How to Use a Bail Bondsman

Bail is an amount of money that the court charges criminal defendants to be released from jail until their court date as an incentive to appear in court at a scheduled date, at which time the bail money is refunded. Sometimes the bail is too high for the defendant to pay, so they need a bail bondsman, who is a person or company that grants surety bonds to criminal defendants to pay their total bail.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Jail sentence Phone book Internet (optional) Cash and/or collateral

1. Understand the different types of bail bonds. There are three types of bail bonds: cash, property, and surety. A cash bond is cash or money orders. A property bond uses property value as collateral. A surety bond is like a loan, in which a defendant pays a lender a percentage of the total bail and the lender pays the court the total bail with the agreement that the defendant must appear in court at the set time. For the sake of this guide, we are mostly interested in the surety bond. When the bail is too high for defendants to pay, they need a bail bondsman to "lend" them the bail money in exchange for a non-refundable fee, usually 10 percent, that the defendants pay before receiving the bail money. When the defendant goes to court, the court refunds the total bail amount minus fees to the bail bondsman, who also keeps the 10 percent from the defendant. If the defendant does not go to court, the court does not refund the bail to the bail bondsman, and the defendant can be legally sued or a bounty hunter is sent to collect the money from the defendant.

2. Find out the amount of the bail at the jail. Bail is set by a judge based on the seriousness of the crime and the defendant's flight risk. If the crime is serious enough, a judge might not grant the defendant a bail. For many crimes, the court has a predetermined list of bail amounts. Defendants should find of the amount as soon as possible to weigh their options. The defendant may ask the judge to lower the bail.

3. Find out the bail bondsman fee that is allowed by law in the location of the court. Ten percent is the usual amount but may be higher in some places. Not all states allow the use of a commercial bail bondsman. Oregon, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky and Maine prohibit surety bail bonds. Contact the court clerk to learn about their bail options. In the United States, courts often take on the role of bail bondsman themselves or they allow certain organizations, such as AAA, to perform bail bond services.

4. Search for a licensed bail bondsman company. There are many sources available to find bondsman, including phone numbers posted at the jail; near courthouses; in phone books, under "Bail Bonds" in the yellow pages; or on the Internet.

5. Pay the bail bondsman his fee. Ask the bail bondsman to show his license and to give the borrower itemized receipts and signed contracts before paying him. If the bail bondsman fee is still too high, discuss other forms of payment, including property as collateral or possible payment plans. Credit cards and personal checks are not usually accepted.

6. Appear in court at the scheduled time. The court refunds the bail amount to the bail bondsman, who also keeps the percentage paid by the defendant or borrower, and your end of the contract is fulfilled.

References

• Bail bondsman on Wikipedia

Resources

• Bail Bonds Nationwide Directory

[davidljohnston]

on 9/3/2009 Don't forget that there are lenders out there who can help you finance your bail bond fees. You can borrow money through sites like http://bailbondlenders.com to pay the bail bond company their fee for bailing you or your dear one out of jail.