The findings in our recent report found that a little over one-third of those given the opportunity to post bail were not able to do so. Multiple people interviewed for this report explained that neither they nor their family members had the resources to post bail outright or through a bail bondsperson.

• One individual asked a family member to contact a bail bondsperson, but neither he nor his family, who all made minimum wage, could afford the $10,000 cost to go that route.
• One person who faced charges from multiple jurisdictions opted not to post bail because he feared losing his money once he was under federal custody.
• Another man chose to start serving time by staying in pretrial detention to apply his time served toward his sentence term.

People who were detained and paid bail typically relied on their parents and their community to help pay for it. Their families used retirement savings, took loans from friends, sold land, and used general savings to pay for bail. A few individuals were able to pay for bail with their own savings or by tapping home equity.

• One person with the means opted to spend $30,000 from his savings and the sale of a house to cover his bail because he believed he wouldn’t be facing any jail time and wanted to spare his children the experience of him being kept in jail.
• One woman was able to get out of jail on bail since her mother used her property as collateral to receive a property bond. She used the time prior to her sentencing to get her financial and personal life in order. The woman explained: “I mean I had kids, a young son. I put my stuff in storage and got papers fixed up for my mom to be the legal guardian of my son.”