Bail Bond Agent Blog

Pre-trial release has a long history rooted in historic English statutes and laws. Bail laws in the United States developed out of these English laws that date back to even the 13th Century. When independence was declared by the colonies in 1776, bail laws took on slightly modified interpretation to more closely represent the ideals of the newly developing American principles. The early state Constitutions of some states, such as Virginia stipulated that, “excessive bail ought not to be required,” however, “if a crime be punishable by life or limb, or it be manslaughter and there be good cause to believe the party guilty thereof, he shall not be admitted to bail.” Since then, various adjustments have been made, and the bail laws have been incorporated into the United States Constitution. Congress has also enacted various bail reform acts to protect the interests of both the offenders and the public. As the rights of offenders came into question, the Manhattan Bail Project in 1961 reaffirmed the notion that defendants could indeed be responsible for showing up in court at their scheduled date if released prior to trial. This project instituted further reforms that came up with the idea of release on own recognizance.

A bail bond can generally be defined as a written agreement signed by a defendant or a surety (bondsman) to pay a sum set by the court if the defendant fails to appear in court on the specified date assigned to them. A bail bond permits the defendant to be released before the occurrence of their trial, allowing them the freedom of living outside of a confined jail. The defendant, the defendant’s family, or a bail agent signs the bond agreement to promise to give up the full sum, which is usually proportionate to the gravity of the committed offense. When a bail agent or surety takes responsibility for the offender, the offender must pay them a fraction of the amount owed for bail, generally ten percent.

Typically, bail agents operate as independent contractors, meaning that they are private enterprises not using the resources of tax money. Bail agents will often use the credit of a surety company when posting for appearance assurances for clients or defendants. The surety company provides the bail agent with credit or standing as a security on the bonds, and in return, the bail agents pay small fees to the surety companies. The bail agent consequently charges the defendant 10% in addition to collateral for their pre-trial release. If a defendant fails to appear, a bail agent is granted the opportunity to recover the bail jumper. To track down and re-arrest these defendants, bail agents will use the services of bounty hunters. Bounty hunters will track down and re-arrest bail jumpers, bringing them to justice and ensuring that they reappear in court. These bounty hunters are extremely effective at tracking down defendants who skip bail, and in general, just the threat of a bounty hunter is enough to make most offenders show up in court on their assigned date.

Pre-trial release is not just comprised of bail bonds and bonding agents, however. Pre-trial release can be divided into two broad categories: financial conditions and non-financial conditions. Non-financial conditions include release on own recognizance, conditional release, and unsecured bond release, whereas financial conditions include surety or commercial bonds, deposit bonds, full cash bonds, and property bonds. The largest group in the non-financial conditions group is those released on their own recognizance, accounting for 20% of the 32% total represented in the genre. Surety bonds accounted for the largest group within the financial conditions genre, comprising 20% of the 30% total. So, in summation, the two genres can really be simplified and compared by looking at statistics for surety bonds versus release on recognizance.

According to the report by Thomas H. Cohen and Brian A. Reaves entitled, “Pretrial Release of Felony Defendants in State Courts,” those released on their own recognizance exceeded those released on commercial bail from 1990-1997. But, in 1998, surety bonds surpassed and continued to rise above recognizance releases. This shows a rise in the use of commercial bonds. So, what is the reason for this rise in the use of commercial bonds? The answer is that commercial bonds more effectively bring criminals and defendants to trial. As the report shows, those released on their own recognizance have a 26% failure to appear rate. In comparison, surety bonds only have a failure to appear rate of 18%. This is a drastic difference. Even more alarming are the similar re-arrest rates for the two groups, proving that recognizance release defendants are not apprehended and brought to trial. This can also be shown for the 5% increase in fugitive rates for the recognizance group.

Not only do commercial bonds provide better outcomes, but they offer other incentives as well. Commercial bonds effectively prevent overcrowding in jails without compromising the safety of the public. Because bounty hunters are given the task of hunting these offenders down, bail jumpers will be apprehended more speedily than those released on their own recognizance. Moreover, there are direct financial incentives for all parties involved in the commercial bail process. The bail agent obviously does not want to forfeit the entire bail sum, so it is in their best interest to ensure that the defendant shows up in court. Because commercial bail is a private enterprise, it does not burden taxpayers either. Most defendants are threatened by the mere thought of bounty hunters additionally, since bounty hunters do not require warrants for searching or seizing an offender. This causes most defendants to show up on their assigned date, or they risk being apprehended and rearrested by one of these bounty hunters. Finally, commercial bail allows the defendants the freedom to wait for their trial outside of the confine of a jail facility, protecting their rights and ensuring justice for all. Clearly, commercial bonds have a plethora of reasons that affirm their superiority over those released on their own recognizance.

Tags: Bail Bonds //