How Bail Works

(The Basics)

Bail is the amount of money required by the court to release a defendant from custody and to guarantee his/her appearance in court. Bail can range anywhere from $50 for a simple misdemeanor to $2 million for serious felonies. In all cases either cash or a Bail Bond (a financial guarantee) must be given to the court for security. When bail is set high, most will chose to rely on a Bail Bond Agency instead of trying to raise the cash for the full bail amount. Once a bail bond is posted and the defendant is released, the Bail Bond Agency then becomes responsible for that defendants' appearance in court. If the defendant fails to appear when required the court will "forfeit" the bail bond and demand payment from the bail bond agency. The agency, in turn, will do what is necessary to return the defendant to custody and recover their costs.

The transaction for having someone released on bond is fairly simple; you are the "indemnitor", or person(s) willing to be responsible for the defendant while they are out on bail, and you pledge some property (collateral) to us to guarantee the bond, we then guarantee the cash to the court and the defendant is released soon after. For this service, agencies charge a yearly premium of 10% of the bail amount, which is set by the California Department of Insurance, and is not refundable once the defendant is released. The bond stays into effect until the case is over and the court orders the bond "exonerated". Upon exoneration of the bond, the collateral is returned to the indemnitor(s).

As the indemnitor it is import to understand that there is absolutely NO RISK in pledging any amount of collateral to a bail agency as long as you are 100 percent certain the defendant will appear in court and will not flee.

I am sure you have more detailed questions about the bail process and we would by happy to answer them, just call us (888) 665-2948..