In this edition of Bail Bonds: Fact or Fiction, we address questions relating what it means to be an “indemnitor” for a California bail bond.

Fact or Fiction:  I’m listed as the bail bond indemnitor on my brother’s bond contract. The bail bonds agency was paid in full and he’s been released from jail.  There’s nothing else I need to do, right?

Fiction.  When you sign a contract with a California bail bonds company you assume responsibility beyond just making sure the agency is paid.

When a person is released on bail that does not mean their charge has gone away. Instead, it means they’re allowed to get out of jail and resume their life until their court dates.   It is only after the matter has been formally resolved by a judge that the case is considered to be closed.  As an “indemnitor,” the person who signed the bail bond contract, it becomes your responsibility to ensure that the defendant appears for all of their mandated court appearances.  Should he or she “fail to appear” in court, and has skipped town, the bail bondsman will have six months to locate the defendant and bring them into custody.  You legally share this responsibility. You are required to help the bondsman locate the defendant.  If the defendant is unable to be located, you as the indemnitor will be responsible for paying the full amount of their bond to the court.

Now, of course, this is a worst case scenario and such cases turn out this way about 2% of the time nationwide. So, if the defendant is a friend or a relative who you know will simply go to court and deal with the case, as clearly most out on defendants on bail do, by all means help out. If, however, you barely know the defendant, but you do know they just arrived from Columbia last week, you may want to reconsider.

If you’ve been asked to cosign for a bail bond, be sure to ask the bail bond agency questions you might have about the responsibilities you’ll be assuming.

Pretrial Services Vs. Commercial Bail

Is anyone surprised that bail wins?  Would you be surprised to know that twice as many defendants on unsecured release failed to make their court date?  That is correct: commercial bail (releasing a defendant on bond with a friend and bondsman following up) outperforms pretrial services (releasing a defendant on a promise to appear or their “own recognizance” without a responsibile individual to track the defendant) two to one in getting persons to court.

For 22 years, the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics has been indicating that bail wins, but recently the pretrial services advocates have been trying to make a case to change or eliminate the bail system as we know it. Bail bonds work because they assign responsibility and financial liability to parties who can control the outcome – getting the defendant back to court while allowing them to return to work and freeing up public funds (via jails and staff). This, of course, at no cost to the public.

Now we have another source to prove our point. This comes from this pretrial service’s own records. This particular agency in Houston, Texas is one of the largest and most sophisticated in the country. Bail works twice as well in preventing failures to appear.

Source: Pretrial Services Vs Commercial Bail

If your friend or family member is arrested, they could be stuck in jail for days, even weeks.  Posting bail is a fast, easy way to get them released until they must return to court.

You may already know that a bail bondsman is the person who goes to the jail to secure that release with a bond.  But do you actually know what a bail bond is and how it works?

A Bail Bond Is…

A bail bond is a paper document, much like a bank check, that is recognized by our courts.  People should not write checks unless they have provided enough money in their bank account to cover them.  A bail bondsman also makes a monetary promise that says: I guarantee the defendant will appear in court whenever a judge requires, on a specific date and time, or I will cover the entire amount of his bail.

Responsibilities When Co-Signing

But this promise is too risky for a bail bondsman to make alone, so they only post bonds after a defendant, friend or family member contacts the bondsman and agrees to become the bond’s co-signer, or “Indemnitor.”   By signing a bail bond contract, Indemnitors also guarantee to help find the defendant if court is missed or pay the full amount of the bail, if the individual cannot be found.

An Indemnitor has to be in a position to offer a bail bondsman something in return if the defendant misses court.  The bondsman considers the character of his co-signer up, making a calculated judgment call based on his experience.  He often asks potential Indemnitors if they have a job and for how long.  Do they have good credit? Are they homeowners? Etc. Etc.  The questions a bondsman asks help him determine whether or not they are the kind of stable, trustworthy people he is willing to write a bond for.  In addition, an Indemnitor’s involvement encourages the defendant to remain committed to his part of the bargain.  Let’s face it, who wants to stiff someone they care about, that helped get them out of jail?

Bondsman Responsibilities

The minute a defendant is released, the jail no longer has authority over him.  He is now considered to be the property, or “chattel“, of the bail bondsman.  This rule dates back to 13th century England, where the custom of bail first started, but today it simply means the bail bondsman has legal authority over the defendant.  His freedom is guaranteed — unless the bondsman revokes it for breaking the law or their bail contract.  If the defendant bolts, the bondsman can also hire a bounty hunter to re-arrest him.

Bail Forfeiture

If the defendant misses his court date(s), it’s called a “forfeiture.”  Using our check analogy, the bail becomes a “bad check” that needs to be covered.  And it’s the bail bondsman who is responsible for it, in full, to the court.  Fortunately, he has the Indemnitor who co-signed the bail bond, to collect that payment from.  And to further hedge his bets, when he deems it necessary, our bail bondsman has already gotten the Indemnitors commitment of collateral (like property) and a premium payment (10% of the bail amount).

But where does a bondsman get the cash he needs to cover an entire bail amount, which can sometimes be hundreds of thousands of dollars? Bail bondsmen contract with specialized insurance companies called sureties that underwrite bonds.  So not only are bail bonds like checks, they’re an awful lot like insurance policies, too.  If neither the Indemnitor nor the bail bondsman can pay the full bail amount, the court holds the insurance company responsible.

Bail Exoneration

But when a defendant keeps his court dates, the bond is “exonerated” or completed.  The bondsman returns all of the Indemnitor’s money and/or property, except his 10% cost-of-service fee.

Put Us On Speed-dial

In conclusion, a simple way to remember how bail works is with this little saying:  You don’t  have time to waste in jail, so get a bondsman to post your bail.  He’s the man with the can opener!

Oh, and you may also want to keep this number handy: 888-Bail-Bond (1-888-224-5266). It’s the phone number of Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds — my agency.  Because… well, you never know…