Last week, I posted a $100,000 bail bond for a client who could have easily posted cash. |
|
That dynamic was unusual — most people, even those who are financially free, don’t have $100,000 in liquid cash. |
|
And yet, the question came up: Why use a bail bond when you can post cash and get it back later? |
|
That’s the conundrum every reputable bail agent faces — balancing integrity, fiduciary duty, and the optics of profit, while still advising the client correctly. |
Cash vs. Bail Bond: The Fiduciary View |
|
When I counsel a client, I try to do it as a fiduciary — meaning I give advice that’s in their best interest, not mine. |
That means acknowledging the situations where cash bail can make sense… but also the significant, often hidden disadvantages. |
|
Because once you’ve seen what happens to cash bail money at sentencing, you never forget it. |
|
The Sentencing Shakedown |
|
This part of the system doesn’t get talked about enough. |
|
When a defendant is sentenced — even after a plea deal — the court can impose a long list of fees that quietly eat away at the refund a family expects to receive from their cash bail. |
|
We’re not talking about a few hundred dollars in court costs. |
|
I’ve personally watched judges stack monitoring fees, restitution, and even “donations” to specific victim organizations onto sentencing sheets. |
|
One sentencing I attended involved a defendant whose family was known to be affluent. The judge assessed $10,000 to a victims’ charity — on top of everything else. |
|
And I couldn’t help thinking: Did this guy just pay for a deferral? |
|
I mentioned this to one of Hawaii’s top attorneys, and he told me he once had a client who was charged $60,000 in fees at sentencing. The client was known to be affluent, and again, the thought crossed my mind:If the courts don’t watch out, deferrals and fees may start to look like the Church once selling indulgences — forgiveness at a price. |
|
When a family’s wealth becomes public — which inevitably happens once their name appears on a court order as the cash bail poster — it can act like a signal flare. Judges and prosecutors sometimes treat that as a green light to “make things right” through added fees and contributions, regardless of whether the defendant can personally afford them. |
|
It’s one of the quietest forms of inequality in the justice system. |
The Hidden Cost of Having Cash in the System |
|
When you post cash bail, that money goes straight into the state’s hands. |
That means when sentencing comes around, you’ve already lost your leverage. |
If the court decides to tack on $5,000 or $15,000 in restitution or “victim contributions,” they can just pull it from the bail you already posted. Here’s a REAL deferral order breakdown, for a class C level felony DUI: |
SENTENCING FEES SUMMARY |
──────────────────────────────────────── |
Driver Education Assessment ............. $7 |
Driver Education Fee .................... $100 |
Neurotrauma Surcharge ................... $25 |
Trauma System Surcharge ................. $50 |
DNA Analysis Fee ........................ $500 |
Crime Victim Compensation Fund … $105 |
Probation Services Fee .................. $150 |
Internet Crimes Against Children Fee … $100 |
Drug Demand Reduction Assessment ........ $105 |
Fine .................................... $2,000 |
Crime Victim Fund ………...... $160 |
──────────────────────────────────────── |
TOTAL ................................... $3,302 |
That’s over $3,000 on a DUI plead out, and this client is making payments to departments that have nothing to do with his charges, like the “internet crimes against children” fee. |
|
A bail bond keeps leverage in your hands. Your money isn’t trapped in the state’s bank account, and if circumstances justify it, you can petition for a waiver for cause. That’s a far better game plan than trying to fight back to get what’s already gone. |
The Takeaway |
|
In a system that mounts bureaucracy on top of fairness, a bail bond isn’t just about saving money — it’s about preserving leverage, protecting your time, and avoiding the state’s sentencing fee trap. |
|
For affluent clients, that realization comes with experience and fiduciary disclosure. |
For everyone else, it’s a lesson best learned through someone else’s story. |
That’s why even the wealthy choose bail bonds. |
|
What did you think of today's issue of JAIL MAIL? |
|
