How Bail Bonds Work

Bail is the temporary release of an incarcerated offender after collateral is provided for the future court appearance of the offender.

More specifically, the money required for the release of the offender is referred to as bail. Without bail, a person under arrest will remain in custody for arraignment, trial, and custody. When bail is paid, it is typically paid by friends or relatives directly to the court or in most instances through a bail bond company.

Bail collateral is returned to the person who put up the bail, but only after the trial and is not dependent on the outcome either guilty or innocent. The primary stipulation for the release of bail collateral is that the offender must attend all judicial hearings and that they abide by the instructions of the court to check in with a probation officer. Most criminal offenders in the state of California have the right to post bail. In very rare instances, bail is not approved for the accused offender because of the severity of the crime.

Occasionally the court allows an accused offender to be released without posting bail. This is commonly know as "on their own recognizance." Such cases are based on the suspects apparent good behavior and lack of criminal record. In these cases, bail might be required if the suspect fails to appear in court.

Most often, when someone is arrested and accused of a crime, they will need to post bail in order to obtain release from incarceration. Bail can be posted by anyone possessing the ability, or if the funds are not available a bail bonds agency can extend the bail as somewhat of a middleman. A bail bond issued by a bail bond company is known as surety.

When a bail fee is paid to the court by a bail bondsman, a 10% fee is then charged to the client. 10% is the maximum fee allowed by a bail bond company in California. The bail bond company is paid their fee when the trial is over. In some instances the courts will accept a 10% bail deposit if a bail bonds company is not used. If a client fails to appear at any required court date of other legally required appearance, additional fees will be applied to the bail amount.

Should a suspect fail to attend a trial or show up for a legal proceeding, bail bond companies will hire a bounty hunter to locate the suspect. Bounty Hunters locate people who may have skipped out on their court appearance or "jumped bail." The bounty hunter will return the suspect into custody. Should a client jump bail, the fees will reflect the cost used to employ the bounty hunter and thus it proves expensive for the client.