What Are Bail Bonds?
Many municipalities handle bail as part of how they handle prisoners. It's unconstitutional to hold everybody in jail until they go to trial universally. This is because people are legally considered innocent of a crime until they have been found guilty. People tend to automatically assume that anybody arrested for a crime is guilty of that crime, but that's simply not true.
Even if they are not innocent, those who have committed crimes are still human beings who have rights, and the time they can spend outside of jail before they are sentenced may help them settle their affairs so their loved ones can handle their imprisonment better.
Bail bonds are a system by which the court guarantees people show up for their trial, rather than relying on the honor system. Now, some municipalities are getting rid of cash bail and moving to other methods, as there are arguments that cash bail is unfair. This article will focus on cash bail, which is still pretty common across the United States.
The bail process is like this. The accused will have a bail hearing. The prosecuting and defending attorney will both make arguments about what kind of bail should be set. The judge will decide on bail based on the accused person's previous contact with the courts, their behavior, the expected likelihood that they will flee, there's all kinds of factors that go into the decision making here.
The bail will be set at an amount. Sometimes the accused will be released without bail, but that is not terribly common in cash bail municipalities. Sometimes there will be conditions that need to be met for release—it just depends. If the accused or the accused loved ones can pay a percentage (generally 15% of the bail, though this varies) then the accused will be released. Now, this is a promise to show up to court. If the accused does not show up to court or fails to meet other terms and conditions of the bond, then they (or the agent the bond was placed through) will owe the total amount of the bond, and a warrant will be issued to arrest the accused. If the bond was made through an agent, then the agent may find the accused to return them to jail.
In most cases, if the accused shows up and follows the terms and conditions of the bond, once the trial is over, the money is returned. If an agent was used, likely the bond agent will get some percentage of that money. This happens whatever happens with the trial. In the case of a mistrial, the whole thing may start over again, depending on whether the prosecutor wants to take another swing at the case, but sometimes the prosecutor will just decide it's a waste of everybody's time.
Hopefully, this helped you learn more about the specifics of how bail bonds work. If you are looking because you think you may need one soon, you may direct further questions to a bail bond service near you, who can help you find out more.