Are You Responsible For Someone If You Bail Them Out?
A bail bond is only the guarantee payment that the court requests in order to save the defendant from being imprisoned until their trial and provides evidence that the defendant will return on time for their court appearance. To get your friend out of jail until their court date, you would pay a bondsman a fee of 10%, or $500, if the court sets the bail at $5000.
There are three ways for someone who has to post bail to get out of jail until their court date.
- Pay the entire bail sum.
- Pay 10% to the bondsman you hire.
- just let them stay in jail
You are agreeing to pay a non-refundable 10% of the total bail bond amount if you wind up signing the contract to pay a bondsman to free a friend or relative from jail ahead of their court date. You will be liable for covering the whole cost of the bail bond, though, if they fail to appear for their scheduled court appearance.
Do You Have Legal Responsibility For Them?
It is not your legal obligation to ensure that your friend or relative shows up for their court date, but if you post bail or sign a bail agreement, you should make sure the person you are bailing out will show up for court and not flee. However, the bail bonds firm WILL send a bounty hunter after your friend or relative and WILL try to recover the money they lost by contacting you, your friends, family, and place of employment. If they do, you have not committed a crime and are not in any legal trouble.
The likelihood of bounty hunters recovering their investment is high.
