To understand what are bail bonds one must first grasp the concept of a bail. A bail is money someone has to put up as an assurance to court or a judge that they will comply with courts decisions and return for any further hearing as the judge has ordered. The court will hold up this bail money till the entire hearing procedure is complete and the court is convinced that the defendant has complied with all the requirements.

The amount of money depends on the severity of alleged crime, suspects previous criminal record, the danger that the release of suspect may pose to the public and the suspects ties and friendships in the community and surroundings.

The amount of bail money can range from a really low amount to massive amounts that might be un-affordable for some people. In such a case the accused has the option of staying in jail till the net date or be released into public by paying bail money or submitting bail bond.

Bail bond is an assurance or guarantee that allows a person who is accused of having committed a crime to stay out of police custody while their case is yet not finalized and the defendant is awaiting either a judgement of conviction or acquittal. The defendant is assigned a bail bond by a bail bondsman. The bails bondsman ensures it to the court, as a written agreement, that the accused will attend the hearing on time and that in case of his absence on the due date the complete bail money will be submitted to court by the bail bond agent.

A bail bonds man charges the defendant a non-refundable percentage of the bail amount in return for guaranteeing the court his return and compliance. This percentage is usually around 10% of the bail money but an agent my charge more and may also insist that the client put up some property as collateral to secure the bond. In some case to ensure that the accused does not flee, the bails bond company looks for friends and family members to act as indemnity, who will then be liable for the bail money if the defendant does not appear on time.

It is through this non-refundable percentage that a bails bonds company makes its earning. The take up a percentage for the risk they take in being the guarantors of a dependent. Of course, there is risk involved, in case the defendant tries to flee, the bails bond agency may assign bounty hunters to track such defendants and bring them to court. The bail bond company is legally empowered to carry out this hunt and bring the accused to justice. In the rare case the accused manages to hide or flee successfully, the bails bond company is liable to pay the complete bail amount to the court. In such a situation, the collateral and indemnity come into play too and may be used against the accused.

If one is to setup a bails bond company, he must ensure he understands the laws of the state he plans on operating in and has the complete paperwork, licenses and registration requirements sorted out. It is important to have some form of Insurance for the company too. The next steps should be to locate the office at ideal locations and advertise sufficiently to gain a good clientele. And very importantly have a system setup to catch any fleeing accusers or clients, perhaps by hiring bounty hunters, to help minimize the risk involved in running such a business.

When setting up a bails bond company it is important to consider that the laws regarding bails bond system having been under discussion in many states and there has been some criticism of such a system that forces the poor to stay in jail while allowing others to roam free creating a sense of discrimination (to get more treatment on this, go here: https://legaldesire.com/how-do-24-hour-bail-bonds-work/. If such a law is passed that renders a bail bond system obsolete, the bail bonds companies will also go out of business completely.

On the contrary, it is to be noted that the bails bond industry has been very profitable too, according to some reports the industry brings in around 2 billion dollars in profit per year. So, if you have understood all the risks involved and have a clear plan on aiming reasonable clientele, bail bond companies can be quite profitable.