Bail Bonds Los Angeles: It's Not as Difficult as You Think
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a prison 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 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 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.
·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 fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly considered 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 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 Website link correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or extra not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines.
Once the amount of the bail is ready, the defendant's decisions 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 till the case is resolved. Within the last occasion, courts in some jurisdictions settle for title to a house or other collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also called bail bond brokers, provide written agreements to criminal courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they assure fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen generally charge 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for their service and will charge additional charges. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
The agent may also require an announcement of creditworthiness or might demand that the defendant turn over collateral within the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally settle for most property of worth, 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 within the authorized occupation to be discriminatory, because it requires low-earnings defendants to stay in jail or scrape collectively 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 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 together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as an alternative require a 10% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the courtroom. In 2018, California voted to remove cash bail necessities from its courtroom system.