Rabner highlighted a study issued last year by the Drug Policy Alliance which showed that twelve percent of defendants are being held in county jails at taxpayer expense because they can’t come up with the money to cover bail of $2,500 or less.

Bail bond agents say <<>> They are questioning why the state would resolve to spend taxpayer money to screen pretrial defendants when agents perform a similar task at no cost and assume the financial risk for making sure defendants show up in court.

And, Furlong said, more judges should be using the so-called 10 percent option, which allows defendants to post a portion of their total bail in cash. For instance, a defendant with a $25,000 bail would be allowed to post $2,500 through a bail bondsman.