Everyone is talking about America’s infamous mother who is being held on a $5 Million dollar bail in an Idaho for charges of  two counts of felony child desertion and non support of her children — among other charges. Her children are still missing and as of recently, Lori Daybell was found and arrested under an alias in Kauai, Hawaii without her children, (who are presumed to be dead) and was extradited to the Madison County Jail in Rexburg Idaho.  

UPDATE:  Madison County, Idaho Judge Faren Eddins has lowered the bail amount from 5 Million to 1 Million.  

Let’s talk bail for Lori Vallow Daybell

A bail bond is money or collateral that is paid to the court by a defendant which guarantees that they will return to appear for future court dates. Now that the bail has been presumably set at 1 million, Lori now has 3 options to post bail. 

• She can pay the 1 Million in Cash (Which she doesn’t have) 
• She can post a bond through a bail bonds company 
• Her family can post a property bond as collateral 

If Daybell (Vallow) decides to post a bond using a bail bonds company, she would be required to pay the 10% non-refundable fee of $100,000 – along with a mandatory GPS ankle Monitor.  As of now, according to a local Idaho news station has reported that no bond company has been willing to work with her. 

What’s the real risk/benefit to a bail bond company if a bail bond of $1 Million is posted for Lori Daybell?

The incentive to write a bond is the same for any business… the money.  In this case the non-refundable fee of 10% of $1 Million ($100.000) to be paid to the bail bond company as a fee — not  bad for a day’s work right?

However,  it comes with a huge risk of losing $1 million dollars in the event that Lori flees and doesn’t show up to court.  

If Lori were to disappear,  the bond company would hire a bail enforcement agency to find her, with a hefty price tag of 10% of her bail.  

In other words, If she takes off to Hawaii again, the bail bond company pays ALL the money they were going to make-to the Bounty Hunter to find her and end up actually losing money in the end after paying agents/ document fees, etc…  

This would be a best-case scenario if Lori does NOT show up for court. This is IF she is found by the bounty hunter and brought to court within a few months of her missing a mandatory court appearance. 

Now the really bad news — Hope the Bail Bond Company has a $1 Million Cash just in case Lori doesn’t show up to court

If she is not found and returned to court within the given time frame (usually 180 days) then the court will forfeit the bond and require that the full $1 Million be paid by the Bond Company.- If the bond company fails to pay, their license is immediately suspended and the state can go after their assets to collect the million. 

This risk is mitigated a little by requiring that she wear a GPS ankle monitor to track her location at all times.  

If she were to cut off the monitor or leave the allowed geographical area the monitoring company would receive an alert and would be on her case immediately but that doesn’t guarantee that she will be found in time. 

Now you can see why no bail bond company is jumping at the opportunity to help Miss Daybell.  

What if Lori were to commit suicide?  A question that was asked on the news that no one knew the answer to…

IF any defendant on bond for an active criminal court case commits suicide, overdoses, or dies of sickness or accident the bond company must provide proof to the court. The case would be closed as justice can not prevail without a defendant able to defend themselves. 

If she were to hire a bond company to post a bond – does she qualify?

$80,000 up front to pay the bond premiums/non-refundable once she is released

Stable co-signers,willing to be personally responsible to bring Lori to court and accept the liability of the 1 million (probably a few in her case)1 mill in Property(realestate) to be held as collateral in the event she flees 

The property would probably be required to have title reports to verify any liens, and the Mortgage Deeds/ trusts deed notarized so the bond company can act easily on taking the properties if needed. 

Question and concerns surrounding her posting bail and being released

1.The obvious is that she flees: 

2 If she commits suicide who is responsible to pay the million dollars