Keep Bailing

“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? Read more »

Orange County Bail Agents Association (OCBAA) held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday. Bondmen were addressed by Gustavo Liwski and Alfredo M. Amezcua of Santa Ana Business Bank who talked about how the bank meets the needs of local business owners. Mr. Liwiski noted that the bank is lending and encouraged each bondsman to call him to discuss individual needs. The bail agents in the room were clearly impressed when Read more »

‘Tis The Season

It’s that time of year: we get together and give. Southern California bail bondsmen have held two fundraisers in the last week: one supporting Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich in his bid for Los Angeles City Attorney and the other supporting three worthy charities.

Bondsmen from Orange County, the Inland Empire and Riverside County came together on Wednesday night for their annual holiday event to enjoy the season and to raise funds for the Debbie Chisholm Memorial Foundation, Special Olympics and the Santa Ana Police Athletic & Activities League (PAAL), which is supported by the Santa Ana Police Department. All three organizations do an outstanding job of working with and for young people to make a difference. Read more »

After 12 plus years as an organization, the Orange County Bail Agents Association this week voted unanimously to dissolve.  More specifically, the OCBAA agreed to dissolve and Read more »

Santa Ana Police Chief Addresses Jail and Bail with OC Bondsmen

The monthly meeting of Orange County bondsmen welcomed Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, Mike Edwards, his legal counsel, and Russ Davis, Santa Ana PD Jail Administrator. Police Chief Walters began the meeting with an interesting recount of how he came to the Department nearly 20 years ago and evolution of the Santa Ana Jail.

Apparently, many years ago, the Santa Ana Police Department made the decision to release all misdemeanors on a citation (known as “O.R.” or “Cite Out” and also called a “promise to appear”) and house only felony arrestees. According to Chief Walters, 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. In the case of non-appearance, a bench warrant is issued for the defendant which, in the case of Santa Ana at the time, put additional duties on an already stretched-too-tight police force. The results of this practice carried a clear message: Read more »