Keep Bailing

Like KeepBailing? Well, the Rynerson family is bringing you a new blog: The Family Bail Blog.

The new blog goes along with the redsign of our “sister” website for Tonya Page Bail Bonds. The intention of the Family Bail Blog is educate the public as to how bail works, what to expect as they go through the bail process, how the jail system works, how bail bonds can be paid, what are the benefits of bail and so on. It will feature information that is helpful to those needing California bail bonds or simply curious about “How Bail Works”. We will also provide extensive information about Southern California jails.

If you have Questions about bail bonds, check out “Ask the Bondsman” on the Family Bail Blog.

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 »

As last year, California bail agents met at Lake Tahoe for the 2009 Annual Convention of the California Bail Agents (CBAA). Day one was Monday and included the usual State of the Association and PBUS National Updates.

Pretrial Release

Continuing Education Credit was offered to bondsmen who attended all required sessions, the first of which was an attorney presentation regarding Pre Trial Release presented by Ash Pirayou of Rutan & Tucker and a panel on Credit Card Bail. Pirayou reviewed current happenings in Pretrial Release (commonly known as Release on Own Recognizance or “OR“) in Santa Clara County. Pirayou said that Santa Clara County jailsare attempting to use pretrial release to relieve jail overcrowding and save money, but the bottom line numbers show a significantly different picture. He called on bail agents to help paint an accurate public picture.

Orange County Sheriff Candidate

Bondsmen were also addressed by Bill Hunt, candidate for Orange County Sheriff.  Hunt, who spent 22 years in the Orange County Read more »

Yesterday I wrote about what to expect if you become a California bail bondsman. If you got through that and you’re back for more, you’re ready for the steps in obtaining your bail license. Now that I completed my pre-licensing class, I’m the expert here (ha ha)!

So, without further fan fare, here are the necessary steps to becoming a licenced bail bondsman in California:

1. You must have lived in California for least 2 years and be prepared to provide proof.
2. You must be 18 years old or older.
3. You need a clean record. Kind of an obvious one since you are working within the legal system, but many people don’t realize that to be a bail bondsman, you must have no felony convictions on your record. (Unlike the NFL which employs many people without clean records.) 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 »

Neighbors must have thought they were watching a circus of some sort when police showed up at a home on Miller Ave in Martinez looking for a woman to do a check on a welfare question. Within minutes, the person who answered the door was arrested (suspicion of under the influence of meth) and taken to the County Jail in Martinez.

After being alerted by neighbors, police took chase after two others fleeing out the back. More police were called in to cover the house and arrested another, who didn’t go lightly, threatening the officers and fighting.

The police didn’t stop there, and for good reason. 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 »

Oregon: Go To Jail, Stay There

As a former Oregonian, I find it interesting that the state legislator is finally considering allowing bail bond companies to operate in the state of Oregon. While Oregon alllows for bail, bail bond companies have been unable to operate in Oregon since 1974. Only four states in the US do not allow bondsman. HB 2682 would require an interim committee to study the issue prior to the next legislative session. Allowing bondsmen should allow more people to get out on bail while being overseen by bondsmen, relieving pressure in jails while providing assurances for return to court.

Oregon: Skipping Bail? Go There

Apparently, HB 2682 specifically is written to permit sureties to offer commercial surety release (or, in plain English, bondsman can provide bail bonds for a fee). Unfortunately, Oregon’s fugutive laws Read more »

If you read this blog, you know that bail ethics is a hot button for me. My family has been in the bail bond industry since 1969. I’m extremely concerned about a growing trend that I believe has reached critical mass in our industry. Permit me to further explain the problem:

Let’s say, a defendant is arrested. During the booking process the defendant’s information is entered into various jail computer databases. Unscrupulous bail agents will then “hack” into computer databases to get the names of the defendant sometimes within minutes of the inmate being booked. Armed with the illegally obtained defendant’s name, jail location and date of birth, these unscrupulous bail agents will then utilize investigative techniques to gather information about those associated with the defendant. These bail agents begin to illegally Read more »