Bond in Louisiana works by way of the Judge setting the bond amount which is determined on how likely it is for you to show up to court, how charges, your criminal history etc.
Then you can have a bail bondsman pay the bail in full to get you out of jail and you put up a percentage of the money to the bail bondsman company and then you pay them back.
You may have to put up some collateral such as a house, vehicle etc and if you show up the bail bondsman gets the money back but you don't get the money back you pay to the bondsman.
If you fail to show up the bondsman will hunt you down and arrest you and take you back to jail.
Also if you pay the bail yourself in full then you get the money back if you show up in court but if not you lose the money and get a warrant issued for your arrest.
In Louisiana your bail bond amount is determined by the seriousness of your offense and what you're being charged with and your perceived likelihood of evading legal proceedings and how likely you are to show up to court.
The judge will set the bail amount depending on those factors and the higher a flight risk you are and if you have other more serious charges the higher your bond amount will be.
In more severe cases your bond may even be set to no bond to keep you in jail if you're a danger to society.
If you can't make bail in Louisiana you will stay in jail until all court proceedings are over which can be a few months to a few years.
Some people have stayed in jail unable to make bail in other places as well for 3 to 5 years before they were done with their case and they either got released from jail or sent to prison depending on their charges.
If you can't pay back a bond to a bail bondsman then your bond can be revoked and a warrant can be issued for your arrest and could get more jail time, have things repossessed, have your income if any taken by the court etc.
The bail bond company will send out bounty hunters to look for you and can bring you into jail if you fail to keep up with any payments to the bail bond company.
If you put your home or other things up for collateral those things can be taken from you.
If you can't pay the bail the court has set for you, you won't be able to get released from jail.
Therefore, you will have to remain in jail until the date the court has set for your trial.
Not being able to post your bail can be a difficult and stressful situation.
Also if the bondee should fail to pay the premium on the bail bond or skip his or her court date, causing the bail bond to be forfeited, the bail bonding company may collect payment from the cosigner.
A bail bond is a legally enforceable contract between three parties: the principal (the state), the bondee (you) and the surety (the bail bonds company).
The purpose of this contract is to allow the surety to 'bond' the bondee out of jail for a specified fee.
You can also bail yourself out of jail if you have the money and not use a bail bondsman but you would have to put up the entire amount which you get back if you appear in court as you are required to do so.
If you fail to appear in court you won't get the bail bond money back and will have a warrant issued for your arrest.