10 Situations When You'll Need to Know About Bail Bonds in 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 other countries, bail could entail a set of restrictions and situations positioned on legal 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 fee of the bail set by the courtroom.
·The bail bond serves as surety that the defendant will appear for trial.
·Judges typically have wide latitude in setting bail quantities.
·Bail bondsmen typically cost 10% of the bail amount up front in return for his or her service and will cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
·The bail system is extensively seen as discriminatory to low-income defendant and contributing to the mass-incarceration of younger African-American males.
How a Bail Bond Works
A person who is charged with a crime is typically given a bail listening to earlier than a decide. The amount of the bail is on the choose's discretion. A decide may 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 danger.
Judges generally have huge latitude in setting bail quantities, and typical amounts differ 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 solely within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the amount of the bail is set, the defendant's selections are to stay in jail until the charges are resolved at trial, to rearrange for a bail bond, or to pay the bail amount in full until the case is resolved. Within the final instance, courts in some jurisdictions accept title to a house or other collateral of value in lieu of money.
Bail bondsmen, additionally called bail bond agents, present written agreements to felony courts to pay the bail in full if the defendants whose appearances they guarantee fail to look on their trial dates.
Bail bondsmen typically charge 10% of the bail amount up entrance in return for their service and may cost further fees. Some states have put a cap of eight% on the quantity charged.
The agent may require a statement of creditworthiness or could demand that the defendant flip over collateral in the type of property or securities. Bail bondsmen usually accept most property of worth, together with cars, jewellery, and homes as well as shares and bonds.
As soon as the bail Helpful site or bail bond is delivered, the defendant is released till trial.
The Disadvantages of the Bail Bond System
The bail bond system has grow to be part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, particularly of young African-American men, 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 10% cash price and the rest 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. as a result of they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's services.
4 states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and instead require a ten% deposit on the bail amount to be lodged with the court. In 2018, California voted to remove cash bail necessities from its courtroom system.