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Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee passed SB11-186 out of committee by a 5-3 vote. Committee Chair Senator Steadman moved the bill to the front of the line when three committee members opposing the bill were delayed (they were caught in traffic). Senator Steadman refused a request for another vote by the belated senators in opposition to passing SB11-186 out of committee, opting instead to take the bill to a floor vote. One has to wonder how a bill that has been determined, if passed would have negative fiscal impact of $500,000 to Colorado’s general fund, could pass out of the Appropriations Committee. Politics replaced the public interest in this case. SB11-186 is scheduled to be heard on the Senate floor today. Surety company members of the American Bail Coalition and the Colorado Bail…

Austin, TX – I attended the 2nd Quarterly Meeting of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin last week. The beautiful weather belied the continuing problem for the bail industry in Travis County; attorneys charging clients to obtain release on personal recognizance. Local attorney Eve Schatelowitz Alcantar was a guest speaker and spoke about how attorneys flaunt the fact that neither the law nor the State Bar is taking notice of the practice of several local lawyers operating as defacto bail agents by arranging for defendants to be released on personal recognizance bonds and then charging them for “jail release”. These attorneys are capitalizing on relationships formed with court clerks and judges receptive to requests to recommend or order a defendant’s release from jail on a PR…

Senate Bill 11-186 was scheduled to be heard today in the Senate Appropriations Committee when Senator Morse, the bill’s sponsor, didn’t show. The bill was ordered held over by Senator Steadman and is expected to be heard next week. It’s very likely Senator Morse has seen the writing on the wall and believes his bill is fated to fail. SB 11-186, should it pass, would run bail agents out of business once the courts began releasing criminal defendants from jail on unsecured bail. Such a move would not only place Colorado bail bond agents on the unemployment scrolls, it would cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenue generated annually from the payment of premium taxes, licensing fees, court costs and bond forfeitures. The negative fiscal impact SB 11-186 would create for…

Gone are the days of the bail agent justifying their purpose and function by stating ‘we get our man to court’. That is, if our defendant decides not to show for court, we track him down and return him to the custody of the court at no cost to the taxpayer, and in those few instances where the defendant cannot be located, the bond is paid in full.   Private sector commercial enterprises that assume risk for a profit and carry out their responsibilities, to the best of their abilities in order to avoid loss are under attack by state government entities who seek to put us out of business by getting in our business. Colorado Senator John Morse, sponsor of the bail industry killing legislation known as SB 186, said it…

Denver, Colorado - Room 356 on the third floor of austere Colorado State Capitol proved too small for the throngs of bail bond agents attending the Senate Hearing on SB11-186. The committee chair was left no choice but to move, what would be a two and half hour hearing, to the “Old Supreme Court Chambers”   This past Monday SB11-186 was introduced after the filing deadline through the use of a procedure maneuver. SB11-186 would create an alternative bond with a  self-funding mechanism for the expansion of an already self-righteous, rights bludgeoning pretrial services agency. Funding would come through the implementation of a deposit requirement of which pretrial services could require a deposit of up to 15%. Of the amount deposited, pretrial services would retain 50% of the deposit while the remaining 50% of…

PBUS is holding its 30th Anniversary Conference (Agenda) in Las Vegas next week.  The meeting will be held at the Flamingo Hotel February 20 - 24.  Fans of Dog Chapman will get another chance to hear from him and his posse.   A must attend is the Political Action Luncheon at 11:45 AM on Wednesday and the Council of Presidents Meeting that afternoon at 2:30 PM.  At this meeting you will hear from the various state presidents about pending legislation and other hot issues they are dealing with in their markets.   Surety companies will be holding dinners and cocktail parties for their agents.  American Surety Company will be holding its Bail Agent Appreciation Evening at the Voodoo Lounge located on the 50th Floor of the Rio Hotel (Send me an email…

After spending the weekend at home in Indy, I boarded a direct flight to LAX Sunday night. I sat across from Reggie Miller (#31) on the flight across country, he never said a word. Reggie will forever be treated like the rock star he is, in Indiana. American Surety has a number of agents in California and I wanted to visit as many as I possibly could before winding down this year’s travel schedule. As was the case during my time in Colorado last week, where I was able to attend the second meeting ever of the Rocky Mountain Bail Bond Agents, I got wind that a year end meeting of the San Diego County Bail Agents Association was being held at the The Butcher Shop Restaurant on Tuesday. I…

  The defeat of Proposition 102 in November was asetback to the advancement of commercial bail in Colorado. Prop.102 would have limited the use of free release to first time offenders and created a safer environment for Coloradans while increasing the use of secured bail bonds. Bail bond agents and sureties doing business in the Rocky Mountain state will now work to find a way forward.   I was travelling in Colorado last week, this time with a travel buddy, Gary Logue. Gary is Assistant Vice President for American Surety Company, in charge of Underwriting. He’s been with the company for 20 years and is a valuable asset.   Our objective for this trip was to meet with every ASC agent, review their client files and make sure they were in compliance…

The bail bondsmen of Georgia surely know on which side their bread is buttered. As one person put it, in Georgia, “bondsmen serve at the pleasure of their sheriff”.   Considering this, it should come as no surprise GAPB holds it’s Annual Conference in the same city and hotel as does the Georgia Sheriff’s Association.    GAPB rolls out the red carpet hosting a special evening of dinner and dancing exclusively for Georgia sheriffs.  The big event was held at the Warehouse on River Street in downtown Savannah. The evening was sponsored, in part, by American Surety Company. ASC also contributed a Big Green Egg Smoker; Sherriff Thomas Brown of DeKalb County held the winning ticket.   Meeting Notes Attorney Matt Tucker was retained as GAPB’s legal counsel while Beverly Iseghohi, the Association’s lobbyist, had…

During my recent stop in Memphis I found the bail bond market there to be but a shadow of its former self. No more bail bond agents hustling bonds in the basement of the courthouse or visiting inmates. Pretrial Release is accepting more and more defendants into their program which grants release at the taxpayer’s expense. Bonding companies have either shut their doors or let go a number of their agents adding to the seeming lack of activity in and around the courthouse. I have roots in Memphis; our family lived there in the early to mid-seventies. My father, Jack Whitlock, owned Allied Bonding Company and did a bustling business. On occasion I would make a Saturday morning trip down Poplar Avenue with my Dad to spend the morning at this office. Those Saturday morning visits…