In cases where a Colorado court sets bail, defendants can be released only if the court gets paid the full bail amount. And the court holds onto this money while the case is pending. Once the case ends, the court will return the bail money. (Note that when defendants violate their bail conditions, they may have to permanently forfeit their bond money.) When defendants cannot afford bail, they may hire a bail bondsman. They pay the bondsman a small percentage of bail (10% to 15%), and the bondsman posts the entire bail amount. When the case ends, the court returns the money to the bondsman.