The purpose of a bond determination or bond amount is not to inhibit the person from being released or punish him for the charged crime but to instead ensure that the person is given proper incentive to appear in court and that the conditions—as laid out under Virginia Code Section 19.2 – 120, which discusses the reasonable bond conditions—are met.
Typically, the magistrate determines the bond amount in a Virginia DUI case by looking at a person’s specific offense, specific criminal history, and demographic information. This demographic information includes a person’s age, sex, employment, type of community, criminal history, and likelihood to appear in court on these charges.
Bond may be disfavored in certain cases where there is a presumption against the bond, however DUI is typically not one of these cases. With this in mind, an attorney may be helpful to individuals who have been charged with a DUI-related offense, but were not being given an initial bond by the magistrate. It is less common for a bond motion to occur in a DUI case as it may be in certain other types of cases such as violent offenses, repeat offenses, or offenses committed by persons with few or no ties to Virginia, however it can still happen in a DUI case, and it is important to be aware of the possibility and prepared to address the situation.
Bond can be posted in a variety of ways. Typically, bond is posted by cash or corporate surety. This means that the bond is either paid by the person or their family in the full amount as directed by the magistrate and that amount is held to make sure that the person appears in court. If all the court appearances are made and the case is resolved without an incident, the cash is returned at the end of the case. Because this cash bond amount typically involves several thousand dollars or more, it is not typical that an individual posts the amount of cash if the bond is secured.
If the bond is secured instead of cash, the individual may also use what is called corporate surety. A corporate surety is also known as bail bondsmen. Bail bondsmen require a percentage of the cash amount to be paid down in exchange for them using their company as collateral for the person’s release.
If someone, for example, is given a $5,000 cash or corporate bond, that person is required to either post $5,000 in cash to be held by the magistrate or pay the bail bondsmen approximately $500 for release. There are a variety of scenarios. It is more common for a person to be given secured bond to use a bail bondsman rather than to post cash.
In certain limited circumstances, property may be used as collateral for a bond. Property bonds in Virginia are rare because of the procedural steps that must be taken to secure a property bond. Property bonds are more common in larger and more complex cases that require a large amount of collateral.
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