I want to take the time to write a series of articles concerning a bill that is working it's way into legislation in Colorado. The bill seeks to institute an alternative bail program in the state of Colorado through the local courts in Colorado.
I want to start with explaining why these types of bills are cropping up in various states. I think the first place to start here is with the Commercial Bail Industry.
First of all, one has to understand that the Commercial Bail System is not what the Bail Bondsmen that are getting rich off of it would have the public believe. These Bail Bondsmen are certainly up in arms over this bill; because it will have an effect on the material that they are used to lining their pockets with and make no mistake that material is MONEY!
The Commercial Bail System is wrought with corruption; most of which is never seen by the general public. Bail Bondsmen have been getting absolutely RICH from the Commercial Bail System for a very long time now. They prey on the desperate misery of others; and if that is not bad enough then consider that they often enough prey on these people's families too. Now understand that I am not saying all Bail Bondsmen are bad people. Some are great people that play by the rules and are nothing less than professionals. Names like Tom Peak, Richard Cloud, David Beasley, and Carlyle Poindexter come to mind when I speak of the True Bonding Professionals in this business. But the sad fact is that this type of Bail Bondsman is greatly outnumbered by greedy, limelight seeking, self-serving, egotistical con men who care for nobody but theirselves. And you will read about their brand of bonding now....
One of the first arguments that the Bail Bondsmen in the Commercial Bail System likes to make is how these states that are instituting these alternative bail programs have incurred a high debt as a result of these programs. Have any of you ever wondered how many Bail Bondsman get out of the Bail Bonding Business with literally hundreds of thousands of forfeiture debt that they are contractually obligated to pay the state; and leave the state holding that bag of bad debt? Let me put it like this; A LOT! The Commercial Bail System has racked up just as much or more in debt to various states than any alternative bail system has. When a Bail Bondsman is licensed and allowed to enter into the Bail Bonding Business, he or she contractually obligates theirself to the state to either produce each defendant that he or she bails out of jail in court to be held accountable for the crimes the defendant is accused of or to pay the full amount of the defendant's bond to the state. It is actually quite easy for a Bail Bondsman to rack up over $250,000.00 in forfeited bonds and then get out of the business and leave the state holding the bag on that debt; while the Bail Bondsman has actually profited from that debt. And it happens all of the time. This is money that could be used by the state to better enhance it's citizen's lives with better roads, better schools, better public services.
Another "first argument" that Bail Bondsmen like to use is that these Alternative Bail Systems make the state that is trying to institute them a haven for criminals and fugitives. The Bail Bondsman working in the Commercial Bail Bonding Profession will tell you that they get their fugitives in off of the street at no cost to the taxpayer; and they'll tell you how effective they are at it. There is some truth in this; but their is also a very ugly truth in this too... Here are the facts. Bail Bondsmen and their Recovery Agents have their "misses" too. And if you combine all of those "misses" that the Bail Bondsmen and their Recovery Agents have you will find that the success rate for recovering fugitives between Law Enforcement and Bail Bondsmen is just about even. But their is one exception. Law Enforcement Officers are trained to understand what a defendant's rights are, how to treat a defendant while he or she is in custody, how to minimize risk to innocent bystanders in critical incident situations, and what they can and can not legally do while attempting to apprehend a fugitive. Have you seen what kind of people are out there conducting Fugitive Recovery in the private sector? It is absolutely terrifying, "wannabe Rambo's" and thugs that are worse than the thugs they are chasing! Are you sure you want the Commercial Bail Industry to go unchecked so that when one of your family members misses a court date on a Bail Bondsman you have a psychopath knocking on your door, fully ready to violate all of your rights in the name of making a fugitive recovery? That is what is happening in the Commercial Bail Industry right now! This is certainly a public safety issue! Even if the Bail Bondsman are getting their fugitives off of the streets without any cost to the tax payer; to what end?
How many people actually believe that after a Bail Bondsman is in the Bail Bonding Profession over a year that he or she in all cases stays financially solvent to write bail? I got news for you! Most Bail Bondsman do not maintain their financial solvency to post bonds as they are required to by the state.The fact is that the Clerks of Court do not have the time to audit on Bail Bondsman a month, much less keep all of the Bail Bondsmen in their county in compliance with the financial solvency requirements set forth by the state. Thats right, each time a Bail Bondsman writes a bond that he or she should not be writing because they don't meet the financial solvency requirements to write that bond, the state risks losing revenue that would have otherwise went to provide better services for us. Here is an example of the lengths that Bail Bondsman will go to in order to try to pass the audits when they are conducted: Austin Bail Bonding Company Fined $1.2 Million!
And you should see the financial abuses that most Bail Bondsmen get away with. Here is a good example. Often times if a defendant is under a fairly high bond such as a $50,000.00 or more the Bail Bondsman will require a co-signer and some type of collateral to secure the bond. Often times people with relatives in jail will use their home as collateral. Almost always the Bail Bondsman does not even look at this as collateral to secure the bond, they look at it as property to try to take from the co-signer. So, the family of the defendant co-signs on a $50,000.00 bond and secures the bond with a $250,000.00 home. Well the Bail Bondsman now HOPES the defendant will try to run on their bond; because the first thing the Bail Bondsman is going to do is move to try to take the house with the paperwork that the co-signer signed. And guess what? If the Bondsman take the house and sells it for $200,000.00 that Bail Bondsman is going to try to keep 100% of the money, when the Bail Bondsman is supposed to be giving the co-signer the remaining balance after the bond is paid and all of the expenses the Bail Bondsman incurred in the process of having to take the home is paid. And this means REASONABLE expenses; NOT "$600.00 a day for a month for investigative expenses for trying to find the defendant". And I have actually seen this happen! These practices have a far greater impact on society than what you might think.
Without going into and great detail about all of the other "dirty little secrets" that Bail Bondsmen in the Commercial Bail Industry don't want you to know about like how some Bondsmen trade writing bonds for sex and drugs, or other Bail Bondsman pay off public officials like Jailers to send them bonds, or how other Bail Bondsmen use some of their clients that have a history of theft to steal merchandise for them; I think it is fair to say that the Commercial Bail Industry has bought a lot of these types of bills and regulations on itself! Perhaps the state should have a shot at offering the defendant and his or her's family an alternative to the types of treatment that I just laid out in this article?
