CentralBookingINFOLOGOWhat is Bail?

How Does Bail Work?

Bail is an amount set by a Judge in a case to ensure that a person will come back to court.

Bail Is Set To Prevent Someone From Fleeing….

This is the Definition of BAIL!

Bail is basically a way of ensuring that a person involved in a court case comes back to court and does not run away.  Bail is set in different types of cases.  The most common type of case is a criminal case.  However, bail is not just set in criminal cases.  For instance, many immigration cases involve situations where deportation is at issue but no crime is alleged to have been committed.  In these cases, a bail might be set by a Judge so that the person that is in the deportation proceeding comes back to court and just does not ignore the case and live life as if nothing is happening.

Why Does A Court Set Bail?

Judges often see situations in which people fail to return to Court.  Bail is often necessary to get someone to come back to Court.

How Does A Court Decide Bail?

What Is Bail? Bail Is Something That Is Going To Bring You Back To Court…

Bail is about flight risk… It is going to be whatever a Judge thinks it needs to be to prevent you from getting on the next plane out of the country…

Bail Has One Purpose: to ensure that a person attends all future court dates…


There are a number of factors that a Court will consider when determining what bail should be.  Different states use different criterion to set bail.  These factors include:

  1. The kind and degree of control or restriction that is necessary to ensure someone comes to court when required
  2. The Person’s character
  3. The Person’s mental condition
  4. The Person’s reputation and habits
  5. The Person’s employment
  6. The Person’s financial resources
  7. The Person’s family ties to the county or state
  8. How long the Person has lived in the community
  9. The Person’s Criminal Record
  10. The Person’s previous history of appearing in Court (Were warrants issued in prior cases?)
  11. The weight of the evidence and factors which might made conviction unlikely
  12. The sentenced which may be imposed

FIGURING OUT WHEN A BAIL MIGHT BE VERY HIGH IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

(It is not an exact science either!)

FOR EXAMPLE:

If a Person with a criminal record and warrants is accused of a serious crime in a State they do not live in…

As in, you live down south, but are accused of a murder in New York State…

What is the Bail going to be?

THE BAIL IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE REALLY HIGH….

YOU PAY THE BAIL AND YOU WILL BE “OUT ON BAIL” UNTIL THE CASE IS OVER (THOUGH THE JUDGE CAN REVISIT BAIL AT ANY POINT).

There are no ties to the community, there are previous arrests, there is a warrant history, which means the person has already shown that they don’t return to court and the crime is serious (though the charge itself should not be used alone to determine bail…maybe this is a legal fiction, but that is how it is supposed to work).  A Judge is most likely going to set a serious bail in this example.


FOR EXAMPLE:

You were in your house that you lived in for 20 years.  You were minding your business and listening to music after a long day’s work.  Your neighbor did not like the sound of your music.  He came into your apartment through an open door and turned it down.  You both had words.  He hit you in the face.  Your pet roach witnessed the fight and became hostile.  It attacked your neighbor and bit him.  You then hit him with a stick over and over again until he ran out of the house.  He called the police.  They arrested you and another neighbor took your pet roach to her house.

WHAT IS BAIL GOING TO BE?

THERE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE A BAIL.  You were in your house.  You have lived there for 20 years.  Your Lawyer will argue that you plan to fight the charges, and that you have a good chance of winning as you were a victim and you were attacked.  Your Lawyer will also discuss your employment history, how you have no criminal history and how if not for that brave pet roach, you could have been seriously injured.  Further, he will argue that you must care for your roach and that you are responsible for caring for the roach and without you, the roach does not have a chance at a decent life.

IN THIS EXAMPLE YOU WOULD LIKELY BE RELEASED ON YOUR OWN RECOGNIZANCE (ROR).  This means you will be released without having to pay a monetary bail.  Often there will be conditions that the court will set.  They may issue an ORDER OF PROTECTION stating that you have to stay away from your neighbor while the case is pending.  This will usually include contact online (so if you are facebook friends, you need to defriend the person and not right back if he tries to talk to you…even if he initiates contact, YOU can go to jail for violating the order of protection).  This also usually means no third party contact.  That means you can’t have friends trying to talk him into dropping the case.  You can go to jail for that too.

IF THE PERSON HAS PASSPORTS, HOUSES OVERSEAS, AND A PLANE….

A COURT MIGHT CONSIDER THOSE RESOURCES AS A RISK FOR FLIGHT AND SET A BAIL…

WHAT IS BAIL GOING TO BE?

WHO KNOWS…

BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE…

BAIL IS GOING TO BE WHATEVER THE JUDGE THINKS WILL MAKE YOU FLY YOUR PLANE BACK HERE FOR THE NEXT COURT DATE

OR DRIVE YOUR PINTO…

OR TAKE THE TRAIN…

WHAT ARE BAIL BONDS?

WHAT IS A BAIL BONDSMAN?

There are other things you should know.  Like there may be a cash bail and a bond amount set.  What is the bond?  Sometimes, the bail is high and someone may need to get a bail bond in order to post bail.  A bail bond often comes from a bail bondsman.  A bail bondsman is someone who posts bail on behalf of an individual.  The bail bondsman might take a smaller amount than the actual bail amount in order to post a bond for a higher bail amount.  How much is a bail bondsman? Well, that varies.  You should ask the different bail bondsman how much you must give them in order for them to post bail for someone.  Different bondsman might charge completely different prices.  This is no different than any insurance.  In fact, it is very similar to some extent.  Different insurance companies will assign your risk differently.  Different bail bondsman will assign your risk of flight differently and that will be one factor in how much you will have to put up.  Other factors like assets are often considered as well.  However, each bail bondsman has his or her own criterion and requirements.  Many will want to speak to the person periodically (once a week, after court, etc).  You should consult a bail bondsman for more information about posting bail using a bail bond.

HOW DO I FIND OUT IF SOMEONE HAS A BAIL IN NEW YORK?

Looking to find out if a court has decided that someone has to pay bail before being released in New York State?  If so, you can use the webcrims information system to find out the amount of someone’s bail in a New York Criminal Case.  Check out the helpful link below to get information about finding out how much someone’s bail is in New York:

CLICK HERE TO FIND SOMEONE’S BAIL AMOUNT IN NEW YORK