Other forms: bondsmen
A bondsman is a person or company that loans money to bail someone out of jail while their case is being tried.
The word bondsman was historically used to mean "enslaved person," or "man in bondage." Today, it's someone whose job involves issuing loans to defendants who must pay bail to get out of jail. Bail bondsmen are illegal in nearly every country except the U.S. — profiting from the bail system, as bondsmen do, is widely viewed as unethical. As well as loaning money, bondsmen are often responsible for tracking down defendants who fail to repay their loans.