At the core, posting bail is an agreement between a suspect of a crime and the court that says the defendant guarantees they will appear in court at the scheduled time. However, bail is only allowed in cases where the court is confident of two things: the defendant will not commit other crimes while out on bail, and they will not try to escape or leave the area for an extended period of time. The exact price set for a bail bond is usually dependent upon the judge, and the alleged crime committed, often bail bonds are more expensive than most people can afford to pay, so that’s when they reach out to an experienced bonding service so they don’t have to wait for court dates from jail.
All About Bond Eligibility
With the courts, eligibility for a bond is calculated through a four step formula, though other factors may be considered, the main ones include:
- Severity of alleged offense
- Flight risk
- Criminal history
- Public safety considerations
For example, if someone is accused of a low level crime that isn’t particularly damaging to the safety of the public, their whole family lives in the community, and they have no record of previous incidents like this, they are likely going to be more readily eligible for bail than someone who was accused of committing very severe offenses that could pose a risk to public safety. Many courts do not rule defendants completely ineligible for bail, but they will set the bond incredibly high to prevent the defendant from being able to pay, keeping them in prison while they await their court date.
Assuming that someone is in the first category of defendant, the amount of bail bond payments required may be different depending on location, but the determination of eligibility is generally the same in most States. Once the judge decides someone is eligible for bail, they will file all the paperwork, and the defendant will either choose to arrange bail payment with their family, friends, or a bail bond agency, or wait for their trial from prison. Even though bail is expensive, whoever pays it generally gets all of their collateral back if the defendant appears at all of their court dates, otherwise, the collateral is seized.
Posting Bail
Most people who find themselves at the hands of the Court are unable to post bail at the amount set by the judge, but this doesn’t mean they are out of options for awaiting their trial period from the comfort of home. Professional bail bondsman offer a way to post bail without having to pay astronomical amounts of money, and it usually works by defendants or their families paying a small percentage (usually around 10%) of the bail amount, and offering up material capital for collateral which the bond agency will hold on to until the end of the trial period. After this, the bail agency will take care of the rest, and post sufficient bail to release a defendant to their family. It is important that defendants keep up appearances in court, ensuring that their families are able to regain the collateral they posted.