Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: Bail

Let me explain with a hypothetical example. Assume a person (defendant) is being held for trial on a criminal charge, with $20,000 bail set as a condition of pre-trial release. The defendant could either post cash bail with the court administrator, or could buy a bail bond from a bail bond company/agent. In this community, bail bond companies generally charge a premium of 10% of the total value of the bail bond they file with the court. So, the premium for a $20,000 bail bond would be $2,000 (plus some kind of conditional lien against a house or other property for the full amount of the bond). If the defendant posts cash bail, at the time the case is resolved (dismissal or sentencing), he gets all his cash bail back, less any fines, restitution and fees deducted by the court.

But, no matter who deposits a cash bail with the court on behalf of a defendant, the DEFENDANT gets the money returned to him at the end -- NOT the person(s) who deposited the cash with the court on the defendant's behalf. There is no way around this that I know of.

If he gets bailed out with a cash bail, this should not affect his qualifying for the public defender -- though I would advise you to call the public defender's office to confirm this, first.

If you are concerned about him getting the cash bail returned to him, and not you, perhaps you should look at a bail bond instead. However it is done, it is important that defendants not be held in jail before trial, since this greatly reduces their ability and will to defend themselves.