14 Questions You Might Be Afraid to Ask About Bail Bonds Los Angeles county
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a criminal defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who prices the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a kind of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In other international locations, bail could entail a set of restrictions and situations positioned on felony defendants in return for their release till their trial dates.
Key Takeaways
·A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full fee of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges typically have broad latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for his or her service and should charge additional fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is extensively 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 is charged with a crime is typically given a bail listening to earlier than a decide. The amount of the bail is at the choose's discretion. A decide might deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or appears prone to be a flight danger.
Judges usually have broad 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 excessive 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 set, the defendant's selections are to stay in jail until the charges are resolved at trial, to rearrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full until the case is resolved. In the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or different collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, additionally referred to as bail bond agents, provide written agreements to prison courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they Click here for more info assure fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for his or her service and will charge additional charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
The agent can also require an announcement of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen usually accept most property of worth, together with cars, jewelry, and homes as well as stocks and bonds.
As soon as 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 change into a part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of younger African-American men, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even in the authorized occupation to be discriminatory, as it requires low-income defendants to remain in jail or scrape together a 10% money payment and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even earlier than they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 individuals are being held in jails in the U.S. as a result of they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
4 states including 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 docket. In 2018, California voted to remove cash bail necessities from its courtroom system.