If you’ve read an article about bail bonds and how much money these services cost, you may be surprised to learn the truth. Bail bonds are a great way to keep out of jail. They have tripled in price since the 1990s, and they’re the most efficient and taxpayer-friendly way to keep the courts running smoothly. Monroe county bail bonds agents gather to learn the trade tricks.
It is an efficient and taxpayer-friendly way to keep the courts running smoothly.
Cash bail is inefficient and ineffective in maintaining the courts, where more than half a million people languish in jail cells nationwide. This is mainly due to involuntary circumstances – housing instability, job conflict, childcare crises, etc. Cash bail does nothing to remove these obstacles, it only compounds them. Instead, adopt a commercial bail system.
To ensure that court dockets are not overly busy, they should offer uniform rescheduling policies, including the option to post bail for up to two hours. This method will ensure that courts remain accessible to the public and will not become overburdened with court appearances. Further, taxpayers will also benefit from reduced costs. Finally, by making the court system more efficient, people will be more likely to show up and complete their cases.
It allows defendants to stay out of jail.
Bail Bonds are money used to secure a defendant’s release from jail. A defendant who posts bail will be required to obey specific rules to stay out of jail. If they miss a court date or leave town without paying their bail, they’ll be responsible for re-entering prison. In most cases, bail amounts are high enough that many people cannot afford them. The bail amount can be thousands of dollars for some crimes, while less serious crimes usually come with much lower bail amounts.
In some states, defendants can have family or friends put up collateral for a bail bond. This means that they are less likely to skip a court date. Friends and family can also remind the defendant of their court date and require regular check-ins at the bail bond office. Most defendants would agree that these measures are worth taking to avoid jail. Nonetheless, some defendants may not have enough money to pay the full amount for bail.
It has tripled in price since 1990
In the past two decades, the price of Bail Bonds has more than tripled, with the average amount of bonds almost doubling. The industry is making a profit. ABC has written 11 model bills to make bail bonds more accessible to citizens. One of these would make bondsmen private parole officers and vastly expand their business. One such account is pending in South Dakota, where Rep. Dan Lederman, a member of ALEC, has 150 agents in eight states.
It is a system that discriminates against the poor.
In the United States, the bail system largely favors commercial bail bond agents and is a system that disproportionately disadvantages people of color and the poor. While some states have progressed in addressing this problem, more work is needed to ensure that cash bail does not result in a disproportionate number of people incarcerated based on their socioeconomic status. Over 70 percent of the jail population in the United States comprises people with low incomes, and this system does nothing to help those who cannot afford bail.
Currently, the bail system costs US $13.6 billion annually and disproportionately affects the poor. Furthermore, the system opens the door to predatory bail bond agents and damages defendants’ families. In addition to being a system that disproportionately penalizes the poor, bail bonds also lead to a high percentage of re-arrests and incarcerations for the unemployed.
