What is an Indemnitor?

When someone is arrested and taken to jail, based on the crime they’re being charged with, they will be given a bail amount.  An indemnitor is a person who takes responsibility to make sure the person they bailed out, goes to all of their court dates until the case is done.  If the defendant decides to run away and not go to court, then the indemnitor is liable for the Full Bail Amount.

For Example:  John Smith was arrested for Felony Domestic Violence and his bail was $50,000.  John calls his mother Jane from jail and asks her to bail him out.  Jane goes to a bail bond company to bail John out of jail.   John’s bail is $50,000; the bail premium on $50,000 is $5,000.  Jane makes a down payment and sets up a payment plan for the bail premium of $5,000.  Jane is now liable to make payments until the Bail Premium of $5,000 is paid off.  John gets out of jail and goes to a couple court dates.  John gets scared and decides to run away and misses court.  The judge order’s an arrest warrant for John and informs the bail bond company that John’s bail bond is now forfeited.  John’s mom Jane now gets a call from the Bail Bonds looking for John, Jane doesn’t know where John is.  (In the state of California, once a defendant misses court and a bail bond is forfeited, the bail bonds company and indemnitor has 6 months to bring him back to court before the Full Amount of the Bail is owed to the court.)  The 6 months pass and Jane hasn’t found John.  Jane now owes the Bail Bond Company the $50,000 to pay the court.