10 Things We All Hate About Bail Bonds Los Angeles county
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. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who costs the defendant a fee in return for guaranteeing the payment. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines. In different nations, bail might entail a set of restrictions and circumstances placed on criminal defendants in return for his or her launch till their trial dates.
Key Takeaways
·A bail bond cosigned by a bail bondsmen is posted by a defendant in lieu of full cost of the bail set by the court.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges usually have extensive latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen usually charge 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for his or her service and should charge extra charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is widely considered as discriminatory to low-earnings defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American men.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who's charged with against the law is usually given a bail hearing before a choose. The quantity of the bail is at the judge's discretion. A choose 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 correspondingly excessive bail, with $20,000 or extra not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines.
Once the quantity of the bail is about, the defendant's choices are to stay in jail till the fees are resolved at trial, to arrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full till the case is resolved. In the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a home or different collateral of worth 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 assure fail to appear on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and should charge extra fees. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the quantity charged.
The agent might also require a press release of creditworthiness or may demand that the defendant flip over collateral within the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of value, together with automobiles, jewelry, and homes in addition to stocks and bonds.
As soon as 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 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 career to be discriminatory, as it requires low-earnings defendants to stay in jail or scrape together a ten% cash fee and the remainder of the bail-in collateral—even before 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 can not afford bail or Visit this site 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 court. In 2018, California voted to eradicate money bail requirements from its court docket system.