News and Updates

A Few Facts and Figures

2011-03-22T17:52:41Z

Being in this business almost a decade I have heard alot of comments about Bail Agents "making tons of money". I find it funny that despite operating what I believe to be a successful agency for a number of years I am nowhere near "retiring on the Riviera". So I decided to put a few facts and figures out there.

1. When charging 10% as a bond premium a Bail Agency if only profitable if it has a less than 5% forfeiture rate, meaning if more than 1 in 20 defendants fail to appear that Bail Agency isn't making money. The number goes up to 2.5% or 1 in 40 if the Bail Agency charges 5%. So, is that 5 or less percent "cut rate" bond worth not having a Bail Agent down the road if you again find yourself in need?

2. It is against the Code of Virginia for a Bail Agent to solicit business on government property. This includes jails, courthouses, magistrates offices etc. So if a Bail Agent is chasing you out of the courtroom handing you a card they are breaking the law. Is this someone you want to trust your loved ones freedom to?

3. It is also against the Code of Virginia for government officials to refer a Bail Agent. So that jailer or Sheriff's Deputy that gave you the number of the Bail Agency is doing so against the law and most likely their employment agreement. Would you trust your loved one's freedom to a Bail Agent or gov't official who is involved in kickbacks?

When choosing a Bail Agency you should go with one you feel comfortable with and that you can trust with your loved one's freedom during this trying time for your family. That's why I say not all Bail Agencies are the same!

The Fat Lady Has Sung-2011 Legislative Wrap Up, Part 2

2011-02-28T04:27:56Z

Today the Virginia General Assembly adjourned with a last minute cram session over budget issues. With that here is part 2 of my Legislative wrap up for the 2011 session. A win for both the bail industry and consumers alike is the passing of HB 2437 which dictates that a Bail Agent cannot charge less than 10% and no more than 15% of the full bond amount as the premium for underwriting and executing the bond. In addition to this rate range the legislation also states that a Bail Agent cannot charge interest for the financing of a Bail Bond premium. This protects consumers who are in need of financing options for a Bail Bond from being charges exhorborant (or any) rate on top of the set premium. A second bill introduced by the Bail industry that will become law address who benefits from revenue recieved from forfeited bonds. Currently bail bond forfeiture funds goes into the state literary fund, as a result of this bill the money will be directed straight to the locality in which the initial offense occured. Simply put, the Bail industry will now directly benefit local government and all the programs that directly benefit their citizens.

The Fat Lady Has Sung-2011 Legislative Wrap Up, Part 1

2011-02-21T22:41:19Z

So, I wrote my last blog on the final lap of the 2011 Virginia Legislative Session, logged off and went to lunch. When I returned I checked on the status of the pieces of legislation of interest to the Bail profession and found out our year in the General Asssembly has been finished. Our one and only loss, well really a loss for localities in Virginia was HB 2450. This bill as it was drafted and introduced should have not been the least bit controversial. It simply gives the localities more choice in how they manage their corrections programs by allowing them to make the decision as to whether or not they should have a Pre-trial Services program in their locality. Current law states that any new jail project MUST have a Pre-trial Services and Community Corrections plan. What about the small localities that have on average less than 40 inmates in their custody on a day to day basis? One Pre-trial Services Officer could interview the entire population over and over again! This leads to what a certain Legislator so eloquently put it as "Mission Creep", basically slowly increasing the scope of their duties to justify their job and existance. In the current economic climate who wants that? If Pre-Trial Services was so needed in each and every locality then city and county leaders would be beating down the door to get funding for these programs. So in conclusion I would like to thank the following members of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee for knowing what is best for each and every locality in the Commonwealth of Virginia; Senators Marsh, Saslaw, Quayle, Norment, Howell, Lucas, Deeds, McEachin, and Petersen.

2011 Virginia Legislative Session-The Final Lap.

2011-02-21T16:35:31Z

This year's Virginia Legislative Session has been a productive one for the Bail Industry. While "The Fat lady" has yet to belt out a tune she is without a doubt going through her musical scales. With only a couple more final votes in the Senate and some administrative final tine tuning of our industry bills left, I can begin to look back on this session. 2011 was a stark contrast to 2010 with us leaving the "trench fighting" behind us to form new alliances with our former adversaries with an eye on a more professional and productive industry as a whole, one that can become once again an important cog in the criminal justice machine. The legislation introduced by the bail industry this session had a keen eye on cleaning up the profession and putting in place some important consumer protections that have long eluded this profession. With many of these pieces of legislation hopefully becoming law consumers can and will experience a simpler and less stressful bail process where they can expect to pay a fair price and get a value for their money. In addition, the bail industry introduced legislation that supports localities and boosts local revenue by funneling funds from forfeited bonds directly to the locality where the offense initially occured. The Bail profession has a long term goal of taking the responsibility for cleaning up our own profession and further supporting the criminal justice system as well as the communities in which we conduct business, live, and play.

2011 Bail Industry Legislation-HB 2158

2011-02-17T23:58:47Z

Bonds in recognizances. Provides that bonds in recognizances in criminal or juvenile cases, whether the violation is committed against the Commonwealth or the locality, shall be payable to the jurisdiction where the recognizance was taken. Current law provides that such bonds in recognizances are paid to the Commonwealth of Virginia when the violation is committed against the Commonwealth.

You can view the full text and updates here.

2011 Bail Industry Legislation-HB 2437

2011-02-17T23:55:52Z

Regulation of bail bondsmen. Provides that a licensed bail bondsman shall not charge less than 10 percent of the amount of the bond for a bail bond premium. The bill also prohibits the financing of a bail bond premium

You can see the full text and the status of this bill here.

The Pretrial Services v. Bail Bond Fight-My Take

2010-10-13T01:11:17Z

After well over a year of standing close enough to the fire of the whole Bail/Pretrial Services issue to give me some nice 3^rd degree burns, I have decided to offer my candid insight into the issue. From state to state in this fight there has been quite a bit of mudslinging, backroom deals, finger pointing, and general tomfoolery that needs to be addressed.

First, allow me to start off with a little background on the issue at hand for the uninitiated among my readers. Many are familiar with the ages old “Monetary Bail” system, better known as Bail Bonds. In a nutshell you pay the Bail Agent a fee and he posts securities to the court to guarantee a defendant's appearance. A quickly emerging option(or as some would like it, a replacement) to a traditional Bail Bond is placement into a Pretrial Services program. These programs which are largely government ran entities, interview arrested defendants and then make release determinations and appropriate conditions for that release. These conditions may include substance abuse counseling, office or telephonic check in's, random drug/alcohol screening etc..

Now, from where I stand most would think that I believe Pretrial Services to be something that should be done away with. After all it does cut in to my business a bit. However, nothing could be further from the truth. I do believe that there is a place for a sound and efficient Pretrial Services program, they do offer some effective programs for certain things any may be a good answer for ensuring defendants get certain help or assistance they need. Sadly, the Pretrial Services camp at the Pretrial Justice Institute(PJI) and National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies(NAPSA) don't hold the same beliefs towards Bail Agents. In fact in their by-laws it calls for “The Abolition of Compensated Sureties”.

Well, as stated above I do believe that Pretrial Services do have something of value to offer criminal defendants, I also believe that they are not nearly as effective as a Bail Agent in making sure that defendant appears for his or her day in court. I know this will come as a shock to most who believe that “social engineering” is the way of the future but money makes the world go round, and that's not likely to change anytime soon. A Bail Bond is a financial guarantee of a defendants appearance, which is backed by either cold hard cash, real estate, or an insurance company, and further indemnified by a friend or family member of the defendant. With that we have a Bail Agent, his cash, his property, an insurance company, and his friend/family members livelihood on the hook here. If that's not an incentive to make sure the court sees the defendant I really don't know what is.

So, here's my proposal to the good folks who administer the various Pretrial Services programs around the country. Come up with a more effective way than cold hard currency to get defendants back for their day in court. You have the assistance program part down pat. If you can do that I would gladly seek out another occupation...heck I've been trying to figure out a way to get my marine archeology career off the ground. Short of that, drop your hardline “Abolition of Compensated Sureties” stance, come to the table with private enterprise and lets work together for a non self serving option for the good of society as a whole!

Wanted Fugitive-Michael Howard Leeper

2010-10-13T00:24:56Z

Wanted in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for failure to pay child support. Mr. Leeper is 6 foot tall, and weighs 260-300 lbs. He is known to frequent Mosby Court and the Mandalay Lakes Apartments near Midlothian Turnpike and Chippenham Parkway.

"I want to revoke his bond!"-By: Carrie Weese

2010-09-21T04:00:08Z

I don't know if Jerry Springer is running a marathon or if I've just been too nice to people lately, but I have gotten a ton of calls this week to revoke bonds. Usually people get into fights with each other and decide the bondsman is a secondary police force. This week was no different.

One girl called to say that her boyfriend had stayed out all night and he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do, etc. I told her the cost would start at $3000 and I would need that up front to consider revoking the bond. She backed way up on it. Started saying that she didn't realize that something like that would cost money and maybe she'll try to make up with him just in case he decides to not go to court.

Good idea!

Not two hours later I get another call from a young lady who wanted to revoke her boyfriend's bond because he came home drunk and said he wasn't going to court in the heat of battle. Well, free relationship lesson- guys don't like getting bitched at when they walk in the door. If they feel attacked they will say things to hurt you. While that kind of guy is a troll and you probably shouldn't be dating him, the rule still applies. I told her the same "it'll be at least $2500 up front before I consider it.". She decided it would be in her best interest to kiss and make up at least until his court case is done.

The next day I get an early morning call from a mother who cosigned with her daughter for her daughter's boyfriend. Well, no doubt the boyfriend is in the troll catagory, but he is calling in on Mondays and he hasn't even had his first court date to skip out on. Bottomline, I don't really have a good reason to revoke the bond.

I actually got 3 calls from this case. One of the calls was during the heat of battle, the police had decided not to take him in, so I guess they figured we could. I reminded the mother that I would need the balance paid and the recovery fee before I considered revoking the bond.

See, the fact is that revoking a bond costs me money. I have to pay my guys everytime they dress up- not to mention my husband and my time is NOT cheap. Not to mention all the money I lose when the defendant tells everyone in the jail how shitty we were for revoking his bond for no reason. Just because I could technically "arrest" the defendant at any time for any reason, it doesn't mean I do it. I prefer not to intercourse with my own wallet...there's enough intercoursing going on (coughyellowpagescoughpeopleaskingfordonationscough).

It's really just a tangible option-By: Carrie Weese

2010-09-19T03:39:33Z

People never fail to amaze me. In the last few months I have heard some doozies. I can't tell you how many people I've had to explain the basics of bail to, which isn't really a new thing. I didn't really know anything about bail bonds when I first got into this business, but I knew the basic concept.

A bail bond secures a person's appearance in court and allows them to aid in their own defense.

That concept was one of the first things I learned in high school government class. It's in the Constitution, so really it's taught in every American History class I ever took. Teachers never went into the finer points of bail, but it's not surprising considering the amount of history one has to learn in a year. And let's face it, bail bonds is associated with criminals and who wants to focus to much on criminal behavior in high school?

In the last few months, I've had to explain why I won't cut rate a bond. What is cut rating? Cut rating a bond is when a bondsman choosing to take less than the 10% normally charged to write the bond. Why don't I do it? Because it's a slippery slope. When you start cut rating, you start cutting your throat. Every time a bondsman takes a lesser rate, that bondsman has to write more bonds to make up the difference. The more bonds a bondsman has to write, the more desperate they become to make up that difference. When a bondsman becomes desperate to write a bond, they start making terrible underwriting decisions. And let's face it, a bail bond is a form of insurance.

A bail bond insures a person's appearance in court.

As every insurance agent will tell you, when underwriting a policy, risk must be taken into account. Well what is the risk of cut rating? On the surface, the "customer" is getting a great deal, no different than a discount at a department store. Well, there's a huge a difference. When purchasing a bail bond, you are purchasing a service that will directly affect your freedom. I can't count the bonds I've written for people who went with that cheaper bondsman, only to have the bondsman come back to collect money and put the defendant back in jail because they couldn't or wouldn't pay. Or because they need to free up their liability to write more cut rate bonds. Or because they are just high on a power trip. Whatever the reason, purchasing a cut rate bond buys you a cut rate bondsman.

I've also had to explain to a lot of people why they have to have a cosigner. Hrm, well let's see if this makes sense to you... There must be a cosigner, or indemnitor, on every bond because there has to be someone or something that secures the amount of the bond. Think of it like a loan. I am loaning someone the full amount of the bond so they may be free to go about their daily business and aid in their own defense. Let's keep in mind this person has not yet been convicted of their accused crime. Our Constitution hinges on the fact that people are free.

See Amendment 1- Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Our Constitution also gives us the rights of speedy trial and confrontation of witnesses.

See Amendment 6- In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

The point of bail is to give a defendant a tangible reason for returning to court. Most of us would do exactly as the court asked, however, let's face it, there are criminals amongst us. And sometimes criminals need a real, tangible reason to return to court. Sometimes it's not so easy to look at a person and determine if they are a person of integrity. There are people out there who have been falsely accused, however there are just as many who will con their way into our homes to walk away with our trust.

How do weed through the con artists and the persons of integrity? Well, you hold them to their word and secure their appearance with a tangible bond. As a bondsman, I'm going to involve their family and their friends in this process because, after all, it is my money I am loaning out to people I don't really know. Sounds crazy? Well, home insurance is just as crazy. When you go to your insurance company, they are promising to secure your property in the face of natural disasters. Chances are, that tornado will never travel straight through your house, but if it does, doesn't it feel good to know that your home insurance will be there to make you whole again? That's exactly what a bondsman does for the court system. We insure the defendant will appear to face their charges and if they don't, we make the court whole by returning the defendant or paying the full bond amount. Obviously, we prefer to return the defendant.

Let's review the basics...

A bond secures appearance.
I'm not going to cut rate. In turn, I won't revoke your bond for something stupid.
It is your Constitutional right to bail.
This is insurance...insurance to appear in court.
If you don't show, I will make the court whole again.

Simple, right? So why are there so many in our profession intent on making muddying the waters? Come'on people...keep it simple. Recognize the problem and fix it.