In the US, if you post BAIL you do get it back, a BOND however is a service provided by a company where by they post BAIL for you and you pay a company 10% (normally) for their service, The BOND company then guarantees to the court you will appear or they will track you down, if they bond company does not they must pay the court 100% of your BAIL. So if you have a $5,000 bail, you can go to a bonding company and get out for $500, you will not get that $500 back, however if you had the $5,000 you could give that to the courts, and get 100% of that money back.