If you are a law-abiding citizen in Orlando, then you may never have met a bail bondsman. You may have heard the bad publicity that this occupation gets on occasion. Before you join the naysayers, consider these facts about bail bondsmen in Orlando.
When a person appears before a judge, the judge sets a bail amount. Then, it is up to that individual to come up with that amount. They do not get to use any taxpayer money to come up with their bond amount. If they do not have all the money, then they can contact a bail bondsman who advances the money to them. The bail bondsman pays the bond out of their company funds. The person in trouble or a friend or family member must put up collateral or set up a payment plan.
Releasing a person on bail does not cost any extra money. It saves them money because they do not have to house, feed, provide medical care, and pay other expenses for those released on bond. If a person fails to appear, then the sheriff’s office and the court system gets to keep all the money from the bond.
When court date arrives, people who the court releases on bond have over a 97% appearance rate. One reason is they do not want to lose the money that they have spent on their bond. If someone else has put up that money, then that person often plays a vital role in making sure the person appears because they lose their money if the person fails to appear. There is no other program that can make that claim.
In the 3% of cases where a person fails to appear, the burden of finding the person does not return to law enforcement. Instead, it is the bail bondsman’s job to find the person. Then, the person is returned to custody. At the same time, the judge may issue a bench warrant so that law enforcement can arrest the person if they find them anywhere. The bail agent only has a brief period to return the person to jail.
There are many taxpayer programs to work with people out on bail. The truth, however, is that most are very ineffective. Those working with a bail agent have a lower recidivism rate than any other program.
If you have questions about bail bondsmen in Orlando, then give Mike Snapp Bail Bonds a call. They love to educate people about what they have been doing in Central Florida for almost 40 years. If you need a bond, then give them a call immediately.
