When dealing with a federal arrestee, you can use the Federal Inmate Lookup Service, which has details about the arrestee and their circumstances. This is a useful database but most bail bond agencies will also be able to use their own databases to find information about an arrestee. The co-signer of the bail bond will also usually have to attend a nebbia hearing when dealing with a federal bail bond. This is to ensure that sufficient collateral can be raised by the co-signer to cover the amount of the bond.

Dealing with federal bond cases will generally take a little longer than when dealing with county or state bail bonds; more details need to be gathered and, because of the higher risk, the bail bond agency will want to make sure they know exactly what they are dealing with. It is extremely risky unless all parties concerned can be absolutely sure that the defendant will appear in court when summoned, since federal cases are highly serious and potentially dangerous if the defendant cannot be found. This is why federal bail bonds are usually much higher than standard bail bonds, because the risk of the defendant not appearing in court when summoned is very high.

Because of this turn down in available cash and assets, more defendants are having to stay in jail causing much overcrowding. In fact, many defendants are going to their arraignment and pleading guilty just to get it over with even when pleading guilty may not be in their best interests.

So what to do about getting someone out of jail when your at your wits end? Talk to your bail bondsman. If one is not working out, another may have different options for you. Have them discuss all possible options and let the bail bonds company work through it.   Read the full story
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The government has proven ineffectively to control and regulate the bail industry costing taxpayers million of dollars a year.  More importantly, too many criminals are set free too early and without any incentive to answer for their charges.  With commercial bail, the defendant, bail bondsman, and an Indemnitor are held financially responsible to ensure his/her appearance in court. 

Oregon District Attorney Joshua Marquis says, “[T]he failure-to-appear rate has skyrocketed,”.  Oregon did away with the commercial bail industry back in 1978.  the cost to rearrange court dates, find the fugitive, and a number of other reasons that would cost the taxpayers more money is just a few items that make commercial bail bondsman more important. 

It is a defendants right to bail, not a privilege.  However releasing someone with a hefty criminal background on their own recognizance is ridiculous.  Someone need to be held responsible for their release from jail.  Commercial bail bondsman, all around, have a much lower failure to appear rate than government ran pretrial release programs.   This cost the taxpayers less money and keeps our judicial system running a little smoother. 

Florida Bail Bondsman and the Florida public have begun to experience the problems with pretrial release programs.  The failure to appear rate is also begining to rise at an increasing rate.  If something is not done to stop government ran bail programs, we will find ourselves in the same mess as other states who have no commercial bail.  With the economic times that we are in now, it just makes sense to keep this industry private and save the taxpayer money for more important programs.  Read the full story here.

The local bail bond association in Broward county have hired Ron Book to lobby for the termination of the pretrial release program.  Book’s proposal would preclude non-indigent inmates from participating in the program. Non-indigent inmates make up about 40 percent of the program. A second version has been hammered out that singles out only non-indigent inmates who have committed dangerous crimes or have a history of missing court dates.  Read full story

I’ll tell you what good pretrial release does for the community, nothing.  Leaving the responsibility of a defendants appearance in court to private bail bond business ultimately reduces the failure to appear rate not to mention saving the taxpayers millions of dollars.  the failure to appear rate dramatically increases with the implementation of these pretrial services.  However going through a bail bond agency holds the contacted parties financially responsible to that defendants appearance, ultimately reducing the number of “no shows” to court.  Not only does pretrial services increase the FTA (failure to appear), and increase tax payer money, but also puts local bonding agencies out of business.  Tell us what you think?