Cops: Owner Used Video Game Store to Meet Molestation Victims

I doubt that the average bail bondsman will be quick to underwite a $250,000 cash-only bond because the average bail bondsman, like most of us, don't have that kinda cash laying around.

Ninety-five percent of a bondsman's business is in underwriting surety bonds (cash-only bonds are actually rarely ordered by a court). The bondsman doesn't ever have to pay the full amount of a surety bond up front in order to secure the detainee's release. Instead, once they've got their 10% of the bond amount and some sort of collateral, they merely promise to pay the full amount of the bond if the detainee does not return for court appearances (this is called "standing as surety," hence the name "surety bond"). If, and only if, the detainee does not return for court, then the bondsman has to cough up the full amount of the bond and is entitled to liquidate the bondee's collateral in order to recoup that money or get Dog the Bounty Hunter to find the detainee and drag that ass back to jail. That's how surety bonds work. In a very real sense, it's like placing a bet with a bookie who'll let you do so without you giving him any money and will only require you to pay up if your bet loses.

A cash-only bond works differently. It requires that the full amount of the bond be paid up-front in cash (usually by cashier's check) in order to secure the detainee's return for court. A promise from a bondsman to pay if the detainee does not appear is insufficient to satisfy a cash-only bond. While you may be able to find a bondsman that is willing to up front the money for a cash-only bond, it is very, very rare, particularly for large amounts -- and particular more so if the bondee presents any sort of flight risk -- because doing so requires vast amounts of liquid cash and, as I explained above, in 9 out of 10 cases, a bondsman usually doesn't have to come up with the full amount of a bond in cash unless the bondee doesn't show up for court and, therefore, the typical bondsman doesn't have large amounts of liquid cash reserves on hand because there's no need -- promises to pay is how the bondsman capitalizes 90% of their business. Again, you may find one willing to do cash-only bonds, but you'll be looking for a long time.

This is why courts order cash-only bonds when they aren't keen on seeing a defendant back out on the street any time soon. The ol' "Here's my 10% and the title to my momma house" routine don't usually work for cash-only bonds. A cash-only bond -- particularly one in the amount of $250,000 -- usually means that unless the defendant can scrape together the cash on their own (e.g., selling their momma's house for cash), they better get used to an extended period of eating bologna and cheese sandwhiches for lunch.