17 Reasons Why You Should Ignore LA Bail Bonds
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a felony 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 charges the defendant a charge in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a kind of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In different countries, bail might entail a set of restrictions and situations placed on legal defendants in return for his or her 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 typically have vast latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and may charge extra fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is widely seen as discriminatory to low-earnings defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
An individual who's charged with a crime is usually given a bail listening to before a decide. The quantity of the bail is on the judge's discretion. A decide could deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical stage if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears more likely to be a flight threat.
Judges typically have large latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical amounts differ by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor may see bail set at $500. Felony crime charges have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or extra not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the amount of the bail is ready, the defendant's selections are to remain in jail until the costs are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full till the case is resolved. Within the last instance, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a house or different collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also referred to as bail bond brokers, present written agreements to criminal courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to look on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for his or her service and may charge further charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent can also require a press release of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant flip over collateral within the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of value, including automobiles, jewelry, and homes in addition to shares 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 grow to be a part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American men, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even within the authorized occupation to be discriminatory, as it requires low-income defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a ten% money price and the remainder of the bail-in collateral—even earlier than they stand trial for any crime. Additional reading PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 people are being held in jails in the U.S. because they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's providers.
4 states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as a substitute require a ten% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to get rid of cash bail requirements from its courtroom system.