A surety bond is a contract by the defendant, co-signor/indemnitor, court and bail agent. Bail bonds are a type of surety bonds used to release a defendant charged with a criminal offense. See: https://howbailbondswork.com/bail-questions/
The defendant and/or co-signor (indemnitor) pays a surety premium to be released from local or county jail. In the event that the defendant skips bail (a bond forfeiture), the bail bonds agency pays the surety forfeiture, returns the defendant to jail and looks to the indemnitor for reimbursement of the premium.
