How does the American Bail Bond system work?

Slavan · January 9, 2013

Can one of the many American contributors explain?

We have a show I was shown on the discovery channel, first week in.

the american prison system looks like a massive waste of money.

The-Golden-Vision · January 9, 2013

Pay up or else.....

edge · January 9, 2013

The-Golden-Vision said:
Pay up or else.....

he is boss, must be as hard as fook to tackle that wife of his

The-Golden-Vision · January 9, 2013

edge said:
he is boss, must be as hard as fook to tackle that wife of his

Looking at the chops on baby Lisa I think Suarez might have had first dibs on his missus.

edge · January 9, 2013

The-Golden-Vision said:
Looking at the chops on baby Lisa I think Suarez might have had first dibs on his missus.

that not a nice thought to be going to bed with. :dodgy:

Groucho · January 9, 2013

I'm not American but this is my understanding; You get arrested then bailed but cannot afford the bail price. A bail bondsman puts up your bail, secured against something, you or a trusted other then have to honour the bail bond. If you do a runner, you've breached the agreement and are done for.

USA membership, am I close?

Gwladys St. Glory · January 9, 2013

Groucho said:
I'm not American but this is my understanding; You get arrested then bailed but cannot afford the bail price. A bail bondsman puts up your bail, secured against something, you or a trusted other then have to honour the bail bond. If you do a runner, you've breached the agreement and are done for.

USA membership, am I close?

That's the gist of it, yes...thankfully I'm not speaking from experience.

Groucho · January 10, 2013

Gwladys St. Glory said:
That's the gist of it, yes...thankfully I'm not speaking from experience.

Thanks for confirming that pal.

Watch 'Midnight Run' for a great funny film on the subject. De Niro and everything.

Slavan · January 10, 2013

There are no more rules or scenarios?

How does the bail bondsman make his money?

Huyton Layne · January 10, 2013

Slavan said:
Can one of the many American contributors explain?

We have a show I was shown on the discovery channel, first week in.

the american prison system looks like a massive waste of money.

Huge business in the States. Think I heard the other day that America has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prisoners. You know something's wrong when prisons are being run as businesses.

Slavan · January 10, 2013

are they privatly owned and ran?

Allezfan · January 10, 2013

Slavan said:
are they privatly owned and ran?

Unpaid labour, mate. The state pays the prisons to hold criminals and then the prison charges companys for work done by the prisoners.

It's a nice little earner.

pfim · January 10, 2013

Bondsmen front the money for bail, and charge 10% or so. If you don't show up for the court appearance, they forfeit your bail money to the court.

Then the fun begins as they chase you down or repossess the asset that you signed over to them as collateral.

Yes, they are private businesses but licensed in the state they operate in.

And no, I don't know from experience. Yet.

EFC NY · January 10, 2013

Groucho said:
I'm not American but this is my understanding; You get arrested then bailed but cannot afford the bail price. A bail bondsman puts up your bail, secured against something, you or a trusted other then have to honour the bail bond. If you do a runner, you've breached the agreement and are done for.

USA membership, am I close?

Pretty much yes. I am a criminal defense attorney, so I know from that prospective. As with all things in the USA, the details will differ state by state. In NY, an insurance company files with the Court a piece of paper that basically says they will pay the court the bail amount if the defendant does not appear. In order to take on this risk, the insurance company, through their agent (a bail bondsman), obtains a fee from a person seeking the defendant's release, and usually collateral as well, and possibly also a promissory note from a person with verifiable income. The details of the collateral and fees, etc will be different for each transaction, subject to certain state legislative restrictions.

And if any of you lids get arrested in the States, give me a call.

Tubey · January 10, 2013

Artetafan said:
Unpaid labour, mate. The state pays the prisons to hold criminals and then the prison charges companys for work done by the prisoners.

It's a nice little earner.

And should be done far, far more often in the UK too.