HOW DOES A BAIL BOND WORK? On certain cases, the court may release you on your own recognizance. That is, the court trusts that you will appear for your hearings without the need for you to post bail. On other cases, the court will set a bail amount prior to your being released in order to ensure your appearance in court. A bail bond is actually a "surety" bond. If you have been arrested, then a friend, family or even your lawyer will contact a bondsman in order to post the bond with the court. The bondsman will obtain information regarding the arrest, including how long the person has been in custody, what the charges, how long has the person resided at their home, amongst other pertinent questions. Once that has been completed, the bondsman will "post" the bond with the jail or other detention center. When you post bail by using a bondman, you do not have to pay the full amount of bail. It is usually a percentage of the bail. The bondsman will require that some type of collateral be placed. The collateral is usually placed by the relatives or friends of the person in custody. Because it is usually a relative or a friend or any other collateral, the bondsman is reasonably assured that the defendant will appear in court on the scheduled hearing dates. Failure to appear in court will result in exoneration of the bond and an arrest warrant issued by the court.