Bail Bondsman Raleigh

Bail bondsmen ensure that defendants come to court by paying for the bail bond, keeping contact with the defendant and by searching for those defendants who have skipped court. Bail bondsmen are allowed to pursue and arrest those who have not appeared for their court dates as outlined by an 1872 ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Taylor v. Taintor. It is up to the discretion of each individual bondsmen whether or not to accept or decline a client, so people are not entitled to a bond agent. The United States is one of only two countries that uses bail bondsmen, as bail is not often posted in other countries. Bail laws can widely vary from state to state and North Carolina is no different.

North Carolina bail bondsmen requirements are much higher than in many other states. In North Carolina, approximately 10 percent of people called into court skip their court dates, which is why there is demand for bail bondsmen.

In order to become a bail bondsman in the state of North Carolina, the candidate must satisfy specific residency requirements, take extensive courses on bail bonding, be tested on the material and attend mandatory continuing education courses. Under penalty of North Carolina law, no one may act as a bondsman unless properly licensed by the state. Because the licensing is so thorough, however, North Carolina has an astoundingly high return rate for finding clients who did not show up for their court dates. This rate of return currently sits at 97.8 percent. In North Carolina, if a bail agent is forced to forfeit on a bond, the money will go to the North Carolina free public school system.

Bondsmen are beneficial to the state of North Carolina because of their benefit to taxpayers. There is no cost to taxpayers when people use the private bail bonds system, which saves state taxpayers in the state of North Carolina an estimated 2 billion dollars each year. Private bail bonds also prevent overcrowding of prisons and better ensure that defendants will come to their court dates.