The Best Advice You Could Ever Get About Bail Bonds downtown LA
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a prison defendant to seem for trial or pay a sum of cash set by the courtroom. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who prices the defendant a payment in return for guaranteeing the payment. The bail bond is a type of surety bond.
The commercial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines. In different nations, bail might entail a set of restrictions and circumstances placed on criminal defendants in return for his or her launch till their trial dates.
Key Takeaways
·A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full cost of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges typically have huge latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen usually charge 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and will cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is broadly seen as discriminatory to low-income 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 typically given a bail hearing earlier than a decide. The amount of the bail is at the judge's discretion. A choose might deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical degree if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears prone to be a flight threat.
Judges usually have extensive latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical quantities fluctuate by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor might see bail set at $500. Felony crime expenses have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or extra not unusual.
The business bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the amount of the bail is set, the defendant's choices are to stay in jail till the charges are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full till the case is resolved. In the final instance, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or other collateral of value in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, also called bail bond brokers, present written agreements to felony courts Additional resources to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to look on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen usually charge 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for their service and may cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The agent might also require a press release of creditworthiness or may demand that the defendant flip over collateral within the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally settle for most property of value, including vehicles, 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 into part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American males, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is considered by many even within the legal profession to be discriminatory, because it requires low-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape collectively a 10% cash charge and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even before they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 persons are being held in jails in the U.S. because they can not afford bail or a bail bondsman's providers.
Four states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and instead require a ten% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to eradicate money bail requirements from its court docket system.