OUT ON BOND OR BAIL?

Just because a person is arrested and being charged with a crime doesn’t mean that they will necessarily be in the jail pending court right away. In fact, majority of the time this is not the case because the subject accused of committing the crime is either released from jail on a bail bond, or during his/her arraignment is granted bail by a judge. 

This is a normal occurrence in the judicial system and isn’t widely understood by those outside of said system. Hence, today’s discussion will be surrounding Bail, Bond, and how it all works.

When a subject is arrested they are immediately taken before a Magistrate, Duty Officer, or Judge to be formally charged with committing a criminal offense based off the probable cause provided by the official holding the subject in custody.

At this stage it is the job of the Magistrate, Duty Officer, or Judge to determine if there is enough probable cause to believe the subject in custody committed the crime. The burden to prove said probable cause is on the testimony given by the arresting official in a hearing that occurs after the subject is arrested. If probable cause exists and is proven to be accurate the Magistrate, Duty Officer, or Judge issues Commitment Orders for the subject in custody to remain in jail until they are arraigned by the Courts.

Arraignment is a whole discussion in itself, but for now just know that everyone charged with a crime is arraigned if not released on Bond or Bail established by the Judge. In addition to committing the subject to jail; the Magistrate, Duty Officer, or Judge also has a bond hearing to determine the subject’s eligibility to have the opportunity to pay their way out of jail until the assigned court date regarding the offense accused.

During the Bond hearing a series of questions are asked, prior arrest history is reviewed, and if found eligible an amount is set. Once the subject is processed into the jail they have the opportunity to pay the Bond amount and be released until an assigned court date. If the subject doesn’t pay the Bond amount, they will be held until the following day to be arraigned in front of a Judge. Once the subject pays the amount, they are considered to be released on Bond pending court proceeding. 

The money they paid to be released is sort of like collateral, if they appear in court the money is returned to them, if not an arrest warrant is issued for them, and the funds are forfeited to the locality governing the Bond.

So if Bond or a Bail Bond is set and accepted by Courts but the Subject cannot afford to pay the amount set they have an additional option available. They can request the services of a Bail Bonds Agency that employ’s Bail Bondsman that are certified to vouch for subject eligible for Bond or Bail by the Courts. Usually the Bail Bonds Agency pays the full amount on the behalf of the subject, the subject then pays the Bail Bonds Agency a percentage of the Bond amount, and is released from jail pending the assigned court date.

This is just a general overview of the topic goal oriented at establishing a general understanding of the Bond/Bail Bond process. Most likely this topic will be furthered in later discussions, but for now this should be sufficient..

Out on Bond or Bail?