12 Helpful Tips For Doing Bail Bonds Beverly Hills
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a felony defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of cash set by the court. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who fees the defendant a fee in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a type of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In different nations, bail could entail a set of restrictions and circumstances positioned on criminal defendants in return for his or her release until 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 court.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges typically have large latitude in setting bail amounts.
·Bail bondsmen usually cost 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for his or her service and may cost additional fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is extensively viewed as discriminatory to low-revenue defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who's charged with a crime is usually given a bail listening to 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 likely to be a flight danger.
Judges typically have broad latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical quantities vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor might see bail set at $500. Felony crime fees have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The industrial bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines.
Once the quantity of the bail is ready, the defendant's choices are to remain in jail till the costs are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full till the case is resolved. Within the last instance, courts Visit this page in some jurisdictions accept title to a house or different collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, additionally known as bail bond agents, 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 generally charge 10% of the bail quantity up entrance in return for his or her service and may charge further charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
The agent may additionally require an announcement 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 automobiles, jewelry, and homes in addition to shares 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 turn into a part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of younger African-American men, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is considered by many even within the authorized occupation to be discriminatory, because it requires low-income defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a 10% cash 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. because they cannot afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
Four states including Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as an alternative 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.