Most citizens understand what bail is, it’s the money that the court system requires the person who has been arrested to provide in order for their release. The amount of the bail is decided by a judge, who usually will make the amount high enough that the arrestee can be trusted to show up at their court hearing, but low enough that they are not blocked from exercising this option due to an inability to gather these funds. In fact, the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that bail not be an “extravagant amount”.
The term “posting bond” is often used interchangeably with “posting bail”, which is understandable because the concepts are very similar and the result is much the same for the arrested citizen. But to be precise, posting a bond means that instead of “providing an amount of money”, which many people simply don’t have the ability to come up with, especially when it means parking that money in the court system while they wait for their day in court, they are able to get a third party to commit to putting up the bail funds should they fail to show up.
There is a form of bond that doesn’t require any money at the time of release, but which allows the arrested person to sign a commitment to attend their mandatory court date. If they fail to show up, they may be subject to financial penalties on the basis that they did not follow through on this commitment.
What a Bail Bondsman is for
The bail bondsman has 2 jobs to do for the arrested person(s). Firstly, the bail bondsman is paid up front by the arrestee with a portion of the bail amount. This money is not refundable, and can be thought of as the fee paid for the services rendered by the bail bondsman.
Secondly, bail bondsmen are usually quite skilled at keeping track of their customers, and ensuring that they show to their mandatory court appointments.
The bail in Los Angeles, and Los Angeles metro is fully refundable if the arrestee follows through on their legal obligation, but requires that they have this amount of money available at the time that they are requesting release. The bail bond system allows arrestees to avoid coming up with these funds, and in return, charges a portion of the bail amount for this benefit.
What option works for any person, comes down to their ability to raise the cash needed, and sometimes quite a lot of cash, quickly and at a time when the future is uncertain, given what’s happening to them. Bail bonds provide a useful and valuable services to people that do not pose a danger to the community during this time, but who would otherwise not be able to be released.
If you need immediate assistance with bail, call us at 800-880-8380. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.