The purpose of a  bail bond is to release a person charged with a crime from jail. In exchange , the accused promises to make all their court dates subject to the bail bond being forfeited upon a failure to appear. What happens when the courts set an excessive or punitive bond to punish those charged with certain offenses ?

 

A person charged with a misdemeanor is normally given a small bond of a couple of thousand dollars. Last week , I discovered that bail bonds were being set in Sumner County , Tennessee for $75,000.00. for DUI Second offenses. A person charged with a DUI second offense would have to write a check for the $75,000.00 or pay a bail bondsman a fee to get out of jail. A magistrate or a judge is given some discretion to use certain measures on a person charged with a multiple DUI offense such as ignition interlock and a scram device to name a few.

The question then is whether the amount of bail is punitive. How is the bail bond on a DUI offense compared to other crimes ? Is the same amount being set on all multiple DUI case ? Should one just pay the bond or file a motion to reduce bond. Here is a link to a short video on the factors for a bond reduction.

So fight the bail bond and you might get hammered on the conditions of bond or you can pay a excessive bail bond to get out out of jail. Not much of a choice when you are presumed innocent.