With a surety bond, a bail bond agent or bail bond company guarantees the court that they will pay if an accused does not show up in court. A surety company or the agent’s property is used as a guarantee.
With cash bail, the accused must post bail in cash, not in assets. This type of bail is considered a strong incentive for the accused to show up in court since the accused will forfeit the cash if they fail to show up for all of their court appearances.
In this situation, the accused is released without any financial motive to secure their return. This sort of bail is typically used by county or law enforcement administered pre-trial release programs.