The business model for the bail bond industry is fairly straightforward. If you get arrested and find yourself behind bars, you will then appear before a judge who will determine whether or not you will be allowed to get out of jail until your trial. Usually, only those charged with the most heinous crimes will be denied bail altogether. The judge will decide what level of bail it will take to ensure you show up for your trial and don’t attempt to disappear. Let’s assume your crime is relatively minor, and your bail is set at $30,000. If you happen to have $30,000, you will pay the entire amount to the court, then when you show up for trial, the $30,000 will be returned to you in full.

If you don’t appear for your trial, you will lose the entire amount. However, since most people don’t have that kind of cash, they hire a bail bondsman. The bail bondsman receives a non-refundable, percentage of your bond—usually 10 percent. In this case, you would pay the bail bondsman. If you fail to show up for trial, the bondsman would owe the court the amount of money. Of course, you would probably also end up being tracked by the bail bondsman because as a general rule, they don’t like losing money when someone skips out on their bail.