10 Things Everyone Hates About Los Angeles Bail Bonds
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an settlement by a criminal defendant to seem for trial or pay a sum of money set by the courtroom. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who prices the defendant a payment in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a sort of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists solely in the United States and the Philippines. In different international locations, bail might entail a set of restrictions and situations placed on legal defendants in return for his or her release 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 docket.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges sometimes have wide 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 charges. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the amount charged.
·The bail system is broadly 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 is charged with a criminal offense is usually given a bail hearing before a choose. The amount 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 seems prone to be a flight threat.
Judges generally have extensive latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical quantities vary by jurisdiction. A defendant charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor could see bail set at $500. Felony crime prices have correspondingly excessive bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The industrial bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines.
Once the quantity of the bail is ready, 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. In the last instance, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a house or different collateral of worth in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, additionally called bail bond agents, provide written agreements to felony courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to appear on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for their service and may charge extra charges. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent might also require a press release of creditworthiness or might demand that the defendant flip over collateral within the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen generally accept most property of worth, together with vehicles, jewelry, and houses Home page as well as stocks and bonds.
Once 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 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 within the authorized occupation to be discriminatory, because it requires low-earnings defendants to remain in jail or scrape collectively a ten% cash payment and the rest of the bail-in collateral—even before they stand trial for any crime. PrisonPolicy.org says that about 536,000 people are being held in jails in 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 instead require a 10% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the courtroom. In 2018, California voted to get rid of money bail requirements from its court system.