What is bail?
Bail is cash collateral to ensure a person shows up for their court date. Bail is set based on the seriousness of offense and past criminal history of the person being bailed out. Bail is set by the judge based on the recommendations of the attorneys when person is formally charged in court. That is the court states the charge brought against the person and the attorney representing the accused requests bail. The attorney for the prosecution can accept the bail request amount, ask for an increase or ask that bail be denied. The judge will weight the facts and set the bail.
What is Bail? Author: Joe Mastrapa We all experience rough sailing from time to time. For some of us, this will just mean a re-evaluation of our lives and a determination to move forward. For others, however, there may be some legal wrangling that becomes involved, and for whatever reasons, we may find ourselves or a member of our families faced with jail time and court appearances. Knowing what their options may be in terms of being able to get out of jail while awaiting a court appearance will involve becoming knowledgeable about bail, how to post it and what it all means. Quite simply, bail is a guarantee to the court, usually monetarily, that someone will appear at all of his or her scheduled court dates and will remain in the specified area until the completion of all legal proceedings which surround the case. If you are arrested and booked, you may post bail yourself at the jail at which you are detained by having a family member pay the bail for you.
Bail is money or, frequently, a bail bond that is put up for the suspect to allow him or her to remain free until the completion of the case. Bail basically creates a financial incentive for a suspect to appear in court — failure to do so results in the loss of your bail money; you’ll also get a warrant for your arrest, and you can add bail jumping to your criminal charges, to boot.
Bail is money that some criminal defendants are required to deposit to guarantee that they will return to court if released from jail while their cases are pending. Although there are several exceptions, in general people arrested for an infraction or a misdemeanor must be released upon signing a written notice to appear.
