Most people are aware of the terms posting bail or helping someone get bailed out. They understand that the basic idea is that money is given to the jail so that their loved one can be released. But most people don’t actually understand what happens to this money. We are going to answer this question!
When someone is arrested the judge will set an amount of money that will need to be paid, in order for them to be released from jail. This amount of money will change depending on the past history of the person arrested, as well as the risk of flight, and the crime. No matter how much the bail is, the purpose of this money is to give incentive for the arrested person to return on the designated court dates.
If you aren’t able to come up with the funds for bail or if the court requires a surety bond, then you are going to work with a bail bondsman. A bail bondsman will provide these funds for a percentage based fee that is between 8%-10% of the total bail amount. The entire system is basically an honor system that allows for the release of the arrested!
You may wonder where this money goes. Until the arrested has returned for all of the required court dates, the court will hold these funds. The money is then returned to either you or the bail bond company. However, if you do work through a bail bond company, then none of these funds will be returned to you. You don’t get back the fee that you paid to the bail bond company.
The goal of all of this is to allow someone that has been arrested to spend time with family, keep working, etc. while waiting for their court dates. However, bail isn’t always something that will for sure be allowed. In some situations, the options for bail may not be made available. If the crime is big enough, or if the arrested person poses a flight risk, then they won’t be allowed out on bail.
