Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

People enter into a written contract to pay a bail bondsman a 'premium' amount in order to have the bondsman 'post bail' for a defendant who promises to appear in cour and wants to get out of jail without paying the court the full amount of the bail on the case..

That premium is generally about 8-10% of the total bail amount on the case. Once the bondsman posts that bail, the premium is his profit / income and non-refundable, whether the case is dismissed or not. Its like if you pay your car insurance premium and don't file a claim during the year, you don't get your premium back.

The risk to anyone posting a bail bond is if the defendant fails to appear at each and every court appearance, bail would be 'forfeited' and the bondsman would have to pay the court the full bail amount due. He would then collect that full bail amount from the person[s] signing the contract, suing as necessary.

Paying large amounts to a bondsman just to avoid a couple days in jail waiting to go to court is a decision the client must weigh. Defendant's' family are generally the ones to call us lawyers to ask what to do, hopefully before paying a bondsman. Personally, I generally counsel my clients or their family to save their money so they can pay for a lawyer who will go to court for the defendant's Arraignment, and seek reduction in bail or an OR release if possible.

For defendants and family without funds to hire an attorney, the defendant will have to sit in jail until their Arraignment, at which time they can request appointment of the Public Defender.