Bail is a legal process in which criminals pay a certain amount to the court in whose jurisdiction they are being tried, in order to obtain release from police custody. Bail bond are given by prisoners to insure their appearance in the court. Bail bondsman is a person who writes a bail bond on behalf of a defendant. Repaying bail bonds means a certain percentage of the amount given by a defendant to the court to obtain release from police custody has to be paid to the bondsman. It is hard for some defendants to pay the charges of bondsman.

Bail bondsmen in the US typically charge defendants, approximately 10% of the bond as a non-refundable fee. For instance, if the amount of bail is US$10,000 then the fee payable to the bondsman is US$1000. If a defendant fails to appear in the court on the date given by the court, then the bondsman is liable to pay the full amount of bail. For this reason, a bondsman insists on a collateral from the defendant in the form of jewelry, securities, or written guaranties from the defendant’s friends or relatives. This is necessary so that the bondsman can cover the risk of paying the full bail amount in the event of the defendant failing to appear in the court. A bondsman typically assesses the risk involved in guaranteeing a defendant’s appearance in court and refuses to post the defendant’s bail if he or she is considered to be a poor risk. Defendants who do not have any criminal records are generally considered as good risks.

Many states in the US such as Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin have banned the practice of bail bonds. Bail bonds issued by private companies have more stringent terms attached to it. For instance, if a client, whose showing up in the courts is guaranteed by a bail bondsman, fails to appear in the court, then, the bail bondsman is responsible for paying the entire bail amount to the court. This makes bail bondsman cautious in determining the risks involved before issuing a bail guarantee.

Immediate Bail Bonds

Bail is a legal process in which criminals pay a certain amount to the court to obtain release from police custody. A bail bond is by prisoners to insure their appearance in the court. Bail bondsmen are individuals or agencies that write a bail bond on behalf of a defendant. In order to release from police custody, there are certain procedures that a defendant’s friends, relatives or attorneys have to follow. They have to submit some documents to the court and police officials.

Immediate bail bonds refer to bonds in which the procedures involved in getting out on bail are simplified. The procedures involved in furnishing bail bonds and securing immediate release are as follows. The bondsman or defendant or defendant’s friends or relatives have to post the bail in the form of a bail bond to the court. This involves paying a certain bail amount in order to release the defendant from police custody. The court clerk issues a bail ticket and dispatches it to the police station to inform them that the bail conditions have been met. On receiving this document, the police release the defendant from its custody. The time required to release a defendant from police custody after the bail formalities are completed is one hour for local police stations and 2-10 hours for others. The larger the numbers of prisoners in a certain jail, the longer it would take to release a defendant on bail from police custody. After completing all the formalities, police officials release defendants based on some conditions that they have to follow during the period of their release.

To release a defendant from police custody is the main objective of a bail bondsman. An efficient bondsman with sufficient experience of working with the local courts and the police can arrange for the immediate release of clients on bail.

• 

  By Bail Bonds Process, January 27, 2011 @ 7:08 am

  You might be thinking, this doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. Wrong. It basically ends up being a tax on the poor, and keeps many nonviolent offenders in jail.

Other Links to this Post