Responsible for a Los Angeles County Bail Bonds Budget? 12 Top Notch Ways to Spend Your Money
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a felony defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of money set by the courtroom. 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 type of surety bond.
The commercial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In other countries, bail could entail a set of restrictions and conditions positioned on felony defendants in return for their launch 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 court docket.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges typically have wide latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and will charge additional fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is extensively seen 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's charged with against the law is often given a bail hearing before a decide. The quantity of the bail is on the choose's discretion. A choose may deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears more likely to be a flight danger.
Judges typically have broad latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical quantities vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor could see bail set at $500. Felony crime prices have correspondingly excessive bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The business bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines.
Once the amount of the bail is about, the defendant's selections are to stay in jail until 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 occasion, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or different collateral of worth in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also referred to as bail bond brokers, present written agreements to prison website courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to appear on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen usually cost 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for their service and may cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent can also require a press release of creditworthiness or might demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically accept most property of value, together with automobiles, jewelry, and houses as well as stocks 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, particularly of young African-American men, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is considered by many even in the legal profession to be discriminatory, as it requires low-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a 10% 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 persons are being held in jails within the U.S. as a result of they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
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 court docket. In 2018, California voted to eradicate money bail necessities from its court docket system.