Deferred disposition?

BIll, Have you tried 'gently' educating them. It may be to your benefit, then again, it would not allow for any 'trump cards' on your part should you need to exercise your knowledge to "tech" off of a bond

_________________


Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

In Maryland, to premature someone, we have to have all of the original bail paperwork as well as all of the money that should have been collected, whether you got it all or not.

Scott

_________________
R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

all the money?? you don't mean you return it, do you?

Scott, I know you have been licensed in VA and know that we only need the bail piece and the defendant... and back they go... now of course we always have a good reason but technically it is at the discretion of the bondsman. I know a real 'snake in the grass' that bonds in my AO, who will bond a person and then turn around and lock them up in a day or so... he has been doing this for years and with no apparent ill effects, although most everyone knows it. He has had some run ins with courts, LE and magistrates and is not well liked but to date he still operates apparently untouched. DCJS seems to have no teeth to control bondsmen although that was, I thought, the reason they came into existence... we thought. I get the distinct impression that they are a regulatory agency for the administration of their own agency only. On the times that I have spoken to them regarding regulatory function and investigative processes of questionable actions by licensed agents in the field... I get a "well, that's not our area..." You can supposedly submit unsigned requests for an investigation of anything related to our business and it will be acted upon... I have found that is not the case.

I will not go into details here, but I can tell you several related actions that were simply brushed aside. Extremely frustrating. I have written congressmen on many subjects related to our field with no real response or action... complacency is rampant.

Sorry, getting off the subject.

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Actually Bill, I think that you really tapped it . . . If it is of no benefit to them they are not going to 'act' on anything . . . same thing goes here in AR.

_________________


Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

Here, it is an accepted violation of bond conditions to not pay your bondsman, as is any other reason. I have used that excuse when an indemnitor hasn't gotten reimbursed from the defendant and wants a revoke done, but there are no other issues that would prevent the defendant from rebonding through myself or another agent.

_________________
Kathy Blackshear
Blackshear Investigations
Blackshear Bail Bonds
Sales Associate, Prepaid Legal Services, Inc.
Walsenburg, CO

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Bill,
When we premature someone, the full 10% of the face value of the bond must be surrendered to the court upon surrender of the defendant. If you collected all of the money or not, is not their concern. The reason for this is because of the individual you described, and the mind set of people like him. In Northern VA, you can't premature someone with out a hearing for a bail piece, a show cause for them to decide if you really need to surrender the individual because it was abused before and that was their correction on the judicial side.

As Bondsmen, we must look out for the industry instead of ourselves. I have preached this to deaf ears. We have 182 licensed Bondsmen in the 7th Circuit, which is only 4 counties, and have only 6 members that actively pay dues to our bail association. We hire a lobbyist that costs us $20K per year, to keep us informed of the political goings on and our response or proactive actions. It has proved invaluable to our industry. Unfortunately, the non-member bondsmen get the benefit of the efforts of the association without a financial responsibility to the association.

The court system as well as the Federally funded Pre Trial Relaease Association do not have to divide and conquer us to get their agenda across, we have done it to ourselves. There was a time when being a Bondsman meant something, it had honor and integrity, unfortunately, those days are gone. Worst of all, we did it to ourselves.

Scott

_________________
R.E. "Scott" MacLean III

"Leaders are like Eagles, you never see them in a flock, but one at a time"

Chesapeake Group Investigations, Inc.
Chesapeake Bail Bonds
877-574-0500
301-392-1100 (fax)
301-392-1900 (Office)

That is unbelievable and a travesty.



Also hard to believe... this must be taking place because of rulings specific to that area, placed by certain judges... it is not statewide. I pull up the surety capias/bailpiece release from the .gov website, fill in the spaces on the computer carry it to the appropriate court clerk, have it signed and go about serving it as I pick up the defendant I wish to turn in... if the indemnitor wishes to come off the bond, that is a reason and I charge $250 plus whatever expenses I incur during the process. If I simply have a 'bad feeling' about the bond, I lock him/her up. I am also compassionate but realistic and do not arbitrarily lock people up for no reason. Sometimes in the course of doing business and when it may appear to others that I should come off a bond... I will not surrender the defendant and allow him to remain on bond. Unless ordered by the courts or the CA, I stay on bonds that others might surrender.

Case in point. Yesterday, one of my bonds went to court for his arraignment, heard that he was going to be random drug tested and walked out of court. The CA actually called me and informed me of his action. The judge put a felony capias on him and a show cause on me... I found out about it several hours after he had left. I pulled his info, called his cell and he answered. He was on his way to another state and in fact was in another state when I got in touch with him... I read him the riot act, he had his aunt, grandmother and cousins in the car and all were indemnitors on the bond... it was not a small bond (lets just say over 10K) I told him if he came back today we could get this straight. I also told him that if he was 'dirty' on MJ... they would not arrest him... he said MJ was all and that he would turn around and return to get it straight... mmmmmmmmmmmm believe it or not, he did come back... a 200 mile round trip. This impressed the CA, however, the judge while removing the capias and the show cause on me, still place another bond on him... I, and another police officer went before the magistrate and got the kid a 2000 unsecured bond (PR) he walked and will be in court next week for another arraignment. I had a signed bailpiece in my folder when he came in but the fact that this kid returned with all his family (2 carloads) and took the test gave me reason to stay on the bond. I will say that his family are very good signers and I have considerable info on him so I felt it was worthwhile to stick.

I could have very easily come off this bond and if I had voiced a negative statement to the magistrate the bond would have been secured and I could have put another $200 in my pocket if I had written that one.......... point is... I am often criticized for being too soft but I have been this way all my life and so far I have not been bitten too awfully bad... you have to make the call based on your best info and judgment. My reputation in this business is I believe as a fair, honest bondsman that tries to work with not only the courts and LE but for the sake of the defendants and his/her family as well.

Sorry to get long winded here but I just wanted to relate this tale as I felt it was pertinent to the thread.

We have to all step up to the plate regardless of the negative press and negative people that surround us and work through all the sht that falls on us. We can certainly be vigilant and watchful of those that would harm our overall reputation but in the end, we are responsible for ourselves and although we might like to control others in our profession, if each of us works in an honest, professional manner and strive for perfection in our actions, we may all reach a level that is looked upon positively by the powers that be.



So true but maybe we can get some of it back, at least on an individual basis... I know that you (Scott) and many others on this site continue to have a very good reputation and for that I suppose we should be thankful.

... and that's all I have to say about that...

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"

Well said Bill. Once again, I nod to those that far more eloquent than I.

_________________


Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty, or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light, or look the world in the face .... Marcus Antonius

I AM Some Folks "KARMA" and A MODERATOR @ FRN

In my state, we can revoke for any reason. Sometimes the court will ask why are you puting the subject back into custody ? Again we need not have a reason but most of the time I just heard from a C.I. that my subject was making ready to leave the state. This "reason" has always been good enough and nothing more has ever been said.

_________________
Surety Enforcement Bureau
Washington Fugitive Recovery Lic # 0128
(503) 997-9837.

TIER1 INVESTIGATIONAL SERVICES
Private Investigator Lic # 3919
(360) 841-8039
(888) 238-8961
www.tieronepi.com

This is how it should be IMHO. We are facing the full liability and should have the control. However, it is not the way it is... I have said for 10+ years, the rule of thumb is......... "there are no rules of thumb"

Courts everywhere do exactly what the sitting judge wants to do... in order to reverse or appeal a decision from the bench you have to spend time and money to work it. That is why most lower court decisions remain fixed. When and if judges legislate rather than judge from the bench, we and everyone are at their mercy. period. The code in Virginia means basically nothing...

...according to many judges I have stood before in my tenure as a bondsman... the Virginia code is for interpretation only and not line by line implementation. So, were is the written law, or are they all open to interpretation?

_________________
Bill Marx, Sr.
"FREE STATE BAIL BONDS"
"FREE STATE INVESTIGATIONS"
DCJS: 99-176979
Cell: 434-294-0222

"Endeavor to Persevere" "Lone Watie"

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that , comes from bad judgment" "Will Rogers"