Bail

Everyone has the Constitutional Right to reasonable bail. In California bail is usually set by schedule according to the charges in the indictment. For example a domestic violence charge carries s $50,000.00 bail. Similarly, if the charge is criminal threat, the bail will be $50,000.00. Every charge has a set bail according to a schedule.

After this initial setting a Judge may raise or lower the bail in court based on a request from a prosecutor or a defense lawyer.

After bail is set, a person may post 100% of the bail and 100% of the money will be returned at the end of the case. If the person fails to appear in court 100% of the money is taken by the court.

If a person cannot raise 100% of the bail s/he may hire a bail bond company to put up the bail for him/her. The bondsman will charge a percentage of the total bail as his fee. This money is never returned, it is kept by the bondsman as his fee for bailing out the person. Bondsmen also may require collateral, which is returned if the person appears at all court dates.