Keep Bailing

Bobby Brown, a Colorado Springs bail bondsman, is suing the creators of A&E’s show Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Brown’s lawsuit was filed last wek. A&E, Hybrid Films and D&D Television are all named in the lawsuit, in which Brown claims he was only paid $6,000 for the contributions he made to the show. He is seeking over $75,000 in damages, according to court documents.

The court records show that Brown took part in more than 40 episodes, which he claims helped to lay the foundation for the series. It is also stated that Brown was not paid for each Colorado episode.

The series has earned over $400 million, gross, according to court documents. It is Brown’s belief that he deserves a portion of the show’s revenue since he is one of the stars.

In his lawsuit, Brown claims that Duane “Dog” Chapman Read more »

Across the country, police officers, judges and many bail bondsmen have complained about the practice of “undercutting” by some bail companies. These companies will offer to post someone’s bail for little or no money down. With so many people hurting for cash in this economy, the practice has become more commonplace.

With some bail agencies being lax in their rules, more offenders are finding it easier to be released. Last January, a Connecticut man was arrested for the second time in four months on domestic violence charges. He was able to post a no-money down, $25,000 bail bond through a bail agent. After he was released, he returned home several hours, later where law enforcement says he shot and killed his wife then killed himself.

Another incident in Lakewood, WA occurred when a man fatally shot four local police officers. Reportedly, he had been released less than a week prior when he posted bail through a bail bondsman who charged fees much below those set by law.

Both states were prompted by these violent acts to begin imposing stricter regulations on bail bonds.

In 2010, tougher regulations for the bail bonds industry were passed in 26 states. Of those, seven of them also placed added restrictions on the release of offenders charged with sex offenses and violent crimes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In some states, like Connecticut, there has been Read more »

Some arrestees in Virginia, who can afford to pay their own bail, have been taking advantage of a taxpayer-funded get-out-of-jail-free card that has many in the Va. General Assembly fuming. But opponents say that folks who want to end this law are merely a front for bail bondsmen who seek to line their own pockets by doing so.

It’s called “Pretrial Services” and it allows defendants to be released before their court hearing without bail. Commercial bail bondsmen want to limit this. Bondsmen point out that release on “Own Recognizance” is only supposed to be used by defendants who can’t afford their own bail, but that inmates with means seems are being offered the service – at a cost to the tax payers. Tax dollars should not be used to bail out those who have the means to pay nor should the state compete with private business.

But pretrial services supporters feel someone’s ability to pay a bail amount shouldn’t be Read more »

This week, we read about the effects of a downturned economy on bail bondsmen in Imperial Valley and in San Bernardino. There’s no doubt this tough economy has played some part in our bail bond industry. Like any other business, bail bond customers now have less money and their homes are worth less as collateral than a couple of years ago. The jails are becoming overcrowded and I hear clients say: “With the economy the way it is, we’re going to let him stay in jail.”

As bondsmen, we’ve already been fighting a singular economic battle for some time, because we can’t compete based on price — we’re regulated by the Department of Insurance and are rates are set with them. In addition, our customers may not be very particular:  They often just want to deal with whoever can help them the fastest.

It used to be that good, honest service was the benchmark of a successful bail bond business.  Call me old fashioned, but I still believe this to be true and I really get steamed when I find myself up against bondsmen who break the law to earn a buck – and who then use bad economic times as their excuse.  So I’d like to dispel the belief that their practices have anything to do with a lousy economy.  I want to Read more »

In Philadelphia, large numbers of fugitives are skipping bail and fleeing justice, angry District Attorney Seth Williams told the Senate at a subcommittee hearing, and this “broken” bail system is like a second assault on crime victims.

Williams said Philadelphia defendants defeat the system by failing to show up for court, wearing down witnesses and causing cases to collapse in large numbers. So far, Philadelphia has let almost 47,000 fugitives escape. Between 2007 and 2008 over 19,000 defendants have failed to show up for at least one hearing.  This means one out of every three defendants, making it the nation’s highest tally for failure-to-appear.

Philadelphia courts took over the bail bond process about 40 years ago, citing widespread corruption within the bail bond industry as their reason. Under the city’s bail system, defendants pay 10 percent of their bail up front to the court, with the other 90 percent due if they skip their court dates. But the city has never backed up the consequences for skipping by collecting that money.  Now fugitives owe Philly a grand total of $1 billion in forfeited bail.

Contrast this to private bail such as the system in California. Bail agents Read more »

Ok, I’ve gotta comment on this story because I can relate to it on so many different levels: parent, bail bondsman, Walmart shopper, on-looker… but first the story:

A 61-year-old Georgia man named Roger Stephens was held without bail yesterday for slapping a two-year old child at Walmart. Stephens was upset that the child was crying. He warned the mother, Sonya Matthews, that he would “shut that baby up” if Matthews couldn’t stop her daughter’s cries by herself.

When the child continued to cry, Stephens followed through on his threat. He slapped the 2-year-old Paige Matthews “across the face approximately four or five times,” according to the Gwinnett County Police Department report. Of course, the child screamed and cried even more after being assaulted, but Stephens said to the mother, “See, I told you I would shut her up.” He was arrested for felony cruelty to children and held without bond at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

Ok, so as a parent and a member of society: Read more »

If you are having ideas for a new career like many people these days, maybe you’d like to know how to become a bail bondsman. It probably seems like easy money: answer the phone, collect 10% of the total bail amount, post the bond… “next!” Before you take any of the steps necessary in getting licensed by the Department of Insurance (yes, you will have to pass a test), you might want to take a look at the life of a bail bondsman.

(Assumedly, you already know how bail bonds work, so I’ll skip those details.) In order to survive as a bail bondsman, be prepared to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Any good bail bondsman or company will tell you, the entire livelihood of the company is generated from the 10% premium of the bail that is written. If you are not willing to take calls on Saturday morning at 3:00am, you probably won’t be in business for very long.

Additionally, doing all the necessary technical steps to becoming a bail bondsman are very straight forward, but Read more »

Segars had been out on $100,000 bail bond. While out on bail, the bondsman guarantees to the court that the defendant will show up in court. In this case, Segars did show up for court and plead guilty to first degree burglary, financial elder abuse and diversion of construction funds. He did not, however, show up for sentancing on June 24.

When a defendant doesn’t show up for court – called “failure to appear,” Read more »

Bail Bondsman and Magistrate Team Up to Tip the Scales of Justice – Electronically

Look around the bail industry and you will find an inordinate number of families in business together. Usually when we think of family business, we assume trust. Unfortunately, a family in Virginia decided to take their family bail business in a completely different direction and bring us our latest reported incidence of bail scams.

In Abingdon, VA, local magistrate, “Tiny” Mullin, was released from his job after using a coworkers electronic signature to set bail for clients of his father, J.C. Mullins, a local bail bondsman from an Abingdon bail bond company. Read more »

Lately, I’ve been asked many times, “Your business must thrive in this economy, right?” Or, “I bet bondsmen don’t worry about a bad economy; you must be thrilled.” We’ve even had people inquiring about a job because they think that bail bonds is a recession-proof industry.

I know most people have never had first hand experience with bail bonds. Apparently, the common school of thought is that crime goes up in an economic down-turn.

Last December, I took a call from Tony Castro at the Los Angeles Daily News. He asked several questions about the economy and bail bonds. Mr. Castro subsequently wrote an article about Van Nuys bail bondsmen “bailing out”. I spoke with Mr. Castro a fair amount of time and even though he quoted me on a couple of points, there were several issues I discussed that were left out. Since then, I keep feeling there’s so much more to be said. So, today I’ve written a follow-up article about bail, crime  and the economy. In this article, I’ve attempted to answer: Read more »