Carl T.

Many times, cash or real property must be pledged directly to the court in order to guarantee the appearance of the defendants in court, as well as other conditions of bail. Since federal bonds use no middle-man, such as a bail bondman, they require assets to be pledged directly to the federal court. The required amount of bail, and the conditions of the bail and how it is to be submitted are determined by a federal judge or magistrate. The court may also require additional measures to secure the bond. These may include a surrender of the defendant’s passport and/or the personal guarantee of the friends and family of the defendant.

A federal bond with no justification is a bond that requires only the personal guarantee of one or more financially responsible person(s). Collateral is not necessary to guarantee this bond; only a personal guarantee by the financially responsible persons to pay for the bond if the defendant does not appear in court, and/or violations the conditions of the bond . This type of bond can be prepared by an attorney.

A corporate surety bond is a financial guarantee to the court that the defendant will appear before the court. The bond is guaranteed by an insurance policy that is written by a bail bond agency. This bond guarantees that all conditions required of the defendant will be fulfilled while the defendant is not in custody. Conditions of the bond can vary quite a bit. A few examples would be the restricting the defendants travel to a specific area, weekly required drug testing, or the limiting of business activities. Because of their inherent risk and liability, corporate surety bonds are not used as commonly as other bonds. Corporate surety bonds will usually cost 15% of the total bail amount, as well as requirement of some collateral, such as a house or vehicle.