NH Law About ...: Bail: Introduction ...

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Introduction ...

This guide provides resources that give some background on the history of bail and its purpose, and provides references to the law about bail.

To search for more information, use search terms like "pretrial release", "conditional release", "bail commissioner", "bail bondsmen", "personal recognizance", and "release on recognizance" (ROR), "surety", and "sureties", among others. Look for resources on criminal procedure as well.

Definitions of common terms are below.

Definitions

Cornell Legal Information Institute. Bail
“Cash or a bond given to the court by a prisoner to secure conditional release from custody.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Bail Bond
“An obligation to pay the court if a criminal defendant fails to meet the terms of conditional release from custody.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Bail Bondsman
“A bail bondsman is a person who provides bail bonds for people charged with crimes and who do not have the money necessary to post the entire bail with the court. The bail bondsman acts as a surety by providing money to the court for the person’s bail, promising the defendant will appear in court.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Excessive Bail
“Excessive bail is an amount of bail ordered to be posted by an accused defendant which is much more than necessary or usual to ensure they will make court appearances particularly in relation to minor crimes.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Jump Bail
“[I]f the defendant fails to appear, or the defendant violates the conditions, the defendant jumps bail.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Own Recognizance (OR)
“Own recognizance (OR), also called personal recognizance, means a release, without the requirement of a posting bail, based on a written promise by the defendant to appear in court when required to do so.”
Cornell Legal Information Institute. Surety
“Someone who assumes direct liability for another's obligation.”
Wikipedia. Bounty Hunter
“A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. … In modern times, bounty hunters are known as bail enforcement agents or fugitive recovery agents and carry out arrests mostly of those who have skipped bail or whose bail has been revoked."

This site is maintained by the law librarians of the John W. King New Hampshire Law Library.
Our guides are for information purposes only and are not comprehensive.
They are intended as starting points for your legal research, to illustrate the various sources of the law, and to provide guidance in their use.
NH Law About ... is not a substitute for the services of an attorney.