So for example, a guy murders people, gets arrested and a bail is set for 5 million dollars. Does the guy walk off if the bail is paid? plz 🙂
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In the US people who are accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty. However if you arrest someone for a crime and they are charged, there is an often significant period of time between their arrest and giving them a trial. During this period of time the person likely wants to avoid sitting around in jail, but there is a risk that if they are let free they won’t show back up for their trial. Bail is a way to hopefully ensure people show up for their court date, and it is an amount of money deposited with the court which they will get back if they return for their trial. If they don’t come back they don’t get their money back.
If someone is arrested for murder they might not get bail at all, considering it is very likely they will attempt to flee. But if they are offered bail they can pay the full amount themselves and go free until their court date. If they don’t show up they lose their bail money and are still subject to arrest and trial when they are eventually found. If they show up they get their money back in full.
If they can’t afford to pay the full amount of the bail then they can borrow the money from a bail bondsman. They will charge usually 10% of the bail amount and will provide the amount to the court in their stead. If the person shows up to court the bondsman gets their money back but the accused doesn’t get their 10% back, it is kept as a fee for the loan. If the person *doesn’t* show up to court then the bondsman isn’t getting their money back, unless they can find the person and deliver them to the court. That is where bounty hunters come in, people employed by the bondman to find these delinquent accused and deliver them to the court so the bondsman can get their money back.
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