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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 fee. The bail bond is a kind of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines. In other nations, bail could entail a set of restrictions and circumstances positioned on criminal defendants in return for his or her launch until 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 court docket.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges sometimes have wide latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for his or her service and should cost additional fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is widely seen 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 is charged with a criminal offense is often given a bail hearing before a decide. 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 usually have wide latitude in setting bail amounts, 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 unusual.
The commercial 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 decisions 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 last occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a home or other collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, additionally known as bail bond brokers, provide written agreements to felony courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they assure fail to look on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and should cost extra fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The agent might also require a statement of creditworthiness or may demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of value, including cars, jewelry, and homes in addition to shares and bonds.
As soon as 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 bigger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of younger African-American males, 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-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape collectively a ten% money charge and the remainder of the bail-in collateral—even earlier than 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 can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's Visit this link 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 quantity to be lodged with the courtroom. In 2018, California voted to eliminate cash bail requirements from its court system.