Frequently Asked Questions About Bail Bonds in Spartanburg

Basic information including:

• Name of the Defendant
• When They Were Arrested
• What Jail They Are Being Held In
• Bond Amount and Charge(s)
• Your Ties to the Defendant
• Bonding History

Surety bonds are our absolute bread and butter, and helping clients through the process is what Drolet Bonding specializes in! A judge sets a surety bond when they decide that you, the defendant, are either a potential flight risk or present enough of a risk to the community that a professional bail bondsman is required to get you released from custody. Once we present our power of attorney to the court and post your bond, we receive a Bail II Proceeding Form, where the judge marks the specific reasons requiring a surety bond.

At its core, a surety bond operates as a formal three-party contract between the court (the “obligee”), the bail bondsman (the “surety”), and the defendant (the “principal”). To safeguard that financial guarantee, bondsmen work with indemnitors—usually close family members or friends of the defendant. This agreement legally obligates the indemnitor to pay back and reimburse the bondsman in full if the defendant fails to show up for court and causes the bond to be forfeited.

A personal recognizance (PR) bond is granted by a judge when a defendant is not viewed as a flight risk and does not present a substantial danger to the public. Fundamentally, a PR bond serves as a direct legal agreement between the court (the “obligee”) and the defendant (the “principal”), requiring no cosigners and no power of attorney document from a surety bondsman.

Judges hold immense power in selecting the type of bond for a defendant, the amount of that bond, and the conditions to attach to the bond — such as a GPS monitor requirement, a no-contact order, a no alcohol order, and so on. As such, they can issue a PR bond. On paper, a PR bond has a monetary value, but as we often see, the state cannot estreat their own bond and usually does not attempt to recover the bond amount from defendants who miss court.

Note: PR bond preference by judges often depends on the political climate of each county and the judge’s discretion. In the years we have spent monitoring and studying jail rosters across both conservative and more liberal counties, we have discovered a trend of liberal courts dishing out a substantially higher volume of PR bonds. This shift is frequently driven by political pressure from liberal reform organizations pushing to empty the jails.

A cash-only bond refers to a specific form of bail where the total assessed sum must be remitted directly to the court clerk in currency, which is subsequently refunded to the accused person or their designated agent once the judicial proceedings have fully concluded. Presiding judges mandate these monetary securities based on broad judicial discretion as well as precise legal criteria. Cash bonds can be paid fully with paper currency, cashier’s checks, certified checks, or bank wire transfers, which are the standard. If you pay one of these with paper money over $10,000, the clerk of court must file IRS form 8300, which is designed to track and prevent money laundering.

For instance, a magistrate might impose a cash-only requirement if an accused individual faces exceptionally severe allegations, possesses an established record of failing to attend scheduled court appearances, or is evaluated as being an extreme danger to public safety. (A notable example occurred in late 2021, when Alex Murdaugh received a $7 million cash bond following his arrest on extensive financial fraud charges, obligating him to deliver the entire $7 million bond to the clerk of court prior to be released pending trial).

Furthermore, under the provisions of S.C. Code Ann. § 17-15-55 (C)(3), whenever an individual who is currently released on bail for an alleged violent crime or a firearm-related violent felony faces a subsequent arrest for another violent offense or weapon-involved violent act, the presiding judge is statutorily directed to establish an absolute cash-only bond before that person can obtain pretrial release regarding the newly filed accusations. Subject to the severity and specific circumstances surrounding subsequent offenses, cash bonds can and do enter into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.