How does Bail work and Bounty Hunters?

Mackem Tommy said:
As I understood it, bail is set high. You pay a bondsman say, 10% of the bail amount. You don’t get that back. The bondsman puts bail up. Should you take off, they go after you.
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I'm rather certain this is the ticket
 


The Lonious Monk said:
Hold the phone. What does me being American have to do with knowing about bail bonds?!?

BUT, I believe you do get it back minus the court fees. People use bail bonds men when you cannot afford to pay the full amount of the bail. The Bounty Hunters work for the bail bonds men to hunt down those who are trying to skip on their bail.

@SYB_DC is a lawyer, so he might be able to shed more info on this (sorry, pal, but if it's a legal question, you're the person I go to)
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You've got it pretty much right. If you put up cash bail, you get it back minus whatever court fees there are (zero in many places). If you have to use a bail bond, the bondsman charges you a percentage of the bail posted - basically just functions like interest on a loan, as that's pretty much what it is (assuming the defendant shows up), but it has a risk premium built in so it's not too cheap.

The bounty hunters then collect a percentage out of the bondsman's cut if they need to be hired (as in, if the defendant skips bail).

Mackem Tommy said:
As I understood it, bail is set high. You pay a bondsman say, 10% of the bail amount. You don’t get that back. The bondsman puts bail up. Should you take off, they go after you.
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Yes, assuming you don't have enough money to pay the bail yourself.
 
SYB_DC said:
You've got it pretty much right. If you put up cash bail, you get it back minus whatever court fees there are (zero in many places). If you have to use a bail bond, the bondsman charges you a percentage of the bail posted - basically just functions like interest on a loan, as that's pretty much what it is (assuming the defendant shows up), but it has a risk premium built in so it's not too cheap.

The bounty hunters then collect a percentage out of the bondsman's cut if they need to be hired (as in, if the defendant skips bail).



Yes, assuming you don't have enough money to pay the bail yourself.
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Thanks, pal.

@CatRyan - here you go, straight from resident lawyer. This man knows his shit.
 
Watched a show on Netflix tonight called dope, there was a bounty hunter in Atlanta on it. He would get 10-20% of the bond. It said a good hunter could make 80k a year
 
The Lonious Monk said:
Hold the phone. What does me being American have to do with knowing about bail bonds?!?
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It works differently in the uk. Here bail is placed into the bladder of a wild boar (lightly killed) and paraded around the walls of parliament at midnight by a man in vestments made of the souls of departed chimney sweeps. If the accused fails to appear the bladder is lit with a flame from the embers of Saxon justice - which is contained in an ancient bucket in St Albans - and a warrant for their arrest is issued (written in swans blood on parchment made from otters feet) and his name is called three times outside the halls of the chief privy councillors bedchamber - which is situated in what is now a gents urinal outside the Dog and Duck in East Cheam.
 
George Kaplan said:
It works differently in the uk. Here bail is placed into the bladder of a wild boar (lightly killed) and paraded around the walls of parliament at midnight by a man in vestments made of the souls of departed chimney sweeps. If the accused fails to appear the bladder is lit with a flame from the embers of Saxon justice - which is contained in an ancient bucket in St Albans - and a warrant for their arrest is issued (written in swans blood on parchment made from otters feet) and his name is called three times outside the halls of the chief privy councillors bedchamber - which is situated in what is now a gents urinal outside the Dog and Duck in East Cheam.
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Brilliant :lol:
 
CatRyan said:
Seen it... still can't work it all out.
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Bail is set (some critics argue at unfairly high amounts to make it profitable) which has to be paid to allow the suspect to stay out of jail until their court date. Especially in serious cases this is more than the suspect can pay out of their own pocket. So they use the services of a bail bond company, who pay the full bail amount. In return the suspect pays the bail bonds people a non-refundable fee equal to 10% of total bail.

If the suspect turns up to court as required for the case, the bail is paid back in full, to whoever paid it to the court. Since the bail bonds people paid it, they get the money. Their rate of return is 10%.

If the suspect skips bail, ie doesn't show up to court, the bail bonds people stand to lose the whole bail amount they put up as essentially security against the suspect coming back to court. So they employ bounty hunters to track down people who've skipped bail and bring them back to court. The bounty hunters are typically paid approx 18% of the total bail, so the bail bonds people are losing money, just not as much money as if the entire bail amount is forfeit.

It essentially works like insurance. The court keeps costs down by not having every suspect in jail for however long the trial takes to be scheduled and take place, apart from the high risk suspects who stay on remand. The bail bonds people pay bail on the basis that the majority of suspects will show up, so they don't lose out on the minority who do. The bounty hunters catch 90% of suspects who skip bail, further minimising losses.
 
Cockney Mackem said:
Bail is set (some critics argue at unfairly high amounts to make it profitable) which has to be paid to allow the suspect to stay out of jail until their court date. Especially in serious cases this is more than the suspect can pay out of their own pocket. So they use the services of a bail bond company, who pay the full bail amount. In return the suspect pays the bail bonds people a non-refundable fee equal to 10% of total bail.

If the suspect turns up to court as required for the case, the bail is paid back in full, to whoever paid it to the court. Since the bail bonds people paid it, they get the money. Their rate of return is 10%.

If the suspect skips bail, ie doesn't show up to court, the bail bonds people stand to lose the whole bail amount they put up as essentially security against the suspect coming back to court. So they employ bounty hunters to track down people who've skipped bail and bring them back to court. The bounty hunters are typically paid approx 18% of the total bail, so the bail bonds people are losing money, just not as much money as if the entire bail amount is forfeit.

It essentially works like insurance. The court keeps costs down by not having every suspect in jail for however long the trial takes to be scheduled and take place, apart from the high risk suspects who stay on remand. The bail bonds people pay bail on the basis that the majority of suspects will show up, so they don't lose out on the minority who do. The bounty hunters catch 90% of suspects who skip bail, further minimising losses.
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Thank you. I saw a thing yesterday where a naughty police woman was set bail of $10m so just wondered how the figures broke down.
 
George Kaplan said:
It works differently in the uk. Here bail is placed into the bladder of a wild boar (lightly killed) and paraded around the walls of parliament at midnight by a man in vestments made of the souls of departed chimney sweeps. If the accused fails to appear the bladder is lit with a flame from the embers of Saxon justice - which is contained in an ancient bucket in St Albans - and a warrant for their arrest is issued (written in swans blood on parchment made from otters feet) and his name is called three times outside the halls of the chief privy councillors bedchamber - which is situated in what is now a gents urinal outside the Dog and Duck in East Cheam.
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:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

You are absolutely the best, Georgie. :lol:
 

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