Bail Bondsman Salary

One of the opportunistic careers emerging out of the American justice system, is that of the bail bondsman. Strange business opportunities can arise from the peculiarities of the rule of law in a country. One such career is that of a bail bondsman. In this Buzzle article, you'll find a brief overview of what this job entails and provide you with a rough idea about the average bail bondsman salary.

What is the Role of a Bail Bondsman?

Before we talk about salary, you need to understand what is a bail bond in the first place and what are the circumstances which necessitate the role of such a bail bondsman. When a person is booked and arrested for a crime, he has to appear before a judge, in a court room, where the arrest charges against him and his plea (guilty or not guilty) is heard. In most cases, irrespective of what he pleads, a court trial is in the offing.

The date for trial, due to the process of gathering evidence and preparation, can take months or even years, in some cases. That's why, the judge must decide, whether or not to allow the accused to be released until the trial begins. Depending on the seriousness of the charge, a bail amount is declared by the judge. That bail amount must be paid. The condition is stated thus, if the accused does not return to court on the set trial date, he is liable to forfeit the whole bail amount. Generally the families of the accused, are unable to pay the bail amount and that's where the bail bond and the bail bondsman come into the picture.

The accused, who is standing trial, may opt for the bail bonds process to secure temporary release. When the accused or family of the accused approaches a bondsman, he arranges for a special kind of bond called the bail bond which secures the temporary release of the accused till trial. These special types of bonds called bail bonds are actually surety bonds that guarantee the payment of the entire bail amount to the court in the event that the accused does not honor the conditions of his release on bail. They arrange for the payment of bail amount by either pledging assets, blanket bonds or cash.

In return for taking the responsibility of being a guarantor, they charge a fee to the accused, which is generally around 10% of the set bail amount. Thus the responsibility for the return of the accused for trial lies with the bail bondsman. On return of the accused to court on trial date, the bail amount may be refunded, after the case is over. A bail bondsman may work individually or work for a firm. The average bail bondsman salary is entirely dependent on the number of clients he ropes in, which in turn is dependent on his experience in the field. There is a high financial risk involved here, in case the accused that you are helping, is found absconding.

Salary of Bail Bondsman

Before you start earning a bail bondsman salary, you must get a license to be one. Let me outline some conditions in case you want to know how to become a bail bondsman. There are certain conditions in every state, to become eligible for obtaining license. This involves a thorough background check and coursework, followed by tests. Coaching for these tests is available. Once you clear those tests, an apprenticeship with a bail bonds dispensing firm is generally recommended, after which you can obtain a license. Later you may choose to work with a firm or operate individually.

The average salary of a bail bondsman, in firms, may start from about $24,000 per year (boiling down to about $10 to $15 per hour). This salary is in the form of commissions on jobs completed. These commissions are generally 10% to 15% of the total bail amount. This amount can increase with years of experience in the field. However the bail bondsman salary can be substantially upgraded when he/she starts operating independently and takes a much higher risk. It is a job that necessitates a trained eye for judging people and involves a lot of risk, due to interaction with charged criminals. The bail bondsmen have to personally hunt for the accused, in case he evades the trial and flees. This has given rise to the practice of hiring bounty hunters and has led to further crimes resulting from the same.

There has been a major uproar against this practice and this profession and some states (Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky and Oregon) have banned this practice entirely and courts have offered a facility to grant bail for the accused, on the payment of 10% of bail fees (with the liability of paying in full if bail conditions are not honored). This was done to eliminate the need for middlemen like the bail bondsmen. However, this practice continues in many US states and it is the only country in the world to allow this. Those who are willing to take the risk involved in this business, are known to earn a bail bondsman salary of $50,000 to about $150,000 in a year.

A strange profession, emerging out of the decisions of US judiciary, it offers opportunity for people who are willing to take the risk. The risk taken pays out well it seems and the bail bondsman salary has been observed to be on the rise with experience.