OVERSTEPPED?

Here's a situation in Etowah County, AL. The new sheriff has this great idea to undermine bail bonding companies. They are now offering people who are arrested to pay the circuit clerk 10% of the bond to get out. And if you show up for court, they give it back to you. (Probably minus court costs, fines and fees.) Now if I’m not mistaken, A sheriff doesn’t have the authority to take refundable deposits on any kind of bond. We only have 3 types of bonds, surety, property and cash.

What has everybody worried is if the sheriff continues to operate this way, it will spread to other counties. The clerk did say they will only do this during court house business hours and the full 10% has to be paid. So does anybody have any ideas on how to fight the sheriff on this?

Thx, Jay

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Jay Shell
Covering North East AL.
AAA / Eagle Bail Bonds, LLC
Anniston, AL
256.235.2437

Around here, they have 10% to the court bonds and even if the payer signs a statement that they do not want any of the money to be used for fees, they keep it anyway. The cases always end with a fine that just miraculously happens to be the 10% paid. If the defendant protests, they say this is ours, you pay your indemnitor back!

Scott

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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)

You could try reporting it to the AG's office if it is an illegal activity, or you and the other bondsman could join together and file a civil law suit and get an injunction to stop it if it is against written state procedures.

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

Proud Member of the AB Reject Club

We just let all of our customers know that their government is ripping them off with a bait and switch deal, show them the documented proof ('cause ya' know Scotty gots it!) and they are so upset, they ask us to post their 10% bonds too.

The other game that they were playing...if a defendant has multiple charges and bonds, they set 10% to the court bonds on all but one, that is usually a small bond..1K, 2.5K etc and make that 100% surety. Funny thing when they do that, all of the cases end up with the same court date. So, in effect, you post one bond and are guaranteeing all of the bonds by ensuring your client's appearance. When they pull this stunt, we tell them we write all or none of the bonds, no cherry picking here!

Scott
Here Ruffin...Ruffin...Ruffin

_________________
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)

LOL Scott,

The state of Alabama has 67 counties...which means there are only 67 Sheriff's who are all member's of a very important and powerful lobbying group called the Al. Sheriffs Association led by a very prominent and powerful lobbyist Bobby Timmons.

Jay is well founded in his concern and fear. The other Sheriffs and the association are undoubtedly closely watching this action to see how it pans out.

In my own opinion, and I am not an attorney, after reading and studying the state's statutes regarding the bond/bail issues, The sheriff in question is violating state law under title 13a, section 15. Nowhere in that section does it address or bestow upon the sheriff's department the authority to act as a bail bond company. It does not have the power to set bonds...those are done by the judges.

So my legal arguement and grounds for my suit, were I in Jay's shoes, would be that the sheriff has crossed the lines from that of public service to private business, and since there isn't any lawful authority granted by the state legislature for the sheriff to engage in commercial retail practices, the sheriff has exceeded his authority.

To me, he has put the proverbial cart before the horse. There has to be a legislative action authorizing a county sheriff to engage in commerical bail bonds before a sheriff can actually do it...that authority is currently absent under our current statutes.

The question here for Jay, is suing that particular sheriff worth it when measured against the costs, time, energy, and political ramifications such a suit would incur ? What Jay should do, is form a lobbyist group of the local bonding companies in that area and all of the bonding companies file a class action lawsuit against the county...not the sheriff. Remember, the sheriff is elected...if he costs the tax payers money, then he becomes unpopular.

The other thing to understand is that particular county is economically depressed. It is mostly agricultural, poor, uneducated, and extremely remote. The largest employer/cash crop is Methamphetamine and Marijuana. So the sheriff is attempting to be resourceful in trying to find ways to generate new revenues for his county.

What we don't need in this state though, and this is a real possibility as a side effect, is a state wide war between the bonding companies and the sheriffs association. Both groups need each other to exist, and for the most part the current system works ok with some minor issues here and there, but overall nothing really major.

Politically this state is extremely small. After some thought on this matter, I tend to agree with the above suggestion of having an attorney send a formal inquiry to the state's attorney general's office asking for the clarification on the sheriff's authority to engage in this action. Specifically, what state statute authorizes the sheriff to do this ? Upon whatever answer you get, I would then re-assess the situation and consult wth the attorney and go from there.

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River City Associates
Decatur, Al. 35601

To update this, I gave all of the information I could come up with and gave it to our Etowah Co. office. They've given it to one of our attorneys and he is going to have a sit down with the judge. At this point, we're not even sure if the judge is aware of what the sheriff has done. But as soon as we hear something I'll let you know.

And thanks again for your input.

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Jay Shell
Covering North East AL.
AAA / Eagle Bail Bonds, LLC
Anniston, AL
256.235.2437