What is a surety and what does that person have to do?
By: Hershberglaw
Date: August 31, 2022
A surety is a person who agrees to take responsibility for a person accused of a crime. A surety must be sure they can supervise the individual charged while he/she is in the community. If the person fails to obey any of the terms placed on him/her by the court, you could lose any of the money that you pledged to the court. A surety cannot accept any sort of fee for acting as a surety.
To qualify as a surety, a justice of the peace or a judge will look at a number of factors. The qualifications necessary will often depend on the seriousness of the allegations. The justice of the peace will often inquire about your finances, knowledge of the accused individual, your relationship with the accused individual, and possibly even your personal character.
The amount of money required to be pledged often depends on a number of factors such as:
i. the severity of the crime
ii. The number of charges faced by the accused individual
iii. the surety’s ability to supervise the accused
iv. financial security of the surety
v. the amount pledged on any outstanding bails that the accused individual is currently on
The responsibilities of a surety include making sure that the accused individual comes to court on time for each and every court appearance, and ensuring that the accused individual obeys every condition of the recognizance (the bail document).
