Bail

Read this complete FAQs guide to learn all about the legal definition of bail for criminal cases, how the court hearing for someone charged with a crime, and more work.

What is Bail?

Bail is the amount of money needed for a defendant charged with a crime to get a temporary release from custody while they await trial. Arrested alleged criminals are typically held in jail until their trial date unless a judge grants them bail.

The conditions for posting bail are set by the judge at the bail hearing so the person set to be prosecuted for a crime can be released, which always includes the condition they promise to appear in court to stand trial on the designated date.

How Does Bail Work?

The way bail works is that it usually involves the payment of money or other assets to guarantee that the accused person will show up for their trial. The court is responsible for holding the money.

If the defendant fails to appear for their trial or breaks the judge’s bail conditions, they forfeit the held funds and may be subject to additional court penalties.

What is a Bail Hearing?

A bail hearing is a legal proceeding where a judge or magistrate determines whether or not to grant bail to a defendant who has been arrested and charged with a crime.

At the bail hearing, which is often directly following the arraignment, the judge determines whether the accused person is unlikely to appear in court to stand trial if they are released from jail on bail and what safety risks they pose to the community as a whole.

During the bail hearing, the judge will consider several factors, including the nature and severity of the charges, the defendant’s criminal history, their ties to the community, and their likelihood of fleeing as not to show up in court.

The judge may also consider any statements or arguments made by the prosecuting attorney, defense lawyers, or defendant.

If the judge decides to grant bail, they will also set the bail amount, which is the amount of money that the defendant or their representative must pay for them to be released from custody.

The bail amount is typically based on the severity of the charges, the ability of the defendant to pay, and if they have the means or a history showing they pose a flight risk.

A wealthy person charged with a violent crime that has connections in a foreign country will often have the amount of bail set at a significantly higher dollar amount than a poor person accused of petty theft.

High net-worth defendants are viewed as having higher flight risks since they can pay their way to enter a country that does not extradite people to the country where they are charged with a crime.

How do Bail Bonds Work?

A bail bond is a government-regulated financial instrument that allows a person arrested and charged with a crime to be released from custody while awaiting trial without paying the full bail amount set by the court.

To obtain a bail bond, the defendant or their representative typically works with a bail bondsman, a licensed agent who posts the bail on the defendant’s behalf.

The bail bondsman charges a fee, usually 10% of the total bail amount, and may also require collateral, such as property or a vehicle, to guarantee that the defendant will appear in court or to offset the loss of a forfeited bond.

If the defendant fails to do so per the clauses in the bail, the bail bondsman may seek to locate and apprehend them or hire a bounty hunter to do so. The bondsman will also keep any collateral initially put up as a guarantee.

If the defendant appears in court as required and the case is resolved, the bail bondsman will receive the bail money back from the court minus their fee. The collateral will also be returned as long as no outstanding obligations are owed to the bondsman.

How to Bail Someone Out of Jail?

If you want to bail someone out of jail, the following steps are typically involved:

• Determine where the person is being held: Gathering this information and their bail amount are the first steps towards bailing someone out of jail. You can obtain their location by calling their defense attorney if you know who that is or by contacting the jail or detention center where people in your area are typically held.
  If they are being held at a police department, you should ask to be sent to booking when you call. Another way you may be able to accomplish this is by searching their name on the jail’s website.
• Determine the type of bail: Next, determine whether the bail is cash bail or cashless bail. Cash bail requires the full bail amount of bail to be paid. A cashless bail means that the person accused of the crime is let out of jail until trial without having to pay any money. In that case, you only need to pick up the charged person.
  If the bail amount is too high for you or the defendant to pay, you can get a bail bond for a fee, which typically costs 10% of the bail amount to a company that is known as a bail bondsman. The bondsman will post the full bail amount on the defendant’s behalf.
• Pay the bail: If it is cash bail, you will need to pay the entire bail amount to the court or jail. If you decide to go the bond bail route for lack of funds, you must contact a licensed bail bond company and pay their fee (typically 10% of the bail amount). That means if the bond is set at $100,000.00, you have to come up with funds to pay the bail bond agency $10,000.00, which you will not get back after trial.
  In addition to the 10% fee, bail bond companies may also require you to provide collateral, such as personal property or a vehicle, as a guarantee they will recover the money even if the defendant does not show up in court and forfeits their bail. Collateral also acts as a way to encourage the defendant to appear in court so they do not lose the item being held as collateral.
• Complete the paperwork: You will need to complete some paperwork to bail someone out of jail, including a bail bond agreement if you are using a bail bondsman. Make sure to read and understand all the terms of the agreement before signing.
• Wait for the release: Once the bail is paid and the paperwork is completed and signed, the defendant will be released from jail. The release process can take several hours, so be prepared to wait.

How Long Can You be Out on Bail?

The amount of time a person can be out on bail varies depending on the jurisdiction and the specific circumstances of the case. In general, a person can be out on bail until their trial is over and a verdict is reached.

However, there are certain situations where a person’s bail may be revoked and they may be sent back to jail. For example, if the person violates the terms of their bail agreement, such as by failing to appear in court or contacting certain individuals, the court may revoke their bail and order them back into custody.

Additionally, if the person is convicted of a crime, they may be remanded into custody immediately after the verdict is reached, regardless of whether or not they were previously out on bail.

What Crimes can You Not Get Bail for?

In the United States, there are some cases where bail may be denied or set at a very high amount. The judge decides whether or not to grant bail and bases that decision on several factors, including the crime’s seriousness, the potential flight risk of the defendant, and the likelihood of the defendant being a danger to the community if they are let out of jail while they await trial.

The following are some examples of crimes where bail may be denied or set at a high amount:

• Capital Offenses: In cases where the defendant is charged with a capital offense (a felony crime that the defendant can get the death penalty, such as murder) may automatically be denied bail in some states. This is known as the charge being “exempt from bail.”
• Flight Risk: If the court determines that the defendant is a flight risk, meaning they are likely to flee and not return for their trial, bail may be denied or set at a very high amount.
• Dangerousness: If the court thinks that the defendant poses a danger to the community, bail may be denied or set at a high amount to avoid the risk of having them hurt someone outside of jail while they wait for trial. This is often the case for crimes like murder or rape.
• Repeat Offenders: If the defendant has disregarded court appearances and bail terms in the past or has a history of criminal behavior, bail may be denied or set at a high amount.

Can You Bail Yourself Out of Jail?

Yes, generally, you are allowed to bail yourself out of jail if you have the funds available to pay the full amount of the bail set by the court. However, it is typically not practical to do it without some outside help as you need to have a way to withdraw the funds from your bank or write a cashier’s check.

If they allow you to pay bail via a credit card, that can make it easier to do it alone, as you likely had the credit card on your person when you got arrested.

However, the amount of bail can be very high, making it too difficult or impossible for most people to come up with that amount of money on short notice, necessitating they purchase a bail bond with someone’s help.

What is the Difference Between Bail and Bond?

Although bail and bond are related concepts, they are not the same. Bail refers to the amount of money a defendant must pay to the court to be released from custody while they await trial. In contrast, a bond is a type of financial instrument regulated by the states and is used to secure a person charged with a crime release from custody.

In some cases, defendants may be able to pay the full amount of their bail themselves directly to the court, known as posting bail. The reality is many defendants do not have the resources to come up with the full amount of their bail on short notice.

That is when bail bonds come in, as they can work with a bail bondsman to obtain a bond bail. In this case, the bail bonds company pays the total amount to the court on the defendant’s behalf, in exchange for a fee, usually around 10% of the total bail amount.

The critical difference between bail and bond is that bail refers to the amount of money that must be paid to the court, while bond refers to the financial instrument that is used to secure the defendant’s release.

Bail can be paid directly to the court, while bond must be obtained through a bail bondsman, often referred to as a cash bail alternative company.

What is a Surety Bond for Bail?

A surety bond is a type of written bond agreement where someone guarantees (the guarantor) to be liable for someone else’s debt. Most of the time, that equates to how the guarantor is on the hook for paying if the person who took on the debt fails to pay.

There are different types of surety bonds, with bail as a prime example as the bail bondsman is the guarantor who secures a defendant’s release from custody when they cannot pay the total amount of their bail.

Bail bondsmen act as third-party surety companies as they pay the full amount of the defendant’s bail and are the ones who lose the money if the defendant fails to appear in court as required, which is a primary way to forfeit the bail.

What Does No Cash Bail Mean?

No cash bail means that a defendant gets released from custody without having to pay the full amount of their bail in cash. Instead, they are typically released on their own recognizance or on a personal recognizance bond, which means they are released from custody based on their promise to appear in court as required.

No cash bail, often called cashless bail, has become a hot-button issue of late as some states, such as New York, have new laws that allow judges to grant no cash bail to even violent offenders.

Do You Get Bail Money Back?

Whether or not you get bail money back depends on the circumstances of your case. If you paid the full amount of your bail directly to the court, and you appeared in court as required, you will generally be eligible to receive your bail money back once your case is resolved.

The court will typically deduct any fees or fines owed from the bail amount and then return the remaining funds to you or your designated representative.

However, if you worked with a bail bondsman to obtain a bond bail, you will not get the full amount of your bail money back.

In this case, you would have paid the bail bondsman a non-refundable fee, typically around 10% of the total bail amount, in exchange for the bondsman paying the full amount of your bail to the court on your behalf.

Once your case is resolved, the bail bondsman will keep the fee as their profit and you will not get that amount back.

How Long Does it Take to Get Bail Money Back?

The time it takes to get your bail money back can vary depending on the jurisdiction and the case’s specific circumstances. Generally, if you posted bail directly to the court and appeared for your trial as required, the court will return your bail money via mail once your case is resolved (minus the court’s expenses.)

However, the court has to process the paperwork before mailing the funds back to you, which can take anywhere from less than 10 days in some jurisdictions to more than 8 to 12 weeks in others.

If you worked with a bail bondsman to obtain a bond bail, the process of getting your money back will take longer.

The bail bondsman must receive their complete refund money before refunding you what you are owed, which is 90% of the bail money.

The bail bondsman will typically hold onto the collateral until your case is resolved (exonerated or found guilty), and they get refunded by the court. Ultimately, the process to get your bail money back can also take several weeks or even months, depending on the jurisdiction of your criminal case.

What is Bail Jumping?

Bail jumping is considered a severe offense and threat to the justice system. It can result in the revocation of the defendant’s bail, a judge writing a warrant for their arrest, and additional criminal charges made against them.

If the defendant was released using a bail bond, the bail bondsman may also attempt to locate and apprehend the defendant who is on the run to avoid losing the money used to secure the bond.

Can a Bail Bondsman Arrest You?

Yes, a bail bondsman can arrest you in certain circumstances. When a defendant obtains a bond bail, they must pay a non-refundable fee to a bail bondsman, who agrees to pay the total amount of the bail to the court on their behalf.

As part of this agreement, the defendant will typically provide the bail bondsman with collateral, such as personal property like jewelry, to secure the bond.

In the case where the defendant fails to appear in court as required or violates the terms of their release, such as by committing another crime, the bail bondsman may be authorized to apprehend the defendant and return them to custody to stand trial.

When bail bondsmen seek to arrest a person charged with crimes but is out on bail, they will enlist the help of a “bounty hunter” or a “bail enforcement agent,” which is typically allowed under state law.

What Happens if Someone Jumps Bail and You’re the Cosigner?

If you are the cosigner for a bail bond and the defendant jumps bail, you can be held responsible for paying the total amount the bail bondsman company paid to the court.

As a cosigner, you agree to be financially responsible for the defendant’s appearance in court and compliance with the terms of their release.

Do Juveniles Get Bail?

In most jurisdictions, juveniles (individuals under 18 years old) are not eligible for bail as juvenile courts do not have bail provisions. Most of the time, this is not an issue for minors as the police and similar authorities will issue the juvenile defendants to be released to their parent or legal guardian’s custody without needing bail.

The opposite is true if the court chooses to try a juvenile defendant as an adult. When this happens, the bail hearing will progress like it would for an adult.

The judge will consider factors such as the seriousness of the offense, the risk of fleeing, and the risk of causing harm to the community.

Can an Illegal Immigrant Get Bail?

For regular bail not involving an immigration detention center, undocumented or illegal immigrants cannot get bail. To get the person must be a legal resident of the United States, which is the case for residents with a green card. That is the case for the local and state jurisdictions.

In general, undocumented immigrants are given a federal bail hearing when they are being held by a federal immigration authority, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE or an immigration judge can set bail for a person who is in the United States illegally. Until then, a person who is a criminal alien will be subject to mandatory detention.

In general, an illegal immigrant or undocumented worker held by state or local authorities on criminal charges can not be eligible to post bail.