20 Trailblazers Leading the Way in Bail Bonds in Los Angeles California
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 court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who costs the defendant a charge in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines. In other countries, bail may entail a set of restrictions and situations placed on legal defendants in return for their release 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 docket.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges typically have extensive latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen generally cost 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for their service and will cost additional fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly seen as discriminatory to low-revenue 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 listening to earlier than a choose. The amount of the bail is at the decide's discretion. A choose 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 large latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical quantities differ by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor could see bail set at $500. Felony crime charges have correspondingly excessive bail, with $20,000 or extra not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines.
Once the quantity of the bail is set, the defendant's choices are to stay in jail till the costs are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is resolved. In the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a home or other collateral of worth in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, additionally known as bail bond brokers, present written agreements to prison courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to appear on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen usually charge 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return Website link for his or her service and will 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 flip over collateral within the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen usually accept most property of worth, including cars, jewellery, and houses as well as shares and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is released till 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 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-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 providers.
Four states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as a substitute 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 requirements from its courtroom system.