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Thursday, August 19, 2010
Ind. Courts - "Bail change helps Tippecanoe County recoup costs"
Sophia Voravong reports today in a sidebar to the pauper attorney story in the Lafayette Journal Courier:
Changes to how bail amounts are set for people charged with felony crimes could mean more revenue for Tippecanoe County.ILB question: Are any of these sums properly categorized as forfeitures?A new bond schedule took effect July 1 that allows Tippecanoe County judges and the magistrate to designate that a defendant's bond be split and payable by both surety and cash.
For instance, someone ordered to pay $10,000 bond in order to be released from the Tippecanoe County Jail would pay $5,000 surety and $500 cash.
Before, higher-level felonies required defendants to post only surety bond.
A surety bond requires defendants to go through a bail bondsman, which is meant to increase the odds that the defendant will appear in court.
Defendants typically pay 10 percent of their surety bond amount, and that payment is not refundable.
By splitting bond between surety and cash, Tippecanoe County can keep the cash portion in escrow and, if applicable, use the money toward public defender fees and other court costs, Magistrate Norris Wang said.
The cash portion also can be used to pay restitution.
It's beneficial because Tippecanoe County has no set way to recoup court-ordered fees, particularly from people released from prison who have moved from the area, said Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Don Daniel.
He said going after unpaid fees -- for instance, a $100 probation fee -- through civil proceedings tends to be more costly than the actual amount owed.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 19, 2010 09:16 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts