Several years ago our company received a call from an older gentleman who wanted to bail out his son and his daughter in law.  His son's bail was set much higher than the wife's was, and the caller wanted to know if the jail went easier on her because she was a mom.

We explained to him that's not quite how things work.  Although a person's age, gender and whether they donate their time to coach the local youth soccer league have no impact on a person's bail amount there are three key things that do.

The type of crime they've been accused of Someone who is accused of attempted murder is going to have a much higher bail amount than a guy who is picked up for being drunk in public.   Non-violent misdemeanor crimes are considered to be much less serious than violent felonies; this is why bail amounts span from very low to very high.

Whether the defendant has a prior history of arrest Someone who has never been arrested before may have their bail set slightly lower than someone who has a lengthy rap sheet.  On the flip side of that coin, someone who has been arrested once for shop lifting (also called petty theft) will have a much lower bail than someone who has been arrested for shop lifting a half dozen times.  When someone keeps getting booked into jail, over and over again for the same offense this almost always has a negative affect on their bail amount.

Whether the defendant has a history of going to court  If someone has been arrested in the past but has a pattern of not going to court once they've posted bail bonds their bail may be set quite high.  Ultimately, the judge will see that and assume that if someone does hire a bondsman for the defendant that the person in custody is not likely to appear when they are supposed to.  In this case, they may set the bail at such a level that just about guarantees the defendant can't post bail bonds as a way of making sure they show up in court.