I am always amazed at how little people really know about the Bail Bond industry. Most people have never been in need of a bail bond and their sole knowledge is based on the TV News explaining that the perpetrator of some crime is in custody on a $50,000 bond. Joe Q. Public has no clue what that actually means, other than $50,000 seems like an awful lot of money.
Few, but the most well heeled of people just happen to have $50,000 in the bank, just sitting around, waiting for such a rainy day. So enter the Bail Bondsman. For a 10% fee they guarantee to the court that the defendant will appear in court at the appointed day and time, and in the case of a no show they will pay the court the entire bond amount, whatever that might be.
That is a gross oversimplification of the process, but this is an article not a text book.
The other source of knowledge that Joe Q. Public has about the bail bond industry is garnered from the various Reality TV programs about Bounty Hunters. These are the men and women who recover fugitives, people that have failed to make their appointment in court. It varies from state to state, but a Bail Bondsman does have a grace period to return the fugitive to the court before having to pay the $50,000 or whatever the amount of the bond might be.
The TV shows are fun, swashbuckling folks in fancy costumes apprehending nerr-do-wells. The next time you watch one of these ‘Reality’ shows pay attention to the ending credits, often they will include credit for ‘Script Writer’. Why on earth would you have a script writer? What possible function could they perform if the subject of the program is merely to document an event?
The real life recovery agents, that’s the PC version of Bounty Hunter are quite a bit different from the cartoon characters on TV. Yes, some are colorful characters, but it is not a façade, it is who they are, others are more unassuming, they are just regular folks, people you might meet in a local pub, or in the supermarket and strike up a conversation with.
The one thing I have come to know in my time getting to know some Hunters is that they are very intelligent people. They are thinkers, they are not jack booted thugs kicking down doors and terrifying old ladies.
They don’t dress up like characters out of a Marvel Comic, or the latest Barbie Doll release. They don’t ponce around with Paintball Guns or cans of pepper spray, they carry real guns, and they understand the consequences of using them.
Which brings me to the point of this article. Sorry it has been so long winded. The Commercial Bond industry has been seriously under fire for a decade from a number of places. It has been portrayed as a blood sucker that does nothing but take money from people in need. A better solution (so the argument goes), is to let the states government handle the problem under PTR, PTS, and PT everything else. For the uninitiated, these are the various versions of Pre Trial Release.
The Bail Bond industry is being eroded, little by little, state by state, county by county, PTR is taking over.
It is possible, just possible, that PTR can be stopped, or at least slowed down, but that requires the entire Bail Bond industry regardless of state to unite and fight.
The nearest thing to a united front might be the Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS). They claim to have 15,000 members, so they should be in a great position to organize the ‘troops’ and start a serious offence against PTR.
They have just wrapped up their winter shindig in Las Vegas and voted in a new president to lead them. It is none other than well known TV reality show star Beth Chapman. The messages I have been getting for the past 24 hours have been very negative. Mostly concerning her husband Duane. He after all is the star of the show. What licenses does he actually have? I for one have no clue.
Who else was running for election? No idea
What were the vote counts? No idea
I’d love to get some answers so maybe someone that attended the conference might enlighten me. Sure, the feedback I am getting is from the grumpaholics, so maybe it is just sour grapes.
What does Beth plan to do to stop PTR?
Simon Barrett
5 users commented in " Bail Bonds – An Industry Facing Challenges "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackGreat article. Not sure who you are or why you wrote this piece, but I was at the meeting in Vegas and you are spot on. One interesting thing to note at PBUS was that if you didn’t know better, from the looks of things, you wouldn’t have known you were at convention of bail agents, but rather just a business owners meeting. Many of these folks are quite accomplished, law abiding and extraordinarily professional.
There were just a few that stood out and you have already rightly addressed them in your article. They were the celebrities carrying 5′ warrior sticks with fighting gloves with the fingers cut out wearing dark sunglasses, accompanied by intimidating looking MMA looking body guards. (BTW: If you’re at a convention of like minded bondsman, with security at the front door, why the body guards?)
Now one of these reality star bounty hunters is the next President of PBUS. Is that really the image that’s required when bail is under attack legislatively and judicially around the country? In my opinion, when dealing with our Constitutional protections and our established freedoms and liberty, we need skilled and steady leadership at the helm — not self-serving showmanship. But as Thomas Jefferson was famous for saying: “The Government We get is the Government we deserve.” So now that the industry has voted, we got it. Stay tuned …
shepsul, as you were there, maybe you could answer a couple of questions?
Who else was on the ballot and how many votes did each one get?
I was there as I am a “voting member”. I don’t know total vote count however, I was informed that Beth had 6 more votes than her opposition. Beth was running against a gentleman who is a high level exec for Lexington Surety. My opinion is simple. Have a professional bail agent appointed for a professional bail agent association instead of an executive from a large corporation. We already have that problem in this country. Corporations run our country. They will always do what’s best for the corporation, not what’s best for the mom n pop agencies. Beth would represent well, I believe, because she has a voice.
Here are some answers to your questions, First it was Agent Dennis Sew (sue) that also ran in the eliction. Agent Sew is a full time Bail agent it was Beth and Dog that misinformed people stating that Sew is an executive at Lexington. Agent Sew works for Fred Frank Bail bonds. The final count was 188/194, No PBUS does not have 15,000 members. I quote Agent Dennis Sew, “There is 15,000 bondsmen across the united states,And we all need to unite against the bills that are hitting our Legislative floors” I can tell you Agent Sew would have been the better choice not only for PBUS but the entire cash bail industry, It was and still is Agent Sew’s belief that Bail Agents across the U.S must work with all Law Enforcement,, Something Dog “Duane Chapman And Beth “Mary Elizibeth Chapman” can not do.. Please feel free to Google Agent Dennis Sew there are many articles, But you will not find one negative word about Agent Sew. He is a man of Honesty and Integrity. Agent Sew works with local Law Agents on a daily bacis, And this is where his day starts. He works with W.A.T.F “warrant Apprehension Task Force” He knows the importance of working hand and hand with law enforcement, Bail Agents need to stand on the front lines with law enforcement ,Especially now that the law agencies are under harsh scrutiny. Bail Agents do have more power in most cases to enter homes without warrants. This is where Agent Sew comes into play with is local W.A.T.F Agency, He stands United with all law Agencies. It will be our local law enforcement that will have to unite with the Bail industry to combat these bills. Unfortunately Beth will be the mouthpiece for this industry. Given Beth’s verbiage, As soon as she stands to speak people will mentally block her. and here is an example of her terminology and or analysis.
Folks I reached out to my congressional contact who gave the following response
: Would be delighted to help. Be advised there’s very little danger this bill will get a committee mark-up or floor vote this year. But if the Dems keep the White House and retake the Senate majority, it could be the case that the only (or at least biggest) thing standing in the way of its enactment is the GOP’s House majority. At least this bill’s introduction in Congress affords you and PBUS a splendid opportunity do even more to organize and spearhead the opposition. This baby needs to be killed in the crib before it grows. More and more Republicans, especially libertarian minded/Liberty Movement types such as Rand Paul and Justin Amash, are embracing a “criminal justice reform” mantle and finding common ground with liberal Black Democrats. It usually focuses on repealing mandatory sentencing laws (that still put nonviolent drug offenders in prison for decades) and related issues such as restoring convicted felons’ voting rights. We need to make sure the potentially sympathetic Rs don’t give serious consideration to adding this bail abolition junk to their still-evolving list of things to “fix.”
P.S. It would be ideal if all House Members (or at least the Dems) heard from PBUS members back home in their respective districts and states. As you know, it’s much easier to persuade a Congress critter NOT to cosponsor a bill than it is to get him off that bill after he’s already cosponsored it (in this case, probably at the request of the ACLU and NAACP).
We should act accordingly Iv got some staff pulling every contact for every congressman
So each agent can contact their perspective congressman
Let’s not panic ! Tomorrow I have a call with congressman Russell who is known for being a government wasteful spending watch dog !
I’m already moving
Judge a woman not by how she treats her peers but can by how she treats her disciples.
It is a well known fact that Beth bought votes, She paid for voting memberships for at least 40 people, so lets look at these numbers Beth bought 40 votes. without those 40 this would have been the count 188/154. it was truly a sad day for PBUS, And potentially the entire bail industry.
please allow me to correct myself,
it is Alice Elizabeth Chapman,… sorry have been reading too many posts stating her name as Mary
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