Sean R. Thomas: Stop ‘catch and release’

April 29th, 2010

By Sean R. Thomas
Special to The Sun

Published: Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.

For the past 15 years I have worked in Alachua County as a bail agent, and I have posted thousands of bail bonds for defendants. Using Court Services’ own formula, that translates to tens of millions of dollars in savings of incarceration costs for the taxpayer.

I have never received any taxpayer money from Alachua County. However, I have paid county bond forfeitures, totaling $29,000, for four defendants I could never locate.

That’s right, four of my bond clients in 15 years could not be found! I would challenge any pretrial release program to match that record.

The bottom line is this: bail bonding works. The reason is accountability — we get people to show up (or we pay big money), and unlike pretrial release programs, we will locate, arrest and return bond skips to jail, and we do this far better than any tax-based program around.

The courts, sheriff, state attorney and county commissioners can make all the arguments in the world for these public option programs, but the bottom line is, we taxpayers pay dearly for them!

It amazes me that as county and state budgets are strained to the point of busting, we sit here fighting over legislation that pits government’s expenditures in the millions vs. private tax-free alternative-bail, which has worked very well in this country since its inception.

Pretrial programs are being advertised as a cheap solution to expensive incarceration, and the claim that only low-risk offenders are put in them is simply not the truth.

Pretrial release takes taxpayer money and uses it to fund the release of criminals back on the streets with absolutely no guarantee that they will ever come back to court.

These pretrial programs are funded by the same general fund that directly competes for money that could be used for police, fire, teachers, etc.

Pretrial programs have become a way for the court to rationalize releasing huge numbers of people from custody.

Pretrial has this nice PR platform saying that they can supervise individuals for a quarter the cost, but in truth, we taxpayer are spending millions for them to “supervise” just a few thousand people, and of those, a huge percentage will fail to return for court, or will violate some pretrial program regulation and be returned to jail.

Alachua county has thousands of warrants on people wanted for not coming to court (14,000 active warrants at last count, and climbing every day). The vast majority of theses individuals were released on their own recognizance by judges, or were recoged into one of these “supervised” programs.

It was no surprise to me that the only county in this part of Florida to see an increase in crime was Alachua County. What is surprising is that neither the sheriff nor the state attorney, nor do many of our county’s judges, seem to have any problem with our judicial system’s “catch and release” philosophy.

Sean R. Thomas lives in Gainesville.

Source

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Florida Bail Legislation, Gainesville Bail Bonds, Pretrial Services | 2,980 Comments »

Mason-Dixon Poll Finds Voters Oppose Use of Tax Dollars for Bail

April 5th, 2010

ALEC Calls on Florida Lawmakers to Pass SB 782 and HB 445

Washington D.C. - The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today released the findings of a recent Mason-Dixon poll showing that Florida voters strongly favor enacting a statewide law that would limit the use of their tax dollars to paying only for the release of indigent defendants who have been charged with a non-violent crime.  Statewide, 71% supported limiting the use of tax dollars, while 22% were opposed and 7% were undecided.

Currently, the Florida Legislature is considering Senate Bill 782 by Senator John Thrasher (R-St. Augustine) and House Bill 445 by Representative Chris Dorworth (R-Lake Mary), pertaining to changing Florida Statute, as it relates to the government-run pretrial release programs.  SB 782 and HB 445 requires that the defendant meet certain specified criteria in order to be eligible for pretrial release; narrows who is eligible for taxpayer-funded pretrial services/release programs; and moves more criminal offenders to a private, regulated and licensed bail system, while still allowing for the continued use of pretrial programs for non-violent, first-time, non-dangerous indigent offenders.

ALEC has made reforming government-run bail a priority and believes this legislation will benefit Floridians.

Support for the measure has widened to the Florida’s voters, as by the Mason-Dixon poll:

94% felt criminal defendants who have failed to appear in court on a previous offense should not be allowed to be released from jail using tax dollars.

·     87% felt that if a criminal defendant can afford to pay their own bail for release from jail, they should not be allowed to be released from jail using tax dollars.

·     86% felt a criminal defendant that has been previously convicted of a violent crime should not be allowed to be released from jail using tax dollars, even if the court rules that they are indigent.

·     Only 15% of state voters were aware that 28 Florida counties allow criminals to be released from jail using taxpayer dollars instead of paying for their own release while they await trial.

  • Support for the measure cuts across party lines, with 65% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans and 72% of independentsfavoring such a law.

ALEC’s Public Safety Task Force Director Michael Hough said, “It is clear that taxpayers do not want to be left on the hook to pay the bill for releasing potentially dangerous criminals from jail. Pretrial release agencies should strictly serve the indigent, and commercial bail does a better job of protecting the public from dangerous criminals, while saving taxpayer dollars.”

The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc. of Washington, D.C. from March 23, 2010, through March 25, 2010, with a total of 625 registered Florida voters.  The margin of error is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points. The poll is available here http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/cied/Mason-Dixon_poll.pdf

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Florida Bail Legislation, Nationwide Bail Bonds, Pretrial Services | 1,758 Comments »

The easy way to bail someone out of Florida jail

March 29th, 2010

The easiest way to bail someone out of jail is to talk to a highly qualified bail bonds agency. These agencies deal with thousands of cases very similar to yours every year, and they’ll know exactly what needs to be done in order to bail that person out of jail. They will be able to help you make quick decisions and should be able to handle your application smoothly and quickly. If you choose a good Tampa bail bonds agency, they will be able to bail someone out of jail within a matter of hours. If you don’t, however, you could end up with a whole multitude of problems and the process could take days rather than just hours.

A big bail bond agency will be able to give you complete peace of mind. It’s a bit like putting the whole bail bonds process on autopilot – you just give them the necessary details, and they do all the hard work for you. You can often find high quality bail bond agencies online, and you’ll be able to talk to someone from that agency before you begin working with them. Be sure to explain your situation and ask any questions that you might have; if you are happy with the answers they give you, the chances are you’re going to be happy with the service they provide when you work with them.

Make sure to stay calm throughout the process and not make too much of a fuss. There is nothing worse for an agency than someone who is panicking and impatient while they are working hard to process the bail bond. Good agencies will help you relax and give you peace of mind, but don’t rely on this, they are often too busy and it’s only those that truly care about customer service who will help you in this area.

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Tampa Bail Bonds | 762 Comments »

Pasco County Eliminates Pretrial Release

March 3rd, 2010

Overview
SB 782 (Thrasher) and HB 445 (Dorworth) put modest limits on who is eligible for government
funded pretrial release (PTR) programs. Opponents of this bill have said that these limits would
increase the county jail population. This is not true.

Pasco County Findings
Due to budget constraints, in 2007 Pasco County completely eliminated its government run PTR
program, saving taxpayers $348,000 per year. In 2008, the county’s jail population increase
was a negligible 5 bed days per year (an increase from 1,262 to 1,267)…a less than 0.4% increase.
However, when considering the population growth of the county during that same time, there was
a net decrease of 2.2% in per capita bed days. Per capita occupancy went DOWN, not up!

Sources: Florida Department of Corrections, Index to Statistics and Publication; US Census population estimates.
“Due to budget cuts, we completely cut out the pretrial release program in Pasco County.
As a result, we saved taxpayers nearly $350,000 last year and haven’t seen any
noticeable change in our jail population. I have had great success in doing away with the
pretrial release program.”
–Pasco County Sheriff Bob White
“We have had great success with the Pre-trial Program being eliminated in Pasco
County.”
–Pasco County Commissioner Michael Cox

Conclusion
The complete elimination of the taxpayer financed pretrial release program in Pasco County had
no significant impact on jail population. If any impact must be drawn, one could conclude that
eliminating the program actually reduced the per capita jail population while saving taxpayers
nearly $350,000 per year.

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Pretrial Services | 1,902 Comments »

What is Pre-Trial Release

March 1st, 2010

We found a video that talks about Pre-trial release and how ineffective it really is.  Pre-trial release is nothing more than another government program that costs taxpayers money.  Please watch the video and leave your comments.

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Pretrial Services | 3,156 Comments »

Great Video

January 28th, 2010

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Videos | 2,726 Comments »

Wondering about Bail Bond Collateral?

January 25th, 2010

If you’ve ever been involved in the bail bonds process in Hillsborough County, then you will know all about collateral. Fortunately, most people never have to deal with this sort of thing, so it’s actually quite likely that you’ve never even heard of it before. You may have heard the term “collateral” used in other areas, and in the bail bonds industry in Hillsborough County, collateral is a largely similar concept to other industries. Collateral is basically an asset (or assets) that are given to the bail bondsman or bail bond agency when initiating the bailing out of someone who’s been arrested. This collateral takes away a lot of the risk that the bail bond agency acquires when initiating the process.

The thing is, if collateral wasn’t provided, then you and the arrestee could simply try and run away, leaving the bail bondsman in Hillsborough County to pay the bill for the full bail amount. Having to do this can be financially crippling for a bail bond agency, so it’s important that they aren’t taking too many risks by dealing with a case like yours. They will ask for collateral unless they can be absolutely sure that there is no risk involved, which is unlikely. Without collateral, the whole bail bonds industry would have died many years ago, so we should be thankful that there is such a simple way of solving the issue of risk.

You may be asked to attend a nebia hearing if the arrestee was involved in a federal crime. This nebia hearing will simply ensure that you have enough collateral to full cover the cost of the bail. It is a longer process than with normal state or county bail bonds, primarily because there is a higher risk involved with federal cases.

Collateral is all about eliminating risk; if everything goes smoothly, then you won’t have any problems to deal with, and you’ll get your collateral back once the conditions of the bail are fulfilled. If you can’t be sure that the conditions of the bail will be fulfilled, then you should perhaps reconsider providing the collateral in the first place.

Posted in Florida Bail Bonds | 1,739 Comments »

Help with immigration bail bonds

December 8th, 2009

Communication is the biggest problem that immigration bail bonds face in Fort Pierce. It’s extremely difficult for a bail bond agency and an immigrant to communicate effectively on the same level. This may not just be because of language difficulties; often there are cultural differences and secrets that can hinder proceedings before they even get started properly. Immigrants generally don’t have any idea about the bail bonds process in this country, especially since it is quite unique around the world. Often people will have heard that bailing someone out of jail is possible, but they simply have no idea where to start. It is important that the indemnitor (the person that co-signs the bail bond) communicates well with the Fort Pierce bail bondsman that is handling the process. The process may take some time, but if both parties are patient and willing to take that extra time to understand each other, then everything can run quite smoothly.

 

Because of the higher risk that a bondsman incurs when taking on an immigration bail bond, there is a higher deposit to pay than the standard amount. This will be 15% of the full bail amount. The next step will be finding collateral, which is often extremely difficult, primarily because immigrants may not have any belongings or properties. If there is not sufficient collateral to cover the full amount of the bail bond, it is unlikely that the process will go any further.

 

The immigrant will need papers to prove their identity, and need to disclose any information they have about their current situation. How much information the bondsman asks for depends on which bondsman you use, but remember that you can always back out if you do not wish to proceed with the initial stages. The bondsman will make sure you understand the conditions of the Fort Pierce bail bond, and the conditions of the bail set out by the prison, so that all of them are fulfilled. If any of these are not fulfilled correctly, the bail could be forfeited and the full amount of the bail will be owed by the indemnitor to the bondsman.

Posted in Florida Bail Bonds, Nationwide Bail Bonds | 1,810 Comments »

Florida Bail Bonds – Intel by …

October 11th, 2009

Florida Bail Bonds – Intel by Ryrock – Qondio United States http://www.qondio.com/florida-bail-bonds

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Posted in Florida Bail Bonds | 1,261 Comments »

Fugitive Recovery

October 8th, 2009

     Fugitive recovery is more commonly known as bounty hunting, and is often seen as quite a glamorous profession. Although there are a number of perks, bounty hunting is an extremely demanding job and is nothing like “Dog the bounty hunter” or any other dramatization you might have seen. Some states do not allow bounty hunting, it is 100% illegal, but you should know this before you even consider becoming a private bounty hunter. There are other laws that restrict the actions of bounty hunters in most states, and it is important that you understand all of these; it is quite useful to keep a copy of all of the laws that protect you and restrict you when you are working.

      Most states have an age restriction of 21 for bounty hunters, based on the fact that it can be quite dangerous and really shouldn’t be attempted by anyone who isn’t able to defend himself. The age limit also relates to the legalities of carrying concealed weapons.  Another thing you’ll need if you want to work in fugitive recovery is a good knowledge of the bail laws and the way that they work; if you don’t have a good understanding of this, you won’t be able to carry out your work in an effective manner.

     Starting out as a bounty hunter is difficult, since the profession relies on a great deal of experience and connections in order to be successful. You shouldn’t expect to pick up huge amounts of work immediately; you’ll have to start small and work your way up. The most important thing is that you only take cases that you know you can handle; don’t try to be too heroic at any stage.  You’ll want to build up a network of solid connections and a reputation of success before you start taking on more risky work. It is also important that you are able to defend yourself properly and have the proper equipment to carry out any task that is required of you.

Posted in Bounty Hunting, Fugitive Recovery | 1,622 Comments »

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