The 13 Best Pinterest Boards for Learning About Bail Bonds in Los Angeles
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a legal defendant to seem for trial or pay a sum of money set by the courtroom. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who expenses the defendant a payment in return for guaranteeing the payment. The bail bond is a type of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines. In different nations, bail may entail a set of restrictions and conditions placed on prison 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 payment of the bail set by the court.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges sometimes have large latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for their service and may cost extra charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is widely viewed as discriminatory to low-earnings defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who is charged with against the law is usually given a bail hearing before a choose. The quantity of the bail is on the judge's discretion. A judge could deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical degree if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears likely to be a flight threat.
Judges usually have extensive latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical quantities range by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor might see bail set at $500. Felony crime costs 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.
Once the amount of the bail is ready, the defendant's selections are to remain in jail until the costs are resolved at trial, to rearrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is resolved. Within the last instance, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a house or other collateral of value in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, also called bail bond brokers, present written agreements to felony courts 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 front in return for their service and may cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent may additionally require a statement 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 until trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has turn out to be a part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, especially of younger African-American men, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even in the legal occupation to be discriminatory, as it requires low-earnings defendants to remain in Click for more info jail or scrape together a ten% cash fee and the remainder 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 within the U.S. as a result of they cannot afford bail or a bail bondsman's companies.
Four states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as an alternative require a 10% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court docket. In 2018, California voted to get rid of cash bail necessities from its court system.