We all see those bail bonds commercials on television, but who really pays any attention to them? Nobody unless, of course, you suddenly find yourself knee deep in trouble with the law.

The whole idea of bail stems from an idea that has not always been part of the legal system, but is certainly considered part of the Anglo-American system of law. This is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. So, when you have this tradition and a legal system that is very slow and cumbersome, you are faced with the problem of what to do with the accused person from the time they are arrested and the time they have a trial. If it is going to take a couple of years to complete a trial, locking them up for that time seems a bit unfair.

Bail is actually a set amount of money, or something of equivalent value, such as property, that serves to guarantee that a person will appear for trial. If a person is truly innocent, it makes no sense to keep him locked up for months at a time while he waits his chance to get into the courtroom. Of course, bail would have never been necessary if justice were indeed swift. Unfortunately, justice is very slow. Despite the constitutional guarantees of a swift trial, innocent people can not remain locked up. Even guilty people might end up spending more time in jail waiting for a trial than they would have to serve upon conviction.

So, a bail bond is an agreement between the accused and the court. The agreement is called a surety. This word means pretty much how it sounds. A surety is a legal contract that makes sure that something will happen and results in forfeiture if it does not. When a person is arrested and accused of a crime, he will quickly have a hearing before a judge where bail will be established. Upon payment of the bail amount, the accused will be released from custody. If the accused returns for all court hearings as expected, the bail amount is returned because he has upheld his part of the agreement.

In a minor offense, the bail amount could be small, but most often it is not. In some cases, bail will be denied completely because the risk of releasing the accused criminal is just too great. However, in most cases, some sort of bail amount will be set. In the United States, an agent called a bail bondsman will post the bond after receiving a percentage of the total amount in payment. For example, if the bail is set at $10,000, the bondsman might receive a payment of $1000 from the accused, and then he stands surety for the remaining $9000.

In the above example, the accused will not receive his $1000 back upon showing up for trial. If he does not have the full amount, however, he may decide the loss of the money is worth more than spending months in jail waiting for his trial date. In many cases, property, such as real estate, can be pledged as surety for a bail bond. Many people feel that the bail system is unfair, but it should be remembered that it has two purposes. Not only does it insure the return to court of the accused if he wishes a trial, it also pays the expenses and reimburses the court and the people it serves for the expense of recapturing a criminal that was once in custody and released.

Aazdak Alisimo provides bail bond information for free at BailBondsAssistance.com where you can find bail bonds companies across the nation.