Bail Process in Florida

May 19th, 2009

I think there is much misconception of what bail is, and what Florida Bail Bondsman do.  I get this question a lot, “well if the bail is $20,000.00 then why do you need collateral and the $2,000 premium?  I though is was one or the other.  Unfortunately this is not the case.  The 10% standard premium is the fee for the bail bondsman to post the full amount of the bond to the jail.  They do this either with a Power of Attorney or some professional bondsman use cash.  Either way, the jail has the full $20,000 bond at the jail.   The reason collateral may be needed is to secure the full amount of the bond, the $20,000 in the event the defendant skip bail and the bail bondsman has to pay the bond.  Some may be asking why even use a bail bondsman though.  Firstly, the jail doesn’t take 10%, they will require the full amount of the bail bond in cash.  County jails do not accept property or other items of value as security for the bond.  These are all the things that make using a bail bondsman convenient.  Talk to you bondsman, they will explain everything to you.

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Now Serving Florida and Nationwide Bail Bonds

May 1st, 2009

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Why use Bail-Florida Instead of Posting Cash Bonds with the jail?

April 16th, 2009

This question get brought up a lot when clients call us and the answer is easy. A few years ago, Florida started allowing cash bonds to be used to pay for court fees, costs, and any fines associated with the case. This new amendment leaves it wide open for you to lose more than the required 10% that would be assessed by a Florida Bail Bondsman. Here is an example of a person who called our office a few years ago, but decided to pay the cash bond himself. A father called our office asking questions about his son who was arrested in Alachua county Florida on a warrant issued for his son. The charges were stated as possession of narcotic with intent to sell and the bond was set at $10,000. We explained to the father about the 10% premium required in order to bail his son out. He also inquired about posting the full amount at the jail. We kindly explained to him the difference and what he ma potentially lose. to make a long story short, nine months later, we come to find out that the court has accessed over $7,200 in court costs and the father was issued payment of $2,800 in return of his $10,000 cash bond. If they would have gone through a bail bondsman, this situation would not have happened.

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Our Newest Bail Bond Agency

April 10th, 2009

Ryan Wells Bail Bonds has established himself in Duval County Florida.  Even though he is new to the bail bond business, his family has been serving Florida for 25 years.  This bonding agency is located conviently downtown Jacksonville Florida.  This office will serve the surrounding counties of St. Johns, Putnam, Nassau, and Clay.  Open 24 hours, call them anytime.  Parking is available.  They accept all major credit cards along with cash and moneyorders.  their number is 904-598-9898.

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Pasco County Phasing out Pre-Trial Services

March 24th, 2009

Pasco County Florida – Sheriff Bob White is doing away with requests for Pre trial services. During these hard times, the money is better spent elsewhere. Since December 2008, the pre trial unit has been keeping tabs on 659 defendants. 399 defendants have been unsupervised since that time. Some think the jails are going to get jammed. “These are difficult times and difficult decisions have to be made,” White said, referring to his efforts to rein in Sheriff’s Office spending as the county grapples with tight budgets. In recent months, White has even grounded the air unit. Time for Pasco County Bondsman to take this opportunity and show our communities we save them tax payer dollars. Read the full story

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What the Bad Economy Means for Bail Bonds

March 20th, 2009

In this rough economy, all industries of business are suffering; even Bail Bondsman. Generally when post bail for a friend or family member, collateral is required. However in the current economic state that we are in, many people are coming up short with cash and assets to post bail bonds. Many people have resulted to pawning their power tools, jewelry, even their 401K’s to get a loved one out of jail. “They’re just frustrated in general trying to pay for bonds, legal fees and attorneys and housing. It’s just hard for everyone right now,” said the manager of Hometown Bail Bonds Jackie Hamilton.

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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Blog Validate

March 15th, 2009

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Why Bail Bondsman are Important. We have facts!

March 12th, 2009

An interesting article rel;eased today by the Washington Examiner.  Finally we have news articles that defend our industry.  Just to start, here are some interesting Data:  30% of defendants released on Government bail (or pretrial release) fail to appear for their courts date.  Only 19% fail to appear with commercial bail bondsman.  i Philadelphia alone, the government ran bail program has cost the city over $1 billion dollars.

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.

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Broward County may be doing away with Pretrial Intervention

March 9th, 2009

Broward County Florida – Broward County has always been know for its overcrowding of local jail.  In recent years, the induction of Pretrial services has seem to reduce the overcrowding problem.  Or has it?  Both local Bail bondsman and the County commission may be working together to kill this program.  Recent talk about what would be more cost effective.  The cost of the program as compared to the $1,000 a day fine that would be assessed as a result of willfully terminating the federal court order program. Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman said, “When I look at what we would pay if the jail were overcapacity versus what we’re paying for the program, we’re probably better off letting the jail be overcapacity, and we’ll save more money that way,”.  By ending the pretrial intervention program would most likely increase the overcrowding and force Broward County to build new jail facilities. 

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?

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New Connecticut Bill to Better Regulate Bondsman

March 5th, 2009

The state of Connecticut is taking new measures to better regulate the bail bond industry.  Concerns about bail bondsman not charging the full premium on bail bonds is becoming a large problem for the Insurance companies and the public.  A Bail bond premium is the percentage fee charged to the defendant to be released form jail.  For instance if a bail bond is $10,000, in Florida, a fee of $1,000 must be paid for the defendants release through a bonding agency. Many bondsman in Connecticut are asking for less in the hope to gain more business.  This sort of business practice is what damages the reputation and integrity of bail bond industry.  House Bill 6354 will regulate this type of practice.  This Bill allows the insurance company to collect the entire premium form the bonding agency and then issue the commission to the bondman minus any fees due to the insurance company.  Do you think this type of regulation will help or hurt the industry.  Read the full article here.

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