the amount of the bail is set, the litigant's decisions are to remain in prison until the charges are settled at trial, to set up for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is settled. In the last instance, courts in certain jurisdictions acknowledge title to a home or other collateral of value in lieu of cash.

Bail bondsmen, additionally called bail bond agents, give written agreements to criminal courts to pay the bail in full on the off chance that the litigants whose appearances they guarantee fail to show up on their trial dates.

Bail bondsmen generally charge 10% of the bail amount front and center in return for their service and may charge extra fees. A few states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.

The agent may likewise require a statement of creditworthiness or may demand that the litigant turn over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally acknowledge most property of value, including cars, jewelry, and houses as well as stocks and bonds.

When the bail or bail bond is delivered, the litigant is released until trial.

The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System

The bail bond system has become part of the bigger discussion over mass incarceration, particularly of youthful African-American men, in the U.S.

The bail bond system is viewed as by many even in the legal calling to be discriminatory, as it requires low-income litigants to remain in prison or figure out a 10% cash fee and the remainder of the bail-in collateral — even before they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org expresses that around 536,000 individuals are being held in correctional facilities in the U.S. since they can't manage the cost of bail or a bail bondsman's services.

Four states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have banned bail bondsmen and on second thought require a 10% deposit on the bail amount to be held up with the court. In 2018, California casted a ballot to eliminate cash bail requirements from its court system.

Highlights

• The bail bond fills in as surety that the respondent will show up for trial.
• Bail bondsmen generally charge 10% of the bail amount front and center in return for their service and may charge extra fees. A few states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
• A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a respondent in lieu of full payment of the bail set by the court.
• The bail system is widely seen as discriminatory to low-income respondent and contributing to the mass-incarceration of youthful African-American men.
• Judges ordinarily have wide scope in setting bail amounts.