When people are put in jail or are arrested they usually have to pay in full a bail amount set by a magistrate or hire a bail bondsman and pay a percentage of the bond amount, usually 15%. That persons bail bond can be set anywhere from hundreds to millions of dollars. With many people unable to post the bail themselves, bondsmen will bail a defendant out of jail for a nonrefundable fee. If the defendant does not appear for court and has no legitimate reason for missing a hearing or trial, the bondsman forfeits the full bail amount.
When forfeitures happen, bondsmen seeking to set aside the forfeiture by filing a motion by notifying the school system and the district attorney to give them a chance to object. Under North Carolina Statute, there are seven reasons the bondsman can file a motion for relief from the bond. If the bondsman can not file a motion that meets one of the seven reasons for relief from the bond, the full amount of that bond must be paid to the clerk of court for that county.
Under North Carolina law, the money accrued from bond forfeitures must go to the public schools in that county or court’s jurisdiction.