Why Secured Bail Works

Every time the bail reform debate fires up, someone screams that secured bail is “unfair” or “unnecessary.”
Let’s step out of slogans and into facts.

1. Secured bail WORKS and drastically improves court appearance rates

The entire purpose of secured bail is to guarantee court attendance.

NC county data mirrors national trends:

• FTA rates drop when defendants have a bondsman

• People show up because they have accountability

• Bondsmen actively track and remind defendants — courts don’t

2. Secured bail keeps people from re-offending pretrial

Verified data across multiple states shows:

• People released on secured bail reoffend far less than those released on unsecured or personal recognizance bonds.

• When people have “skin in the game,” they take court far more seriously.

• Bail bondsmen provide way more than just a piece of paper that gets someone released. We often talk with defendants about how they got into this mess in the first place, and offer tangible help and referrals that get people on the right path.

3. Secured bail saves taxpayer money & improves public safety

Compare the cost:

• Jail bed (per day): $100 to $150 average in NC

• Beacon Bail Bonding handling pretrial management: $0 to taxpayers

• Fugitive recovery when someone misses court: our cost, not yours

• We pick up people with warrants so that the police can focus on other police matters – but we are limited to people who fail to appear on a bail bond. The police are inundated with warrants from so-called “unsecured” bonds.

4. Secured bail supports victims and communities

When people skip court, victims wait years for closure. They wonder, “Does anyone even care?”

When they reoffend again and again, communities suffer.

Secured bail reduces both.

5. Secured bail offers a safety net

Bondsmen aren’t in this for the money. Most of us are justice first, money second. When we look at a bond opportunity, we’re considering things like “How likely is this person to show up for court” and “If they’re released, is their mental health going to be a roadblock” and “Are any alleged victims going to be safe” – It’s not a perfect science because humans are unpredictable, but believe me when I say, there’s a lot more to the equation than a 15% premium payment.

6. The real enemy isn’t bail — it’s lack of accountability

We’ve seen firsthand:

• unsecured bonds create chaos

• personal recognizance creates revolving doors

• “catch and release” policies create repeat offenders

• In states without bail, crime is rampant (look at states like Illinois for example)

Secured bail works because people respond to structure, not wishful thinking.

Beacon stands for that structure.