Above All Bail Bonds

Bail or bond (in this case, bail and bond mean the same thing) is an amount of money in cash or in the form of a surety bond for the purpose of making sure that a person attends all required court appearances relating to a court case. Bond allows an arrested person (defendant) to be released from jail until his or her case is completed. There are two basic types of bail or bond: 1) a cash bond, posted with the court or jail, or 2) a surety bond, posted through a surety bail bond company such as Above All Bail Bonds.

Any person can post his or her own cash bond with the court or jail. If the defendant can’t afford to bond him or herself out of jail, any other person over the age of 18 can post the cash bond. If a defendant chooses to pursue a surety bail bond instead of a cash bond, most surety bail companies, like Above All Bail Bonds, require a cosigner who is at least 18 years of age to sign the bail documents. Because of the differences in bond amounts and the uniqueness of circumstances, the criteria to qualify as a cosigner for a bond can vary bond to bond and bail company to bail company.

A bail bondsman, bondsperson, bail agent, and bond agent are all names used for a person who is licensed by the Idaho Department of Insurance to sell surety bonds and is authorized to conduct business in the State of Idaho. He or she is an agent for an insurance company that sells surety bonds

A surety bond is an agreement made between a person and a bondsman. The bondsman agrees to post the necessary bond so the defendant can be released from jail. This agreement is backed by an insurance company contract signed by the person and the bondsman on behalf of the insurance company. There has to be enough cash or collateral to cover the full amount of the bond in case the defendant misses his or her court date. Only a person who has been licensed by the Idaho Department of Insurance may post a surety bond.

If you don’t have the cash to cover the full bond amount and sheriff’s fee, you may wish to hire a bondsman to bond yourself or someone else out of jail. A surety bail bond through a bail bond company like A-Affordable Bail Bonds typically costs 10 percent of the total bond amount, plus any additional fees. This can vary company to company, however. A-Affordable Bail Bonds is also authorized to provide a discounted rate of eight percent for active military, union members, and clients who have hired a private attorney to represent them. Also, as mentioned above, sometimes the court keeps a cash bond in part or in full to cover a defendant’s court fines and fees. If you are bonding someone out of jail and you don’t want to take the chance that all or part of your cash will be used to pay the defendant’s court fines, fees and restitution, you might want to hire a bail bondsman.

A surety bond will cost you a 10 percent of the bond amount, an agent’s fee, and a sheriff’s fee. You will not get any of these fees back because they are nonrefundable regardless of the guilt or innocence of the defendant and are fully earned upon the posting of the bond.