posted by Admin on Sep 1
Jail surety bonds
Jail surety bonds are a type of surety bonds in which the surety guarantees the entire bail amount in the eventuality that the defendant who has been released on bail does not appear in court as per the terms and conditions of a bail. To issue jail surety bonds, the bond companies usually keep a percentage of the bond amount, usually 10 to 15 %, as a guarantee from the defendant and in turn give a word to court that the defendant will be present during the trial and other formalities that may require his presence. The major benefit of jail surety bonds is that the defendant is released from jail immediately and needs to report to court on certain days, otherwise the defendant would be spending the time in jail until the trial formalities are over. For those defendants who have money and are able to pay their own bail, which usually is a large sum of money, there is not need for jail surety bonds. However, it is seen that most defendants are not able to afford this, that’s why jail surety bonds attain so much significance. However some states have banned the use of jail surety bonds as they feel that these bondsmen are operating as an organization which issues short term loans on steep interest rates and are therefore exploiting those who cannot afford the bail amount. Jail surety bonds are issued by bondsmen who represent surety companies and are just a call away when you need them. They are easily available in most parts of the United States. The process of issuance of jail surety bonds and the subsequent release of a defendant on bail is a long drawn process and thus takes time. Apart from the premium which is paid, the bondsmen may also ask for collaterals from certain defendants on a case to case basis in order to issue jail surety bonds. This is an additional security measure to make sure that the defendant does not skip court proceedings which may lead to forfeiture of the bail amount. If collaterals cannot be arranged, then co-signer is an option that can be explored in which case, the co-signer takes the responsibility to pay the bail amount in case the defendant skips the trial process and cannot be traced. Once the defendant is out on bail, he/ she can mobilize his resources and is better able to work on his defense strategy. It also lets the defendant to be united with his/her family during the trial process. Also, in many cases, the defendants are innocent and unless released on bail, they would be spending time behind bars which they are not supposed to. Thus we see that jail surety bonds and the bondsmen are doing a great service to the society and rescuing a lot of innocent people from spending time in the jail.
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