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Bail's Set... What's Next?

For friends and family members of a person who’s been arrested, the act of paying bail is a stressful and confusing process. Beyond finding the money to cover the cost of bail, payers also have to decide how to pay. There are four options: unsecured bond, partially secured bond, cash bail, or bail bond. But there are big differences between them and people have important rights when paying with any of those options.

Those who don’t understand their rights are often taken advantage of and lose more money. This adds to the injustice of the bail system, which sends about 45,000 New Yorkers to jail each year simply because they can’t afford to pay bail.