Utah Case Law

Thanks, I will too. I have actually been playing phone tag with Scott. I had him do a job for me in Illinois a few years back. Great guy and got the job done.

Why chase them?

If you can get evidence that they are in a state which prohibts or makes it nearly impossible to obtain the fugitive then have the bond exonorated.

Rex out in CA is pretty successfull with bond exonorations. I believe he sells a book which details how to do this with a high sucess rate.

You may even be able to work out a deal with bondsman that if you can't get the skip you can get the bond exonorated for the same fee. This fee would include the cost of verifying the fugitives presence (ie; a picture or statement from local L.E.).

Still saves the bondsman/surety a lot of money.

_________________
-The Solution-
Indiana Agency #: PI20700211
Indiana Notary Public - Exp: 12/20/13

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."
- Kingdom of Heaven

All of our cases are worked "for bond exoneration" no matter how we achieve it. We have had BA's who didn't want to pay because we had to call in LE support for whatever reason and they took the person into custody. The agent tried to say that we didn't make the apprehension. We had to explain that we caused it so we had done our job.

There are also times when the person is out of state and we can't pick them up. Or for other reasons, the agent should get an exoneration. I will type up a motion for the agent to file with the court citing the reasons for exoneration. Once the order is signed, our pay is due. We have also caused a person to be picked up and extradited, by collecting the proper paperwork and location information, without us leaving town. One such instance was in KY. It was a strange case where the only BA that had properly been sent the Notice of Forfeiture from the court was on a misdemeanor bond. The guy had three felony warrants, but the courts had neglected to send out the notices. We got him extradited on one of them and nobody but the county had to pay for it.

In these instances as well as the ones where we make the apprehension, we did what we were hired to do, and expect to get paid for the work. Otherwise the BA has a very hard time getting any BEA to work for them.

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

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

Exactly!

_________________
-The Solution-
Indiana Agency #: PI20700211
Indiana Notary Public - Exp: 12/20/13

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."
- Kingdom of Heaven

Ive tried it, it doesnt work, at least not with the judges I have dealt with. I plead my case not long ago about a skip that went to Illinois on a misdemeanor and told the judge I couldnt do it. He said I needed to be more careful about who I bonded on misdemeanors and pay the bond.

MO

You need to get with Rex and Kathy regarding this.

They have both successfully argued for exonoration and Rex especially does this a lot and he works in California (you want to talk legal nightmare LOL).

The fact is that it DOES work (as Kathy said as well). You may need to appeal the decision and get a higher court ruling but it can be done. It also helps if you have previous legal decisions in your favor.

Again I would get with Kathy or check out Rex's site and get his book on the topic.

In fact there are probably other people on this site who have successfully argued in court for a bond exonoration.

_________________
-The Solution-
Indiana Agency #: PI20700211
Indiana Notary Public - Exp: 12/20/13

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath."
- Kingdom of Heaven

I might in certain courts. Im very hesitant to do it in most of the local courts I deal with regularly. It doesnt happen that often. And the biggest part of these judges are fantastic to work with as far as time. If I need time, in most of these courts, I can get all I need, because they know Im not sitting on my hands and if it can be done, I will get it done. I would have to think long and hard before I appealed one of their decisions over a $1000 or $2500 misdemeanor. Is it worth saving a small chunk of change once in a while to ruin a good relationship with the guy that can make or break you on a $50,000 someday? And, like I said, it doesnt happen that often. Good tax writeoff.

Now, having said that, I do deal with a couple of courts that I would and may appeal in a heartbeat. They wont cut anyone a break or work with me at all, so I dont have a problem. If I get one there, I will definitely be seeking help.

MO

There is a provision for just that type of thing here and even with Rulings in hand the District (municipal) Judge entered judgement on my bond (2 times - did not pay due to improper service). They got smart and started following proper procedure for service and he entered judgement on one where I had provided certified and notarized and sealed documents from the Judge in Kansas - I appealed and won and now he has been following the Rules a little better - still don't go to his court tho - have to respect the Office and the Robes - don't have any respect for the man.
We wrote a letter to the court for a bond company in Colorado last year and got a bond exonerated for a guy that we were unable to get out of Illinois due to Colorado being unwilling to extradite.

It really all depends on your repoire with your locals and your Judges.

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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

Thats just it, I do get along with most of the local judges. I dont want to jepordize that.

You shouldn't have to jeopardize anything to get a judge to follow the statutes and case laws pertaining to bail bonds.

Many judges are not aware of laws that are specific to our industry. I cite the specific applicable statutes in my motion. This is usually enough, but if not, I will file an appeal and request a hearing. I am always respectful, but will stand up for my rights and can explain exactly why my motion should be granted. I have excellent relations with my local judges and they usually have my motions signed within a day or two. They know that I do not abuse the law and will only tech out if there is no way to legally return the defendant to jail, or if some oversight on their part took away my rights to apprehend.

There are only a couple of judges that give me or any of my other BA's any problems. One is in a county that you have to fight for an exoneration even if you bring the person in. One is very full of herself and won't grant anything that isn't filed by an attorney. The other hates bondsmen, period. We usually win but it sometimes takes a lot of work.

One thing we have going for us here is the following cite and I include it along with the applicable statutes in every motion that I file for an exoneration.

"The primary purpose of a forfeiture proceeding is to obtain custody of the defendant, not to penalize the surety. As the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled, a forfeiture proceeding is not intended to enrich public treasury; “The enriching of the public treasury is no part of the object at which the proceeding is aimed.” People v. Campbell 633 P.d 1109 (1978) citing Owens v. People. 194 Colo. 389, 572 P.2d 837 (1977).

Surety believes the people have lost no rights, and the surety should be exonerated on the bond posted in this matter."

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

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club