tsuggs wrote:
...they can plan or plot together against private bail.
If we don't get just as organized very soon with bail agents, recovery agents and surety companies, it will be McDonalds or unemployment.
Exactly right, Tony. Just in the last couple months, here in Colorado, we saw a sudden, out-of-the-blue attempt by Pretrial to team up with the courts, that would have legislated 10% bail by the courts as an option to commercial surety bail.
Senate Bill 186 would have given defendants a choice of paying 10% of the bond to the courts with no collateral and no real threat of being tracked down & returned to court if that defendant FTA'd (because, of course, so many D.A.'s offices are so reluctant to enter warrants...misdemeanors or felonies...into the NCIC system) OR of paying up to 15% of the bond AND providing collateral AND having to sign off on allowing the bondsman or his agents to fetch him up if/when that defendant FTA's.
Now which option would ya'll think looks better to a defendant? Had it passed, this, along with the huge expansion of pretrial services included in the legislation would have put all but the most established bond companies out of business, while inflicting great loss of income to those that could keep their doors open.
Our only saving 'grace' in this issue was that the bill died in committee because the legislative session ended. We are quite sure we'll be fighting this battle again, next year.
Our industry is being attacked hard and often, in Colorado, and we're certainly not the only state that those opposed to commercial bail are looking at with beady, greedy, lustful thoughts of dollars in their eyes.
If the industry, as a whole, doesn't wake up and organize to engage these battles we'll surely 'die' one hill (state) at a time. Speezak and I tried to bring these threats to light in threads that we both started last year.
Thanks for bringing it up, again, Tony. We can't get complacent and expect others to do the dirty work for us. All of us should get involved and it starts at the local level by educating our county commissioners first. The surety companies will be much more receptive to our calls for help if they can see that we've done our homework in our own A.O.'s first.
I'll get off the soapbox now but please, people, take a look at what we're facing and get involved.
Professional regards.
Bailagent100
Its governments way to control MORE of the finances in the country.... MORE government... They want their hand in EVERY aspect of any kind of financial industry in this country.
