Bail bond writing is considered to be a process which is not well understood by the masses. It is because of this reason that most people do not tend to get the best deal for themselves while they are in the process of discussion with the selected bondsman. This guest post endeavours to offer certain details to you about Bails and Bail Bonds so that next time when you need to get Jacksonville bail bonds written, you know what exactly goes into it.
Bail is nothing but the amount that the defendant is supposed to pay to the court to be released from custody. There are only certain crimes for which such bail option might be available. Such bail amount works like a guarantee, on part of the defendant, that she / he would appear before the court on all hearings and at all other times when she / he is summoned. Once the case has been completed, the court refunds this bail amount. The decision on the bail amount shall be made solely on the discretion of the court which in turn basis the decision on such factors as the type of crime committed, the severity of the same, the criminal record of the defendant and the perceived risk of the defendant fleeing among others. The behaviour of the defendant also has a bearing on the decision.
Now, this was about the bail amount. Where does bail bond come into the picture? The bail bond comes into the picture because most times the bail amount is extremely high for the defendant or anyone, acting on the defendant’s behalf, to pay in one go. In this case, a bail bond is written which happens to be a promise by the defendant, or the person who is working on his / her behalf, that the defendant will appear for all court hearings and if she / he fails to do so, she / he will pay the entire bail amount to the court. Such bail bond is generally written by licensed bail bond agents only. Such agents are also known as bondsmen.
One might also be required to offer collateral to the court. Such collateral works as a safety to the court in case the defendant does not appear for any of the court hearings and the bail amount is not paid. The most preferred collateral is property; however, there are other assets which could also be proposed as collateral at the time of writing the bail bond.
You are supposed to pay a fee to the bondsman. In general, you are supposed to pay 10% of the total bail amount. Therefore, putting it more specifically- if you are writing the Jacksonville Bail Bonds for an amount of $ 5000 then the fee that would be separately required to be paid to the bondsman would be $ 500. Variations in this fee, however, can be expected; depending upon the type of bondsman that one is working with and the other credentials that the defendant, or the one applying on his / her behalf, boasts off.
