Understanding bailsbonds is important for understanding how the court system works. Here’s an introduction to how bail bonds and bail bondsmen operate.
Each state has its own system that gives you a chance to be released from jail or prison. Bail bonds are a part of that. It’s essentially an IOU saying if the defendant doesn’t show up to court, the court gets to keep the money.
There are multiple ways for a defendant to get a bail bond. They can do it themselves, or use someone to act as a “surety”, or the payer of the bond. A bondsman can post bail for the defendant in exchange for a 10% non-refundable fee.
This is a worthwhile charge, though, as it gets the defendant out of jail. You have a better opportunity to plan your case with a lawyer. However, if the defendant breaks the rules of the bail bond or doesn’t show up to court the bondsman can arrest them. Otherwise, they’ll lose the money he paid as the defendant’s surety.
If you follow all the rules and beat the case, the court will return the bond money to whoever the surety was. As you can see, the system can get messy fast. However, understanding bail bonds is critical to understanding courts.
