10 Things We All Hate About Bail Bonds Los Angeles county
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 expenses the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the payment. The bail bond is a type of surety bond.
The industrial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines. In other nations, bail could entail a set of restrictions and conditions 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 courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will seem for trial.
·Judges typically have extensive latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail quantity up front in return for their service and will cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is extensively considered as discriminatory to low-income defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of young African-American males.
How a Bail Bond Works
An individual who is charged with a crime is often given a bail listening to before a decide. The amount of the bail is at the choose's discretion. A decide might deny bail altogether or set it at an astronomical level if the defendant is charged with a violent crime or seems prone to be a flight danger.
Judges usually 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 excessive bail, with $20,000 or more not uncommon.
The commercial bail bond system exists only within the United States and the Philippines.
Once the amount of the bail is set, the defendant's selections are to remain in jail until the charges are resolved at trial, to rearrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail quantity in full until the case is resolved. In the final occasion, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a house or different collateral of value in lieu of cash.
Bail bondsmen, also referred to as bail bond agents, present 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 charge additional charges. Some states have put a cap of 8% on the quantity charged.
The agent may additionally 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, jewellery, and houses as well as stocks and bonds.
Once the bail or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is launched till trial.
The Disadvantages of Additional info the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has change into a part of the bigger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American males, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is considered by many even within the authorized profession to be discriminatory, because it requires low-revenue defendants to stay in jail or scrape collectively a ten% cash price 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 in the U.S. because they can not 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 amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to eliminate cash bail requirements from its court docket system.