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Understanding How Bail Works – Frequently Asked Questions
When someone is arrested (in states that operate with commercial bail), a determination is made as to the type of pretrial release that will be considered based on the severity of the charge. For low level offenses, defendants are often cited and released or released on their own recognizance.
What are Bond Schedules?
Bond Schedules are predetermined bail amounts that can be used to quickly and effectively set a bail amount for a defendant when judge is not present. The bail schedules are typically developed by the judiciary (a panel of judges) in a county and is reviewed and revised on an annual or other predetermined time frame. The purpose for the creation of bail schedules was to allow for release on nights and weekends when courts were not in session and also to facilitate and speed up the release process.
Which method of pretrial release is the most effective?
As one might expect, financial conditions of release (even small bonds) far outperform those of OR and pretrial releases.
Judicial discretion is paramount in deciding release and most releases occur without any financial condition or additional court related burden at all. However, one size does not fit all and additional layers of accountability are necessary to ensure that both defendants and victims have their day in court. Bail decisions are routinely reviewed after the initial bail setting to foster balance and fairness within the system.
Is the Surety Bail Industry regulated?
A well-regulated bail system is essential to making sure that surety bail can continue to be a critical partner in the surety bail system. Because bail agents are conferred the power to arrest, it is essential that there be in place a system of rules and regulations that may accomplish that purpose.
How does the Surety Bail Industry supervise and monitor defendants?
If the financial incentives and safety net provided by surety bail is to be replaced with state-based supervision, there are several important considerations to keep in mind. The first is the cost of such systems. The District of Columbia for example spends $60 million annually on running their system. In addition, it is important to realize that someone must pay for the supervision and monitoring services if the defendant is unable to pay.
What about these pretrial risk assessment tools?
Risk assessments are typically comprised of a handful or more factors that are then assigned weights to come up with a risk score. Assessments, if validated, are only validated to predict risk, but are not validated to set bail and conditions of release. Thus, a risk assessment is but one more piece of information a judge can use to set the bail and conditions of release. Most risk assessments are intuitive—they are based on prior criminality and failures to appear.