What is bail and how does it work?

Question

I have always seen in movies how people bail each other out and I am always confused on the concept.

In: Other

Answer 1

Bail is an amount you pay to the court to help ensure you show up to your trial. Rather than wait in jail for your trial (which can take months) you let the court hold onto $X (set by a judge) as collateral. If you show up, you get the money back; if you don’t, you lose it.

Now, most folks don’t have that kind of cash lying around, so they can instead go to a bail bondsman. The bondsman will put the cash up on your behalf, but they charge you a fee (typically 10% of the amount) for the service.