Bail bond....?

Question

This is the last time I'm going to ask about bail bonds.

Let's examine this situation:

John is being accused of robbery. He's taken to jail for paper work or something else. He is being held in jail. If we have the innocent until proven guilty theory. Then what's a bail bond for? Can they legally hold me at the jail until the court date?

It doesn't make sense. Basically if I am John (in the example ^) how does a bail bond convince me to show up to court. Especially if someone else is going to pay for my bond. WHY A BAIL BOND? How does the whole bail bond thing play in?

I'm obviously so confused.

Answer 1

Simply put, a bail bond is a monetary guarantee for the Court that a defendant will appear at all times they are ordered to while their case is pending. When a person goes to court as a defendant in a criminal case, bail is set by the judge. If they are arrested and have not been brought to court, bail is set according to a schedule. The bail can be posted in full in cash, or by posting a bail bond through a bail agent. The bail agent collects a fee (usually 10% of the amount of bail) and some sort of collateral for the full amount of the bail.

Collateral is usually a piece of real estate, a car, a bank account, or something else of value that the bail agent can hold onto while the defendant goes to court on the case. Depending on circumstances, the signature of a qualifying cosigner can be used in lieu of collateral. When the case is completed, as long as the defendant has not failed to appear, the collateral is returned to whomever deposited it with the bail agent.

Answer 2

OK, there are competing interests at that point. Yours since you are still INNOCENT at that point, and the court's desire to protect the community. It is solved by bail bonds.
(there is also the option of paying bail without a bond, you put up the full amount, and you get the full amount back)

Most people are not going to pay the 10% cash required that will never be seen again unless they are close to the defendant. Most defendant's then would be burning a family member or friend of their house if they didn't show up.

Also, there are bail companies who then spend the time and energy finding John where ever he goes and turning him back into the courts. All in all, most who are granted bail bonds do show up since not only will they lose the collateral, but most likely will end up in jail again and have no chance at being bail bonded ever again.

If you have any other questions, email me.

Answer 3

well there u have it u are really not innocent until proven guilty are you? but further more there are people who get bail even though the government know they did it such as a sex offender getting released on bail knowing the guy has to go to jail in 2 weeks. there is such a thing as flea bargaining. u set a date for some one to get sentanced and if they have the money they are able to be free until it is time for them to start serving their sentence. look at immigration law.lets say that u are an arab, u go to the nseers regestration dpt of homeland security .u recently married an american citizen. but because u failed to register with them so they can do their back ground checks to ensure u are not a terrorist they will jail you until 2 of the 3 security clearences go through. 2 have gone through that came back but they are waiting on the third. u are waiting for an adjustment of status through the court. so rather put you and ur wife through the trouble of waiting for an adjustment of status that comes from the court house or immigration they will release you on bond and then u get ur money back when ur court case is finished. it is a security that u will go back to court. now when a bond is set a bail bonds men will pay most of the money but u have to give up 20% of what ever ur bond happens to be. hense the reason for a bounty hunter. where if u run with out going to the court to face a trial or court decision they will catch you so they recieve the money that they put into you. where the bail bondsman makes his/her prophet is the money that they recieve from who ever bails the person out of jail that 20% u never get back. the government will give back the money to the bail bondsman when the bounty hunter goes and fetches the suspect who was released and ran. and besides he keeps the money that the 20% of the bail money that he recieved in the first place to go and bail out the guy in the beginning. do u get it now? also remember that when u invest money by bonding some one u get government interest for the moeny u put up. this goes for any one say my bail is 5,000 dollars and i give it to the government to bail my friend out. when the case is finished because i did everything i was supposed to what ever it may be i get that money back plus all the interest it racked up in the mean time.

Answer 4

A bail bond is a contract where the defendant agrees to go to court. It is backed up by collateral in the amount of the bond. The collateral is an incentive to go to court.

Example, John's bond is $10,000. His parents use the title to their home for collateral. If John doesn't go to court his risks losing the home for his family and they will have a judgment for $10,000 on their record.

So, the question there is, is it worth $10,000 and maybe his parents' home to not go to court. There is your incentive, to loose the money/collateral.

Answer 5

to find out more information about bail bonds, bail bonds process, how do bail bonds work or how to Post a bond - visit http://www.communitybails.com


there you will find a lot of great information!

Answer 6

Never Never Ever Post A Cash Bail Bond (Jail Bond) In Florida.

You may ask yourself, “Why should I pay a bail bondsman a 10% fee when I can pay the full cash amount for the bail bond at the jail and avoid the fee?!” Good question, however its not like it was in the old days when you could get your money back if all obligations were fulfilled.

Nowadays, the counties, municipalities, and government officials of the State of Florida will take your cash bond without recourse. The cash bond can even be taken and applied to charges in a defendants previous cases. Those officials will dream up fines and fees to be applied to your cash-bond to make sure that little or nothing is repaid.

Here is the Statute.
Title XLVII
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS
Chapter 903
BAIL
903.286 Return of cash bond; requirement to withhold unpaid fines, fees, court costs; cash bond forms.—
(1) Notwithstanding s. 903.31(2), the clerk of the court shall withhold from the return of a cash bond posted on behalf of a criminal defendant by a person other than a bail bond agent licensed pursuant to chapter 648 sufficient funds to pay any unpaid costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties. If sufficient funds are not available to pay all unpaid costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties, the clerk of the court shall immediately obtain payment from the defendant or enroll the defendant in a payment plan pursuant to s. 28.246.
(2) All cash bond forms used in conjunction with the requirements of s. 903.09 must prominently display a notice explaining that all funds are subject to forfeiture and withholding by the clerk of the court for the payment of costs of prosecution, costs of representation as provided by ss. 27.52 and 938.29, court fees, court costs, and criminal penalties on behalf of the criminal defendant regardless of who posted the funds.
History.—s. 57, ch. 2005-236; s. 3, ch. 2008-224; s. 1, ch. 2013-112.

Prior to the enactment of section 903.286 Florida Statutes on July 1, 2005, there was no statutory authorization for the deduction of costs or fines from cash bail deposited by a defendant. So the legislature of the State of Florida reasons that your hard earned money that you paid to bail out a defendant from jail becomes in essence the property of the defendant and thus the property of the State.
The State of Florida's taking of an innocent person's property is tyrannical, uncompromising and unjust. In effect your cash bond is stolen. That's your government hard at work  - for you.

When a bail bond agent writes the bond, the 10 per cent bail bond fee is all a person is ever going to pay as long as the defendant fulfills his obligations. Additionally, bail agencies will notify the indemnitors/co-signers (those who posted the bail bond) of all court dates for defendants, and having been made aware makes it more likely that the defendant will make all court appearances. County clerks and other officials are not obligated to notify defendants of court dates.
Before you post a bail bond, you should know what your responsibilities are. In Florida, if a defendant released on a bail fails to show up in court, the bail agent has 60 days to return the defendant to custody. If the defendant out cannot be returned to jail in that period, the bondsman is legally bound to pay the full amount of the bond to the Clerk of the Court. This is called a bond estreature or bond forfeiture. At this point, you as the indemnitor/cosigner of the bond become liable to the bail bondsman for the amount forfeited, usually the full amount of the bond. The agent then has 10 additional months to return the defendant to custody and receive almost all of the forfeited money back, and has an additional year after that to receive 50% of it back.

But if a person puts up or pays a cash-bond at the jail in care of Clerk of the Court, the monies deposited will not be returned, even if the defendant fulfills all his obligations and never misses a court appearance. The laws concerning the returning of a cash-bond to a depositor are vague at best and are always in the State of Florida's favor. If the defendant misses one court appearance, or disappears for a couple of days the depositor will forfeit all of the monies that were posted for the cash-bond. If a bondsman handles the release from jail, however, the laws are clearly spelled out by state statute and the indemnitor is protected, only being liable for any cost of bringing the defendant (bond skipper) back to custody after a breach of a bond.

If the indemnitor/cosigner on a bail bond begins to get nervous and begins to suspect that the defendant they signed for and posted the bond for becomes a risk to abscond or run away and not fulfill their obligations or make any of their court appearances, the bail bondsman with whom the bond was placed, has the power to revoke that person’s bond and return them to custody. At that point, when the defendant is returned to jail, the co-signer’s liability is nil and their money or collateral is not at risk of being taken.

A cash-bond depositor has no such power to return a person to jail or to make an arrest and if the defendant misses any court dates all monies posted for the cash-bond will be forfeited and lost. However, in the case of a bail bond made with a bail bond agent, should the defendant miss his scheduled court appearances, the bail agent has full arrest powers in almost every state, and can apprehend the absconder and return them to custody. The bail bond will be at minimum risk.