What's the purpose of Bail?
So, bail, what is it anyway? Let’s start at the beginning. When someone is arrested for a crime, the prosecuting attorney is telling the court, I believe that a crime has been committed and this person committed that crime. This information is then sent to the court and the person being accused is given a court date when they will appear (usually with their attorney) and have the opportunity to tell their side of what happened. A judge or jury will then decide if the prosecutor has proven their case. If it is believed the person arrested is guilty, some form of punishment will be imposed. This could range from probation, to a fine, to prison. If the judge or jury doesn’t feel the facts add up to guilt, the person accused is released. This is over simplified a little, but that’s the gist of it.
Okay so what does Bail have to do with it? Here’s the deal, our whole legal system is based on the fact that we as citizens are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. With that being said, what do you do with someone who’s been accused of a crime but hasn’t been proven guilty of anything? If that person really is guilty and you give them a court date to appear to tell their side of the story, a lot of those people wont show up. Why would they? They know they did it. The other alternative is we just keep everyone in jail until their court date. But what if they are found innocent of the crime? How do you give them that time back they spent in jail awaiting their day in court.
Bail is a compromise. Basically it’s saying, we will allow you to carry on with your life until a court determines your guilt or innocence. In order to do that though, we need some type of a guarantee that you will be here on you’re court date. That guarantee is in the form of money deposited with the court. A bond is the amount of money you have to deposit with the court in order to remain free until you’re court date.
So let’s say your bond is $10,000. The court feels that if you leave $10,000 with them, you are probably going to show up to court on your court date. If you do, when your case has been adjudicated (finished) you will get your bond money back. It’s that simple. It’s just insurance that you’re going to appear in court.
So what if you don’t have $10,000. Do you just have to sit in jail? The answer is no, there’s an alternative. You may use the services of a licensed bail bond agent. For a fee, a bail bond agent will pay your bail to the court for you. In it’s simplest form, the bail bond company is loaning you the $10,000. The fee is 10%, or in this case, $1,000. You do not get the fee back at the end of court. However, you also don’t pay any further amount. Some people believe they still have to pay balance of the $10,000 at some point, they do not. 10% of the original bond is all they are ever going to owe the bail bond company provided they appear in court as required.
Okay so what does Bail have to do with it? Here’s the deal, our whole legal system is based on the fact that we as citizens are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. With that being said, what do you do with someone who’s been accused of a crime but hasn’t been proven guilty of anything? If that person really is guilty and you give them a court date to appear to tell their side of the story, a lot of those people wont show up. Why would they? They know they did it. The other alternative is we just keep everyone in jail until their court date. But what if they are found innocent of the crime? How do you give them that time back they spent in jail awaiting their day in court.
Bail is a compromise. Basically it’s saying, we will allow you to carry on with your life until a court determines your guilt or innocence. In order to do that though, we need some type of a guarantee that you will be here on you’re court date. That guarantee is in the form of money deposited with the court. A bond is the amount of money you have to deposit with the court in order to remain free until you’re court date.
So let’s say your bond is $10,000. The court feels that if you leave $10,000 with them, you are probably going to show up to court on your court date. If you do, when your case has been adjudicated (finished) you will get your bond money back. It’s that simple. It’s just insurance that you’re going to appear in court.
So what if you don’t have $10,000. Do you just have to sit in jail? The answer is no, there’s an alternative. You may use the services of a licensed bail bond agent. For a fee, a bail bond agent will pay your bail to the court for you. In it’s simplest form, the bail bond company is loaning you the $10,000. The fee is 10%, or in this case, $1,000. You do not get the fee back at the end of court. However, you also don’t pay any further amount. Some people believe they still have to pay balance of the $10,000 at some point, they do not. 10% of the original bond is all they are ever going to owe the bail bond company provided they appear in court as required.
