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I must admit, I had never heard of League City, Texas before seeing it on the PBT meeting schedule.  League City sits astride the Gulf of Mexico about 30 miles south of Houston. Anyone who attends PBT meetings know it's going to be meticulously organized and well attended.  The 2012 annual meeting was moved to League City after a string of Fall meetings in San Antonio.  One of the basic planning challenges for any association is selecting a meeting site that will inspire attendance.  Texas is one of those states where flying is a must for some of the meeting locations.  For instance, it's an eleven hour drive from El Paso to League City. PBT rolls allot into their annual meeting including The PBT Golf Classic and Auction benefiting The Texas Bail PAC, legislative meeting, board…

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released its report Criminal Victimization, 2011. This report reveals some alarming statistics with respect to the increase in crimes nationally.   According to the BJS report there was a 17% increase in the overall rate of violent victimization per 1000 persons age 12 and older. The rate of violent crimes increased from 19.3% in 2010 to 22.5% in 2011. Household burglaries increased 14% in 2011 over 2010.   Property crimes also saw an increase of 11% year over year.   In my view the alarming increase in violent crimes is due, in part, to the departure by many courts across the country from guaranteeing the appearance in court of criminal defendants with a bail bond. They instead use release options designed to generate revenues for…

Are you one of those bail agents that swears off participation in state and national bail associations as a waste of time? You question the leadership or legislative agenda of these associations? Perhaps you believe the association is controlled by one surety company or another or perhaps a large general agency.   It may be that your resistance to get involved is simple apathy or bail is still strong in your county and you’re not concerned about what’s happening elsewhere.   Well, it’s time to get involved.   Perhaps you’ve heard of billionaire George Soros? Well, he’s taken up the cause of pretrial detainees by providing substantial funding to the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) to promote the elimination of money bail, bail bonds in favor of less restrictive and cost free (to the…

A common misnomer among the general public is, regardless of the economy there will always be crime and as such business will always be booming for bail agents. If only that were true, like any other small business, bail agents are feeling the pinch in these tough times.    A bad economy can and has created a number of negative financial impacts on the commercial bail industry and they come from different sources. When someone is arrested they would typically have any number of friends, family or co-workers they could call upon for assistance to post their bond.  With high unemployment, soaring gas prices and a home foreclosure epidemic, an arrestee’s circle of financial support has shrunk considerably. Most people are holding their cards close and their cash closer to deal with their…

Can you imagine the ball boy for the Indianapolis Colts saying to the head coach, put me in for Luck, I want to play quarterback? Or the grip on the movie set telling the director to sit Clint Eastwood down because he’s ready to play Josey Wells?   It’s hard to imagine, right? So why do specialty release options like deposit bail and pretrial services or tools like GPS ankle monitors believe they’re ready to replace surety backed bail bonds as a means to assure a defendant  appears for his/her court dates?   Public-funded government pretrial release programs were created to help the indigent gain release from jail pending trial.  As with any government agency, expansion is equal to survival so these programs had to expand their criteria from just helping the indigent…

North Richland Hills, TX – On a day where the temperature swelled to 111 degrees, bail agents from all parts of Texas and around the country came together to enjoy a round of golf or volunteer for an event raising cash for a great cause. The 23rd Annual Steven G. Whitlock Memorial Golf Tournament presented by the Professional Bondsmen of Texas raised $46,000 for Camp Esperanza.  This could not have been accomplished without the financial support of Dallas area businesses, bail agents and surety companies throughout Texas and across the nation.  The support from bail professionals for this event and their designated charity over the years is remarkable though not at all surprising.  Bail agents quietly go about supporting charities in their local communities without fanfare.  Bail agents provide a vital service to…

San Diego, CA – The PBUS Mid-Year Meeting held at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego July 8-11 was by far the best PBUS summer meeting I’ve attended in more than a decade. The success of this meeting is a testament to the new administration and critical administrative changes made in the waning months of the last administration.   The coastal venue in Southern California was like an oasis. The hotel, the setting next to the pier and the weather were all very welcoming.  The scheduled was not too crowded and the information offered was fresh.  Both the cocktail party and dinner were first rate and while I did not attend, I understand the For Women’s Only Lunch was successful and everyone had a good time at Sea World on the final day…

We lost a friend and neighbor last week after a fourteen month battle with breast cancer. She was a doctor, young wife and mother of three. A California bail agent and longtime friend confided in me recently she’s been diagnosed with breast cancer. Another friend and bail agent in Georgia has an ongoing battle with melanoma. We’re used to having a remedy in the bail profession; locate and recover your fugitive, avoid a loss. The lines are not so clearly defined in the battle with cancer. Cancer can be easy to find but hard to catch. We lost my twin brother Steve in 1989 after he lost his battle with cancer. Steve had an inoperable tumor located in his brainstem known as a glioblastoma.  Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) died in 2009 of a brain tumor of the…

Legacy on Lanier Golf Club located on scenic Lake Lanier near Buford, Georgia was the site of the 6th Annual Georgia Sheriffs’ Association Statewide Golf Tournament held June 22. Proceeds raised from the event go to the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes.   The Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen made a contribution and placed a sponsor’s tent on the 11th hole where GAPB volunteers handed out cold bottles of water and goodie bags to golfers enduring the 90 degree heat.   It doesn’t take a lot of encouragement to help kids. I attended the event on behalf of American Surety Company, an event sponsor. American Surety Company has a number of agent partners in Georgia and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to support the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and their worthwhile efforts on…

After a three week lull in travel in early April, I was off and running again with trips to Texas, California, Georgia and Tennessee.  Amid my travels I tried to keep abreast of critical legislative events occurring in Alabama, California, Colorado, Louisiana and Missouri.   Alabama bondsmen tried in vain to defeat the implementation of an oppressive $35 bond fee while California bail groups make their opposition known on the Hancock bill (SB1180) that provides the first option of release to be on one’s own recognizance. We can trust them, right?   Over in Colorado there was a harmony of efforts to continue the authority of the Division of Insurance to regulate bail through 2017. It appears all interested parties walked away happy though not fully satisfied. That’s when you know it’s the best…