Making Bail in New York City: Commercial Bonds and Cash Bail (2010)

Abstract

New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA) functions as New York City’s pretrial services program. There had been no research on the role of commercial bonds in the City since the 1980s, when bondsmen had nearly disappeared from courtrooms in the five boroughs. The national growth experienced by the industry in recent decades suggests that it is time for another look at how defendants post bail in New York City. The current study was designed to examine the form of bail making in a sample of New York City cases. A primary objective was to assess the extent to which defendants rely on the services of commercial bail bondsmen, but the process of posting cash bail was examined as well.