Does Your Bail Bonds in Los Angeles county Pass The Test? 7 Things You Can Improve On Today
What Is a Bail Bond?
A bail bond is an agreement by a legal defendant to appear for trial or pay a sum of money set by the court docket. The bail bond is cosigned by a bail bondsman, who expenses the defendant a price in return for guaranteeing the fee. The bail bond is a kind of surety bond.
The business bail bond system exists only in the United States and the Philippines. In different international locations, bail might entail a set of restrictions and circumstances placed on criminal defendants in return for their 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 vast 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 additional 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 high bail, with $20,000 or extra not uncommon.
The business bail bond system exists solely within the United States and the Philippines.
As soon as the amount of the bail is about, the defendant's decisions are to stay in jail till the charges 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 instance, 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 brokers, present 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 charges. Some states have Find more info put a cap of 8% on the quantity charged.
The agent may additionally require a press release of creditworthiness or might demand that the defendant turn over collateral in the form of property or securities. Bail bondsmen typically settle for most property of value, together with vehicles, jewelry, and houses in addition to shares and bonds.
As soon as 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 change into part of the larger debate over mass incarceration, especially of young African-American men, within the U.S.
The bail bond system is taken into account by many even within the legal profession to be discriminatory, as it requires low-earnings defendants to remain in jail or scrape collectively a ten% money 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. as a result of they can't afford bail or a bail bondsman's providers.
Four states together with Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have outlawed bail bondsmen and as a substitute require a ten% deposit on the bail quantity to be lodged with the court docket. In 2018, California voted to eradicate money bail necessities from its courtroom system.