FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you have ever wondered how bail works, you are not alone. These examples will give you a basic idea of the bail process. Please remember, we always have an agent ready to assist you – call 888-HITCHMAN to get connected.
CASH/SURETY
The first type of bail available from private bail companies is a Cash/Surety Bail Bond or No 10%. What this means is, if a bond is set at $10,000 at No 10%, the court will only accept a full cash payment of $10,000 from an individual or you can obtain a surety/bail bond agent to post on your behalf. We (the surety) would write a bond for $10,000 and collect a 10% non-refundable premium ($1,000) from the person who signs the defendant out of jail (the indemnitor).
10%/AT PERCENT
The second type of bail is 10% or At Percent Bail ordered by the court. Let’s take the same bond of $10,000; however, this time it is set at 10%. If you are unable to come up with the full 10% premium to pay the court, you can elect to use a surety company – that’s us! We can help finance this premium for you. We still charge 10% premium on the bond, but we are able to set up payments plans with the indemnitor (co-signer). We would take a down payment on the bond, then set up a personal payment arrangement to get the premium paid off. Remember though, if you were to post through us or any other surety company, the money is non-refundable.
We require an indemnitor(s) on all bail we post, unless other financial obligations are met. This individual is essentially a co-signer who signs on behalf of the defendant to ensure the following:
- If the defendant fails to appear, the indemnitor would be responsible to pay us, the surety, either the fees to bring him/her back into custody or the full $10,000 to the court. In many cases, but not all, the indemnitor should be employed.
- The indemnitor is legally responsible to pay off the bond premium if any of it was financed.
- Higher set bonds will usually require multiple indemnitors.
If the indemnitor does not have the full premium (which is 10% of the bond plus court fees), we can approve financing the bond premium, after the down payment is made. Typically, we would require full payment within 90 days, same as cash.
The reason for bail is to encourage the individual defendant to appear at their court proceeding (a right guaranteed by the 8th Amendment of the Bill of Rights) and to help prevent the overcrowding of jails, which also helps in the money it costs to house inmates. In other words, private bail gives an incentive not just to the defendant to show up to court, but to the agency and the person who signs for the defendant. If the defendant fails to appear for court the surety company is now liable to pay in full the bail amount that was posted ($10,000 as the example above) as a penalty for their defendant’s failure to appear.
If you have any questions, feel free to call our office and ask. We are more than glad to give free helpful advice – 419-522-JAIL (5245) or toll-free 1-888-HITCHMAN.
Do you live in one state and the individual you are trying to post bail on has been incarcerated in another state? We can help with that!
From here, we would set up a transfer bond with another surety agent to post the out-of-state bond. That agent is usually affiliated with our insurance company. This way you are dealing with two local agents. We have agent contacts all across the United States of America and Puerto Rico.
