Bill advances with aim to keep re-offenders off the streets while awaiting trial…
As reported by Ellen Meder of Channel 7 News on February 15, 2012 - South Carolina law enforcement groups presented a bill that would require anyone charged with violent crimes while on bond for a first crime, violent or otherwise, to be denied bail on a 2nd offense. [Read more →]
LEE COUNTY, Fla – It appears that social media, Facebook in particular, has a place in the bail bond industry when searching for fugitives that have skipped bail. Melody Celec, the owner of A Way Out Bail Bonds, says Facebook is a useful tool for the bounty hunting trade because it helps to know as much about where they live and work, and who they know. By posting mug shots of fugitives, Celec has received responses from people who know them and want to know if there’s a reward attached to turning them in. [Read more →]
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri – What is happening to the children in this world? It seems we hear about murders at the hands of children more and more these days. Where do they get these ideas from? What is going through their heads? Are they seeing this on TV, the Internet or in their homes? Are they products of a very dysfunctional family upbringing?
In this case, Alyssa Bustamante, 18, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the October 2009 slaying of Elizabeth Olten, 9, with no chance for bail. In her diary, she described the experience as “pretty enjoyable.” [Read more →]
The Virginia Gazette, out of Williamsburg, Virginia, reported that, Vincent D. Rera, 50, a bail bond agent, was “taken into custody without incident Thursday charged with two felony counts of making threats of death or bodily injury to a person, and one misdemeanor count of stalking.” [Read more →]
According to The Joplin Globe, a Carthage, Missouri bondswoman has been charged with “false imprisonment” after allegedly handcuffing a suspect to a banister in her home from about 8 p.m. to 11 a.m. the next day until his friends brought her the bail money she said he owed her.
Jasper County officials say Jeanie M. Chartier, 57, of Adams Bail Bonds tried on Dec. 28 to revoke the bond of Reynaldo D. Delarosa without a judge’s order. When the Jasper County jail staff wouldn’t jail him, Chartier allegedly took Delarosa, 32, to her home and handcuffed him to the banister until his friends raised the bail and brought it to her. [Read more →]
As I reported a few months back, Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi were bailed out of jail in Santa Barbara for felony vandalism for allegedly squatting in and causing damage to a Montecito guest house that they claim they owned. [Read more →]
Work by American abstract expressionist artist Clyfford Still suffers $10,000 worth of damage.
Carmen Tisch is accused of pulling her pants down to rub her buttocks up against the work, an oil-on-canvas called “1957-J no.2″, by the late abstract expressionist artist Clyfford Still. She allegedly caused $10,000 worth of damage to the painting.
“Tisch was charged with felony criminal mischief on Wednesday and has been held on a $20,000 bond since the incident in late December,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office. Apparently, she was thought to have been drunk at the time. [Read more →]
Texas real estate used as collateral to post bail bonds – values questioned. For months now we have been seeing articles about the value of Texas real estate not matching up to the appraised values of the homes put up for collateral to the courts to assure payment of a bail bond that’s forfeited. This practice has been identified only in specific Texas counties, at this time.
The Dallas Morning News reported that for years “a powerful lobby representing bail bondsmen has pushed through legislation in Austin that allows them to artificially manipulate the value of the property they use as collateral on bail bonds.” This unethical practice is basically ripping off their clients and the courts, along with taxpayers, who usually are not affected by the bail bond system at all. [Read more →]
Occupy LA finally hit a high note when the LAPD, 1400 strong, arrested 292 protesters on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 for failing to disburse after being warned that they could no longer occupy the City Hall area and nearby intersections for unlawful assembly.
The 292 protesters arrested were sent to three different LA County Jail facilities to be processed, which made for a very hectic day in the county jail system. My bail bond company, Premiere Bail Bonds, received numerous calls from protesters wishing to be bailed out, but the normal bail processing time was delayed due to the overwhelming volume. While the protesters were non-violent and the arrest process very civil, it still had a huge impact on everyone involved in the city and the county.
I can appreciate the protesters position and, in fact, sympathize with them, but how long can you choose to weather the storm, literally, to make your point. I think everyone has gotten the message by now. The question is when will something really be done to change the situation? Obviously, there is no instant fix, since it took years to get to this point. But we have to start somewhere with a plan that makes sense and will help save our country and the private sector.
In all my years, I never would have thought I’d see the day when our country would be falling apart at the seams…Let alone the world! With European countries struggling to survive as well, where and when will this economic landslide end? The band aid fixes are only temporary. How do you “plug up the whole” in the bureaucratic system? How do you take control of egos, power struggles and greed that has been the foundation for these failing economies for so long?
While every business is entitled to make a profit, why are banks and the financial world allowed to rip off the public to such an extreme and get away with it? With the housing markets falling worldwide, rates the lowest in decades, and the stock markets hanging on by a thread, what is the little man who has lost everything going to do? How will he survive?
The baby boomer generation is hitting retirement age and many have lost their life savings, their jobs, and maybe even their homes. How can they ever consider retiring? What kind of jobs can they get, if even current college grads can’t find a job in this market? We are spiraling downward everywhere we turn.
And now the United States is a year away from voting for a new leader of our failing country. Can anyone we vote into office really change our current situation? Can we finally find a president who can “fix” this broken wheel? As always, it’s a crap shoot and there is no crystal ball to predict our future. I can only hope that there is a positive ending somewhere in the future and that our country, along with its citizens, will somehow survive and flourish once again. I just hope I live to see it!
Over many, many years, bail bondsmen have managed to muster up questionable reputations. Much of this often misconception can be attributed to the bad bail bondsmen who challenge the system and the laws that regulate them. As the old saying goes, “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.”
The number one misconception in the bail bond industry revolves around fees. Many bail bond companies will advertise discounted fees, when in reality; they are regulated by the state Department of Insurance. In California, the fee charged to the general public is 10% of the total amount of the original bail set by the court, which is based on the severity of the crime (i.e. misdemeanor or felony), and a bail schedule with Penal Codes for each offense. This is carved in stone, so you will rarely see any deviation from the set fees, unless the defendant has other warrants or charges in the past that could be added into the mix and possibly raise the bail amount. Each case is different and will be assessed at the time of the arraignment. [Read more →]