A new study found that a private bail bonds companies may have an easier time in getting criminals to appear for court dates when compared to different bail-posting methods. According to a University of Texas at Dallas study, a defendants were more likely to appear for their scheduled court dates when they used a private bail bondsman to get out of jail.

The study looked at the differences in failure to appear in court and re-arrests among more than 22,000 criminal defendants. Researchers examined incidents at a county jail during 2008 where the individuals were released using different types of bond services.

“We found that similarly situated defendants released via a bail bond company were significantly less likely to fail to appear in court compared to attorney bonds, cash bonds and pretrial service bonds, respectively,” said Dr. Robert Morris, UT Dallas criminologist, director for the Center for Crime and Justice Studies and leader of the study.

When a criminal defendant is released via bail or any other mechanism, they are required to show up for their scheduled court date. If they do not show up, the money paid to the bail bondsman is forfeited and will not be returned once the defendant is found. Because the money of a bail may be lost if a defendant does not appear for their court date, a bail bondsman will evaluate the situation when they receive a request to post bail for a defendant.