In the present era, bail has developed into several different forms, but essentially bail bonds given in the United States are either public bail or private bail. Public bail, generally known as the personal recognizance (p.r.) or release on recognizance bonds, allows the judge to say to the defendant, “I know you have been charged with a crime, however, I will trust you to come back when it is necessary to go to trial, and if you do not, I expect you to pay a certain forfeiture amount, for example, $10,000.00.” Pre-trial research is very limited, yet this form of public bail comprises nearly half of the people in jail today.
Personal recognizance bonds in some states and areas are given by judges, sheriffs, and others who are responsible and accountable, yet in some jurisdictions those granting p.r. bonds are not at all responsible to the public. For certain offenses, personal recognizance bonds are given by bail commissioners.
A second type of public bail bond given is the limited deposit bail bond. In this case, the judge says to the defendant, “You must put up ten percent of the bond to show good faith that you will come to court. If you do come to court, you will get ninety percent back of what you put up and ten percent will be charged as a service fee.” Therefore, on a $10,000 bond the criminal defendant will put up $1,000. If he comes to court on time, the case will be disposed of, and he will get back $900. If he fails to show up for court, he will lose the ten percent, and allegedly he can be sued for the other ninety percent. This type of bond can either be a judicial option or a defendant option, depending on the jurisdiction. In some states, the judges have the right to determine whether or not this type of bond will be available to the incarcerated party. In other states and jurisdictions, the defendant must always be offered the option of the ten percent.
In “defendant option”. states, the judge has really lost his ability to make bond determinations and only can set the amount of the bail bond.
In the next article we will talk about how private bail works.