Even in Los Angeles, Bail Bonds Are a Critical Part of the Justice System

Trials are legally required to happen efficiently; it’s a part of the US Constitution — specifically the 6th Amendment. Unfortunately, the right to a “speedy” trial is a relative thing; with the sheer number of court cases in America today “speedy” can mean months of waiting before the trial starts. Especially in a big town like Los Angeles, bail bonds are a vital part of the system.

That’s because bail bonds are the path that a defendant can take in order to await his trial at home instead of in jail. If you can’t afford your bail, your options are to wait in jail or get a bail bond. Waiting in jail means you’re not working, which means you’re not paying your mortgage, not paying on your car, and not keeping up with your friends and family. You can imagine the results: they’re devastating.

Getting a bail bond, then, is obviously the better option. A bail bond essentially means that someone you know gets in touch with a bail bondsman and gives them 10% of the cost of your bail. The bondsman then puts up the entire amount of your bail, and you go home free and clear — at least until your trial starts — within a few hours.

You must then show up for your trial religiously. If you don’t, the bondsman can and will send bounty hunters after you to drag your butt back to the courtroom, even if it’s just because you slept in. A Los Angeles bail bondsman has that right because he is the one that just fronted you 90% of your bail — an amount that often registers in the five to six digit range.

Bail bonds thus form a critical contract between the defendant, the courts, the bail bondsman, and the loved one who signs the bail bond agreement. In the worst case scenario, if the bounty hunter cannot find you, the bail bondsman is given leave to come down on the loved one in order to get the other 90% of the bail paid back. This gives the defendant several powerful motives to go to his court dates — and that, in the end, is what everyone else wants.