The Differences Between Private and Public Bail Bonds

Bail Bonds used to be a private matter between you and a generous family member or friend. When you are arrested for a crime, your bail is set and needs to be paid in order for you to function in your daily life and avoid jail time during your trial. This could take weeks, months, even years. A private bail bond was a personal favor. The family and friends who trust you most to attend all of your appointed court dates would help you personally. This may some come with or without incentive.

Private bail bonds are delicate agreements between you and close members of your family or friend group. If by any chase you do not fulfill the requirements of your bail and skip out on a court date, the bail money is not paid back to your personal relation. You can seriously destroy your relationships and support systems if you do this. Sometimes this is not enough of an incentive to show up to court that some states do not allow private bails and require you to secure bail bond money from a public entity.

Private bail bonds are not as common as they used to be. Not only do most people not have private funds to post hundreds of thousands of dollars on your behalf, but in some states, you are not even able to have a private party post your bail for you. Bail Bond companies are set up to maintain handling posting bail for members of the respective city and state. These businesses operate as a for profit company, not as a public service. When you’re seeking out a public bail bond, you will need to pay a percentage of the total bail as your bail bond fee.

In the case of public bonds, if you don’t show up to your appointed court dates, you will personally be held responsible and the bail bond company will go after you and your co-signer for the full amount of the bail and the bail bond fee. You will also be considered on the run and the court will throw you back in jail. Consider all the incentives here: you will destroy your personal relationship with your co-signer, you will owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company that will do everything in their power to get it, and, on top of all of it, you will be stuck in jail until your case is decided. Being in contempt of court may even hurt your chances for getting off as it shows a greater possibility of being guilty.

The reason there are bail bonds are not just to make sure that you show up to court, it’s also a way for you to handle a court case while continuing to live and work outside of jail. If you’ve been accused of a crime and are out on private or public bail, make sure that you do everything to please the courts in your case and you can maintain your integrity with friends, family, and the community.