Surrogate FundingThe sink
In some cells the sink barely runs. A man can't wash his face without laying his rag on the steel edge where every other man's rag has been. People wait in conditions like that for days over a bond smaller than a phone bill.
Surrogate Funding / Bail fund
Home over a few hundred dollars.
Seven in ten people in America's jails have not been convicted. Our community bail fund will post small bonds of $70 to $300 for people held only because they cannot pay.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Jail Inmates in 2023 (664,200 held at midyear 2023; 70% unconvicted).
The community bail fund
$70to$300
The bonds that keep people in jail
No one should lose a job, a home, or their children over a few hundred dollars.
One man sat in jail for three months because he couldn't pay a $70 bond. He is not the only one. While people wait, the job goes, the rent goes, and sometimes their children go with it.
1We post small bonds for people held only because they cannot pay.
2They go home to their families and keep their court dates.
3When the case ends, the refunded bail returns to the fund and brings the next person home.
Inside, right now
The father
Some are fathers held over child support who can't raise a $300 bond. While they sit, the arrears keep growing. They lose the job that paid the support, and no one hires them after. It becomes almost a life sentence.
The old man in D block
In one county jail, an older man with dementia kept trying to walk out of his block into sections where he wasn't safe. He didn't know he was in jail. The men around him had to explain that he couldn't help himself.
We are not against the system. We are building a better one, where no one loses their life over a few hundred dollars.
$70 to $300
Why the bail fund exists, in thirty seconds.
No one should lose a job, a home, or their children over a few hundred dollars. Refunded bail brings the next person home.
If our fund can't help yet
Well-rated bonding companies, by county.
A bonding company posts the full bond for a fee, called the premium, which you do not get back. Many offer payment plans with a small down payment, and the down payment is often negotiable. Ask. Our fund is different: we post the bond ourselves, and you owe us nothing.
Loading the directory…
Listed for families' convenience only. Not an endorsement, and no company paid to be listed. Ratings are as published on the date shown; down-payment terms are only what each company advertises. Always confirm a bondsman's license with the South Carolina Department of Insurance.