17 Reasons Why You Should Ignore LA Bail Bonds
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a criminal 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 charges the defendant a charge in return for guaranteeing the payment. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines. In other international locations, bail may entail a set of restrictions and situations placed on prison 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 payment of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges usually have broad latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen usually cost 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for their service and will charge further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly seen as discriminatory to low-income defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who is charged with a criminal offense is usually given a bail listening to earlier than a choose. The quantity of the bail is at the decide's discretion. A judge could deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or seems more likely to be a flight risk.
Judges typically have wide latitude in setting bail amounts, and typical amounts differ by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor might see bail set at $500. Felony crime expenses have correspondingly high bail, with $20,000 or more not unusual.
The commercial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the amount of the bail is about, the defendant's decisions are to remain in jail till the fees 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 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 guarantee fail to seem on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen usually cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and should cost further charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
The agent can 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 cars, jewelry, and houses in addition to shares and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is launched till trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has turn into part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, especially of younger African-American males, in the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even within the legal occupation to be discriminatory, because 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 people are being held in jails within the U.S. as a result of here they cannot afford bail or a bail bondsman's companies.
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 courtroom. In 2018, California voted to get rid of money bail requirements from its court system.