O.R. Versus Bail
Written by Tonya Rynerson on May 27, 2009“What’s Wrong With Bail in Los Angeles?” I’m thinking about making this a category here at KeepBailing. Bail is a great Constitutional Right. The system is really quite good and costs nothing to John Q. Public. Release on Own Recognizance is another story…
Recently, I had a call from a woman who’s brother was arrested and was at the Van Nuys Jail. He had been in an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. His bail was $30,000 and their mother agreed to bail him out. As our bail agent arrived at Van Nuys (and was illegally approached by street solicitors looking to cut him a 5% deal on a bond – also illegal, but that’s another post), he went into the jail with bond in hand and the jailer told him, “Sorry, the guy just had an O.R. approved.”
My guy tells the jailer, “Well, I have a bond, wouldn’t that be better for everyone?”
“Sorry, gotta O.R. him,” the agent was told. (Note that I recognize that the officer was doing what he’s told to do.)
You might be thinking, that’s great for the defendant and his family; they don’t have to pay. Well, not so fast. What are the facts about O.R. versus bail when it comes to appearance in court?
Cheif Walters of the Santa Ana Police Department cited it well when he met with bondsmen in October 2008. He told us:
The Santa Ana experience was that 95 to 98% of bailees returned to court to address the charges compared with only 25% of defendants who were cited out.
Walters went on to say that when someone doesn’t appear for court, a warrant is issued and police are supposed to go out looking for the individual, at additional cost to the public and taking time away from the officers’ other duties. In my experience that doesn’t happen; police departments just don’t have the resources. If, however, a defendant on bond doesn’t show up, the bondsman will find him. That’s our job as an agent for the court.
Day in and day out we deal with nice families and people who have had bad judgement and, yes, some criminals. The purpose of the bail system is to ensure appearance at court – and that’s a good thing! It lets people who are potentially innocent get out of jail and continue their lives; it also keeps down the over-crowding in the jails, making them safer and potentially less costly to society at large. Bail bondsmen additionally provide - at no cost to the public - oversight for the defendant: a set of eyes from the bondsman and the indemnitor (the person signing the bail bond contract), which provides a service that cite and release or release on Own Recognizance (“O.R.”) does not.
When a jailer has the ability to accept a bond or release on O.R., it costs nothing to help ensure the individual will return to court. Who pays? The defendant or their family… but isn’t a safer public worth it?
More on Benefits of Bail Bonds.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Well put…I’ve had experiences where the bail-takers seem to rub it in our faces when we try to post bail for someone that was just granted an O.R. They don’t seem to understand that we serve additional purposes by helping offenders attend court and lifting the tax burden, so the jail personnel can keep getting raises in a recession! I think pre-trial ORs are sometimes given because those higher ups resent the bail bonds industry (they think we just roll around in piles of gold in our mansions) despite the benefits we provide and the HUGE risks we take!
May 28th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Matt, we also occassionally have what I would characterize as unprofessional responses from jailers. Around here, I think O.R. is often granted or, worse given as a matter of policy, based on over-crowding and perhaps understaffing. At that Van Nuys jail in particular, word on the street is everything under $25K is an automatic O.R. It’s a big mistake and, IMO, a public safety issue.