Keep Bailing

In the world of bail, there are different variations when it comes to the types of bonds used, and ways to have people released from jail.  While the words “bail” and “bail bond” are often used interchangably, there is definately a difference.

Specifically, according to Princeton University’s WordNet, Bail (as a noun) is: ”the legal system that allows an accused person to be temporarily released from custody (usually on condition that a sum of money guarantees their appearance at trial).”

And, Bail (as a verb) is: “secure the release of (someone) by providing security.”

Both “Bail” and “Bail Bonds” accomplish Bail as a verb – they get the defendant out of jail while they await court. Let’s see if we can clarify…

Bail

Without a bondsman, a individual can Read more »

In the continuing saga of drama and arrest queen, Lindsay Lohan a judge issued a bench warrant for her failing to show up for a mandatory probation hearing, Thursday in Los Angeles.

However, her attorney quickly posted 10% of her $100,000 bail, prior to her returning to court, so there will be no actual jail time for Lindsay.

Marsha Revel, a Beverly Hills Court Judge, ordered an arrest warrant for Lindsay failing to appear in court on a previous DUI case.  But she was late after becoming “stranded” in Europe upon losing her passport at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

The Judge didn’t take to kindly to Ms. Lohan skipping out on her court obligations. In fact, Read more »

Two parolees were arrested early this morning and taken to after ramming a possibly stolen SUV into a police cruiser.

Police were called when neighbors saw two individuals looking into cars.  According to the SF Gate,

The driver came to a stop at the dead-end of Pettit and then threw the Nissan into reverse, ramming Roth’s Ford Crown Victoria cruiser, the sergeant said.

The suspects fled on foot but were arrested within the hour with the help of a California Highway Patrol helicopter and a Pleasant Hill police K-9 unit, Roth said.

Christian Dorsch, 40, of Vacaville and April Carruth, 35, of Benicia were taken to Contra Costa Jail in Martinez. The two are currently not eligible for bail as they have parrole holds. When someone on parole is arrested, they are held in a “No Bail” status pending review by their parrole officer.

We All Need Help Sometimes

As a bail bondsman, my job is to help people get out of jail. It’s not my job to give advice. Sometimes, that’s hard to do. Today was a good example, the phone rang around 6:00 am, I looked at the caller i.d. before answering, as is my habit. “Global Tel Link“ - tells me it’s a call from a Los Angeles County Jail. “Bail Bonds, may I help you?” I answer.

The caller is a male who tells me that he is in the Van Nuys Jail. He immediately tells me that his bail $10,000, he had $3000 in cash when he was arrested and would like to pay for the $1000 bond fee himself with that money. Before I even ask the usual bail questions, my warning signals are twitching. He seems to know the bail bond process, he sounds young and he has a large sum of cash. Read more »

If it’s not the first question people ask, it’s the second; “You’re a bail bondsman - like Dog the Bounty Hunter?” No, actually, my job is nothing like what Beth and Duane Chapman (aka “The Dog”) do on television. A day in the life for me entails talking with mostly nice people who know someone who has made a mistake or who the authorities think has broken the law.

Quite honestly, I had never seen the Dog the Bounty Hunter show start to finish. I’d probably caught 5 or 10 minutes here or there while surfing. Still, when I cruised by A&E the other night, the show was just starting; I thought I’d give it a shot and watch the whole episode.

Dog was in Colorado (possibly why I decided to watch; I have a long-standing love affair with the Rocky Mountain State, dating back to John Denver, but I digress…). As I watched, I was a lot more interested in the “how” of The Dog’s operation than the two fugitives they were chasing down. Read more »

From Pencils to Pagers to Blogs

If you have kids, you’ve heard them giggle, “You didn’t even have cell phones when you were a kid! Did you have electricity?” As I prepared to launch the Keep Bailing blog, I realized how lucky Greg and I are to have modern tools that Greg’s dad, Cal Rynerson, never even dreamed of when he started his bail bond business almost 40 years ago.

Cal Rynerson, became a licensed California bail agent in 1969 and started Rynerson Bail Bonds in 1971 (the same year Roy Tomlinson sent the first email). That was before personal computers, before fax machines, before cell phones, before websites. Cal did business the old fashioned way, with pens, paper, and face-to-face personal interaction. (Imagine that?)

With an office located directly across the street from the Santa Ana jail, he regularly had walk-in customers. He wrote 95% of his bonds for the local jail, often handling 10 or more bonds each day. Ten bonds may not sound like a lot, but each one requires a bail bond interview, paperwork, and a trip to the jail. At the time, the average Southern California bail bond was around $500.

Now, the average bail in So Cal is around $20,000. We’d be lucky to write ten bonds in a week! With the proliferation of internet and the glut of competition, Greg and I need to write bonds all over California. There’s no way we could do business the way Cal did 30 years ago. Read more »