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HOW BAIL BONDS WORK

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When someone is arrested, they are generally given a bail amount. This amount can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars — and they are often more than a person can pay at once. A bail amount is designed to ensure that the arrested individual goes to their court dates. If they fail to show up, the bail is forfeited. Thus, once someone has been arrested, someone will need to show up with the bail amount in order to bail the individual out — and the individual needs to show up to their court date to get the bail back.

 

What If You Can’t Pay Your Bail?

 

Bail amounts are often prohibitively expensive. An individual may not have enough cash at hand for a $5,000 bail. The solution to this problem is a bail bondsman. A bail bondsman puts up a bond of the full amount of bail, in exchange for a low one-time fee. As an example, a bail bondsman may be paid a $500 fee and they will put up the full $5,000 bond; thus the individual can be released from jail immediately rather than having to wait.

 

What Happens If the Court Date Is Skipped?

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Regardless of whether you have bailed out or used a bondsman, you will still be responsible for the full amount of bail in the event that the court date isn’t attended. The individual using the bondsman is essentially providing a guarantee that the other person will show up for their court date. Even though they aren’t being charged, they will be considered responsible for the full bond amount. This makes it incredibly important to keep contact with your bondsman.