In most cases, after a person is arrested the courts assign bail. That bail is meant to be a way to increase the chances that the defendant will indeed show up for their court appearances. If the accused does show up for all of their court appearances, the money is eventually returned. The problem? The process of getting the money returned can take more than a year.

This has been the bail system used in California for a long time. That said, many people in the industry are starting to be more vocal about the fact that this system unfairly punishes poor people or those who otherwise can’t afford bail. Some lawmakers in California are looking toward Kentucky’s bail system to see if it might be the way to reform our own.

A closer look at the bail system in California

First of all, we must decide if the bail system is actually unfair. Consider that the median bail amount in California is $50,000. Does that seem like a lot or a little? Now consider that it’s five times more than the national average of $10,000. Additionally, there’s no standard for bail across California, so a defendant in one county could pay ten times what someone in another county pays, even if they were both accused of the same theft crime.

All this might be different if bail prevented people from fleeing, but the reality is that giving a person a high bail amount does not guarantee that they’re going to show up for their court appearances. Those who are critical of the system say that all it does is make sure poor people stay in custody while those of means get out.

The system in Kentucky is quite different

Kentucky is one state out of several that doesn’t have a bail system, but instead uses a system of pretrial services. They’ve been using this system since the mid-1970s with great success: 90% of defendants showed up for all court appearances.

One county is following a pretrial method

Over the entirety of the state, more than $37 million was spent in the last two years alone, just to jail California defendants whose cases were either never filed or were dismissed. Santa Clara County has tried something new – a pretrial method. It saves them $265,000 in detention costs every day. Their program has a rate of 96% of defendants showing up for future court dates and 99% of them don’t commit new crimes.

There are better ways to hold those awaiting trial

At Law Office of Michael L. Fell, we are fierce advocates for our clients, how may be charged with a number of crimes. We believe that everyone should have equal access to bail but that isn’t how it’s worked out. If you’ve been charged – or a family member has – and you need help with bail or other legal assistance, call us at (949) 585-9055 right away. We are on your side.