Posted: 4/16/2013 5:58:36 PM EDT
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There's some articles in the paper about how defense attorney have been going behind the original judge's back that set the bail for a criminal and then getting it reduced.
Having never been caught doing anything that would land me in the clink, I have no personal experience with this whole bail thing. Is this how it works? 1) Judge sets an ammount, lets say $50,000 IF accused has 10% of that laying around in cash, $5000, he can post it at court clerks office and gets out of jail. If he appears for all his court cases, the court gives it back when he is done, right? Or you have to pay 10% of the 10% to a bail bondsman, $500. Does the bondsman have to give the court $5000, or does he just have an arranged deal with the court to guarantee you show up? If you pay the bondman $500, he just keeps in and you are SOL, right? |
| The court usually requires the full amount or a surety bond from a bail bondsman for the whole amount. Bail/bond is an insurance or guarantee that a person will appear in court. The court returns the money upon the person appearing or at the end of the case. Bail bondsmen make their money by charging you a fee, say 10%. If the bond is $5000 you put up collateral that the bondsman will accept valued at $5000 along with the fee amount. When the defendant appears in court and the bondsman gets his money back (or is released from owing the court the amount), he releases his lien from the collateral but keeps the fee. If you pay the bond yourself, you will need the full amount usually. That's my understanding of how it works, ymmv. |
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The court usually requires the full amount or a surety bond from a bail bondsman for the whole amount. Bail/bond is an insurance or guarantee that a person will appear in court. The court returns the money upon the person appearing or at the end of the case. Bail bondsmen make their money by charging you a fee, say 10%. If the bond is $5000 you put up collateral that the bondsman will accept valued at $5000 along with the fee amount. When the defendant appears in court and the bondsman gets his money back (or is released from owing the court the amount), he releases his lien from the collateral but keeps the fee. If you pay the bond yourself, you will need the full amount usually. That's my understanding of how it works, ymmv. Excellent summary. Each state may have different bail laws, so take that into consideration. The court doesn't care who pays the money, but wants the entire amount. The Bail Agent will pay for you, but will want a fee (10% but can vary) and collateral incase you flee. If you pay the bail yourself, you will get the entire amount back once the trail is over. |
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Where I work there a few forms of posting Bail An example would be $10k Bond / $5k Cash (In my experience Bond amounts are typically double the cash amount, although that is not always the case) They can pay $5k cash or a certified bank check for $5k (6-8 wks after the case is adjourned the person who posted bail will receive a check for the amount posted minus 3% processing fee) The Bond has to be signed by a judge, the bondsmen take 10% cash non-refundable and some form of collateral If the charges are drug sales or identity theft the judge will sometimes order a 520.30 sufficiency hearing to establish that the money came from a legitimate source |
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Any person who is entitled to release shall be released upon one or more of the following types of bail in the amount set by the court:
(1) The personal recognizance of the accused or an unsecured bail bond; (2) A bail bond secured by the deposit of ten percent of the amount of the bond in cash. Ninety percent of the deposit shall be returned upon compliance with all conditions of the bond; (3) A surety bond, a bond secured by real estate or securities as allowed by law, or the deposit of cash, at the option of the defendant. That's the rule in Ohio. A bail bondsmen will put up your bond with the court based on two things: money, and the defendant's agreement to be hunted down if he skips. |
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Even though bail terms differ from state to state, most of you guys have it mostly correct. I only mention this because there is lots of bad info out there about the bail industry due to TV, Hollyweird & that dog cheeseball.
I can charge up to 15% of the bond amount here and do...all day long. I rarely discount as its stupid to see who can work for the least amount of money. |
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VAries from state to state. Some states use 10% of bond at the jail. Other states license bonding agents. You give them a percentage, their insurance covers the rest. That money is non refundable. OR you can cash bond post all the money and once court is done you get it back.
Some states allow property bonds. You post real property worth at least 150%(in CO) of the bond in lieu of cash or a bondsman. Real property will be defined by the courts. Every JD I have been defines it as real estate. Courts hate them because it is a fuckton of paperwork and the clerks have to do it as opposed to those lowly deputies. Then there is the personal recognizance bond. You sign promising to show up to court. Also, bonds can have other strings besides showing up to court. |
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Usually Bond is set to assure your appearance in court for your trial process. Once Bond is posted, generally, you get it back when you show up for court....unless you're found guilty and the fine imposed exceeds the amount of your bond. Bail is 10% of the Bond amount...and you don't get it back. |
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1. You get caught doing something illegal.
2. You go to jail. 3. Turns out if you have money you can get out of jail before you go to jail for a long long time. 4. If you have money and get out of jail you can go back to your own country or another country if USA is your own country. 5. Grow a beard and drink Margaritas..... |
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Again, depends on the state and jurisdiction. In my jurisdiction, it is common that a surety (bondsman) will take 10%, but that number varies based upon assets. Some judge will still do "cash bonds," but the chief judge issued an order saying they cannot.
What is a cash bond in my jurisdiction? Say a judge wants a $50,000 bond. He will say $50,000 surety or a $5,000 cash bond. The jail will ignore the $50k and put down $5k as the bond. Defense attorneys with little ethics will then send a family member to a bondsman, tender $500, and get the client out on a $5,000 surety bond. This very reason (and those few bad apples) is why the chief judge says no "cash bonds." That said, if the judge sets a surety bond of $50,000, and the defendant can come up with $50,000, then he need not go through a bondsman. The fact that he's going to want that cash back at some point is the incentive for returning to his court dates. And in my jurisdiction, a good way to tell if a bond is cash or surety is to look at the last digit. We use county codes. So one county will end a surety bond in "3." So a $50,003 bond means that it is a surety bond. However, if it is written as $5,000, then you know the intent is for the bond to be a cash bond. Say the defendant is convicted or pleas to the crime. Say his bond (and he paid cash) was $503. Court costs for most misdemeanors here are $303. Let's say the judge in this case assesses no fine on top of the costs. So the defendant is assessed the court costs, but since he paid a cash bond, the $303 comes out of the $503, and the defendant gets a check for $200 from the jail. If in the above case the defendant had bonded out using a bondsman, the bondsman would keep his fee (whatever it may be), and the defendant pays court costs out of pocket either in a lump sum at some future date or in a payment plan. In terms of lowering a bond "behind the judge's back," that really depends upon the state's criminal rules. Here in Florida, there are well defined rules regarding which judge can alter a bond. All else being equal, generally, a bond is first set by the first appearance judge. In the rules, he has the authority to set bond or alter a bond set by arrest warrant (unless the warrant is a capias based upon the Defendant's failure to appear). The next judge that has the authority to alter that bond is the trial judge. In almost all cases, the only other judge that can then alter the bond is a judge sitting in the stead of the trial judge (a temporary substitute in the case of vacation or sickness or whatever) or the chief judge of the circuit. In Florida, you cannot simply walk around a courthouse looking for a judge that will set a bond you want. |
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(6-8 wks after the case is adjourned the person who posted bail will receive a check for the amount posted minus 3% processing fee) I love our government. What happens if the prosecution was a fuck up and you were acquitted? You still lose the 3% for the privilege? |
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(6-8 wks after the case is adjourned the person who posted bail will receive a check for the amount posted minus 3% processing fee) I love our government. What happens if the prosecution was a fuck up and you were acquitted? You still lose the 3% for the privilege? That amount was 10% in the IL country where I worked. If the prosecution was truly a fuck-up, or if you were acquitted, the judge could waive it and order the full amount returned. |
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If you are arrested sit a while. My nephew was arrested and the bail was $4500.00. Bail bondsman wanted $1700.00 ASAP. Told my brother to wait a day and try different bondsman. Another wanted like $900.00. Still told him to wait a day or two more because people are released all the time for over crowding. Sure enough my nephew was let out for over crowding.
So the idiot doesn't show up for court and was stopped and back in he went. This time he wasn't getting out for over crowding. We let him sit a week and I contacted a bondsman. His bond was more this time. This bondsman wanted $350.00. I was a little surprised by the amount quoted. Thought sure it was going to be a bait and switch. The bondsman said he could get the bond for two of the charges dropped due to over crowding. A few hours latter the nephew was out. I guess what I'm saying is not all bondsman charge the same and some are more willing put more effort and help. I've bailed a few others out and I've never encounter any bondsman like what you see on TV. I don't know what % skip out on bail, but I'd sure if they have to come looking for you they won't be so nice. But yeah some bondsman can and often can get the amount reduced, a lot. It's not always going behind another judges back. The original judge might not be available for a while and the bondsman sees another judge. Some are so good you can call them Santa Clause. |
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There's some articles in the paper about how defense attorney have been going behind the original judge's back that set the bail for a criminal and then getting it reduced. Having never been caught doing anything that would land me in the clink, I have no personal experience with this whole bail thing. Is this how it works? 1) Judge sets an ammount, lets say $50,000 IF accused has 10% of that laying around in cash, $5000, he can post it at court clerks office and gets out of jail. If he appears for all his court cases, the court gives it back when he is done, right? Or you have to pay 10% of the 10% to a bail bondsman, $500. Does the bondsman have to give the court $5000, or does he just have an arranged deal with the court to guarantee you show up? If you pay the bondman $500, he just keeps in and you are SOL, right? No the bondsman makes 5K as well, and you don't get it back. I was a bail bondsman for 9 years in SW MO. The bondsman gives the court a power of attorney document that guarantees the bond. As long as thee defendant goes to court until the case is disposed of, no money ever changes hands between the bonding company and court system. If you post a bond with the court, fines and costs will be deducted from the amount you posted. Around these parts, the court requires the full amount be posted, not 10%. |
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In Florida, you cannot simply walk around a courthouse looking for a judge that will set a bond you want. In most of Texas, it's considered very bad form, but in Travis County, that is exactly what they are doing. The newspaper article got me wondering how this whole thing works. |
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There's some articles in the paper about how defense attorney have been going behind the original judge's back that set the bail for a criminal and then getting it reduced. Having never been caught doing anything that would land me in the clink, I have no personal experience with this whole bail thing. Is this how it works? 1) Judge sets an ammount, lets say $50,000 IF accused has 10% of that laying around in cash, $5000, he can post it at court clerks office and gets out of jail. If he appears for all his court cases, the court gives it back when he is done, right? Or you have to pay 10% of the 10% to a bail bondsman, $500. Does the bondsman have to give the court $5000, or does he just have an arranged deal with the court to guarantee you show up? If you pay the bondman $500, he just keeps in and you are SOL, right? No the bondsman makes 5K as well, and you don't get it back. I was a bail bondsman for 9 years in SW MO. The bondsman gives the court a power of attorney document that guarantees the bond. As long as thee defendant goes to court until the case is disposed of, no money ever changes hands between the bonding company and court system. If you post a bond with the court, fines and costs will be deducted from the amount you posted. Around these parts, the court requires the full amount be posted, not 10%. So if the guy doesn't show up, how long does the bail company have to track him down before they have to actually fork over some cash? |
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There's some articles in the paper about how defense attorney have been going behind the original judge's back that set the bail for a criminal and then getting it reduced. Having never been caught doing anything that would land me in the clink, I have no personal experience with this whole bail thing. Is this how it works? 1) Judge sets an ammount, lets say $50,000 IF accused has 10% of that laying around in cash, $5000, he can post it at court clerks office and gets out of jail. If he appears for all his court cases, the court gives it back when he is done, right? Or you have to pay 10% of the 10% to a bail bondsman, $500. Does the bondsman have to give the court $5000, or does he just have an arranged deal with the court to guarantee you show up? If you pay the bondman $500, he just keeps in and you are SOL, right? No the bondsman makes 5K as well, and you don't get it back. I was a bail bondsman for 9 years in SW MO. The bondsman gives the court a power of attorney document that guarantees the bond. As long as thee defendant goes to court until the case is disposed of, no money ever changes hands between the bonding company and court system. If you post a bond with the court, fines and costs will be deducted from the amount you posted. Around these parts, the court requires the full amount be posted, not 10%. So if the guy doesn't show up, how long does the bail company have to track him down before they have to actually fork over some cash? Depends on the judge. He could immediately forfeit the bail or he will give the bondsman an extension 2 weeks to a month to get the perp in. I know of guys on bail getting picked up 2 years after a forfeiture by the bondsman. |
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Theres a range of bail amounts that are levied for a particular offense, but I've seen people RORd on felony bench warrants, so it can be entirely up to the judge what they want to set
Bail amounts are usually X amount of cash and twice that in bail bond. Bail bond is generally secured by paying a non-refundable 10% and the value of the remainder secured against some form of collateral such as land. Or...you can be an indigent person and your bail is paid through a taxpayer-funded bail fund...because our wonderful local liberal politicians think that pre-sentence incarceration is classist discrimination that punishes the poor. |