The truth about these touch guys.

• Author: Granof, Eric
• Position: Bail bond agents - Law & Justice

WHEN MOST people think of bail bonds, they immediately imagine dark alley thugs and large, rough men wearing fedoras and smoking cigars. While not a glamorous image, it is one that has been sold to the public for decades. From Hollywood directors to the news media, the bail profession has been positioned in such a negative light that the only way the average person can tell the difference between a ball agent and a criminal is by what side of the bars each is on. What most people do not realize is this negative portrayal of the bail profession could not be further from the truth.

The concept of bail goes back to English law and was brought to this country with the first settlers. In its simplest form, bail is an insurance policy guaranteeing that a person being released from custody while awaiting trial will show up for all court appearances until the case is adjudicated fully.

There are two main forms of pretrial release: secured and unsecured. The former involves the placement of a financial form of security to guarantee the defendant's appearance, while unsecured merely promises that the defendant will appear. There are a few forms of secured release: cash bail (defendant posts full amount of bail), deposit bail (defendant pays the court a small percentage of the bond set), and surety bail (a private party guarantees appearance of the defendant in court, otherwise pays the court the full amount of the bail). Commercial surety bail, which is what we will focus on, uses an insurance company whose agents post a bond as security to guarantee a defendant's appearance in court.

While ball is a simple concept at its core, it is a complicated process to understand fully because it is regulated so differently across the country. Currently, 46 states, along with Puerto Rico, allow commercial surety bail. (Kentucky, Oregon, Illinois, and Wisconsin utilize alternative forms of release.) These 46 states each regulate bail differently, not only at the state level. but at the county level as well.

In its broadest sense, ball works like this. When an individual is arrested for a crime, that person is booked into custody, and a background check is performed to make sure that individual does not have any outstanding warrants or is wanted by law enforcement elsewhere. If the background check is returned with no issues, bail is set by the court, usually by a magistrate or other official. The amount of the bond will depend on many factors, including the...