Why Bail Bonds Are an Important Part the Criminal Justice System
Can private industry do better than the government to ensure the appearance of defendants? To some, the answer is, no. The resources available to the government are so vast that private companies could not do a better job. Some would say, yes. Of course, a private company could. They would be beholden to their customers and would survive or die based on the quality of their work. Both are true to some extent. Bail happens to be one of those industries that have flourished as a private business separate from the government. The entire point of bail is to ensure the appearance of the defendant. Bail ties the defendant to a family member or another loved one and increases the probability that the defendant will appear for their court hearing. When local governments outlaw bail or simply don't use it (release on own recognizance), the appearance rates plummet. Bail has an appearance rate of 95% to 98%. Pretrial release (or government-run programs) at the best show an 80% appearance ra...