Bail Agents Raise Questions About Justice of Credit Card Bail

• December 13, 2010
• by Collateral Staff
• In the News

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="Credit card bail gaining traction across the U.S."][/caption]

Bail agents losing business to credit card kiosks and call centers worry they may be in competition with companies that don't have to follow the same laws and rules they do. Jails in as many as 30 states have already installed credit card machines and kiosks or signed agreements with phone centers to process bail payments, according to industry reports.

Most of the programs contract with third parties that charge 7 percent of the total bail to defendants and some kick portions of the fee back to the governments that contract them.
While advocates say the process helps jail crowding and allows people to free themselves faster and without burdening family members, bail agents in areas where the programs have started to have some issues with the change to the justice system.

Agents in Florida and Colorado say they worry the third-party companies operating in the jails don't have to be licensed and bonded the same way they do, though they're essentially doing the same job.

"They're setting a precedent here where there are laws for me and not for them," said Judith Stines, who owns Clearwater Bonding Agency in Florida.

She's been in business in Pinellas County, Fla., for 28 years and took over the company from her father, who wrote bail bonds almost 40 years, she said.

"This has impacted my business big time," Stines said of credit card payments being allowed at the county jail. "I'm going to have the worst year I've ever had."

The Pinellas County Sheriff set the maximum bail inmates can post using credit cards at $750. The amount was a compromise; he wanted to it at $1,000 and the state attorney wanted the maximum to be $500. Many municipalities that offer the program don't set maximums at all and leave it to the creditors to determine how much a defendant can afford to borrow.

Stines said she's nervous the government will increase the dollar amount, further damaging her business. As it is, losing those small bail bonds has been a big burden.

"Those small bonds were my bread and butter," she said.

Her minimum fee for a bond is $100, she said. So even if she only writes five or six small ones a week, it was a decent amount of her income.

Stines' primary problem with the new system is that she has to be licensed and bonded. She has to have a working, open office. She also has to take all of her clients' information and is responsible for them if they don't show up in court.

When people bail themselves out on credit using plastic, no one takes responsibility for them. There's no one accountable for whether or not they adhere to pre-trial release terms and no one but the taxpayers' law enforcement to find them and drag them back for their court appearances, she said.

It's also "an unfair playing field," she said, if these third-party companies are allowed to do business bailing people out of jail without having to go through the same licensing and insurance process a bail bondsman does.

In La Plata County, Colo., business may be down a bit, but not enough to make Lori Jasmer throw in the towel. She just started in the business at Speed Bail Bonds & Recovery in Durango, Colo., in April and noticed a drop in clients between then and August when the jail installed a kiosk where defendants can pay their bails using credit cards or cash.

But she isn't worried the change will take her business.

"I think it serves a great purpose for real small bonds," Jasmer said. "Bonds of like $250 - no one is going to write a bond for that."

Unlike Stines, Jasmer doesn't write bonds for less than $500. She takes a 15 percent fee regardless of how big the bond is and still sees plenty of business.

La Plata County Sheriff's Sgt. Holley Ezzell said she doesn't think the kiosk has impacted bondsmen significantly.

"I still see our bondsmen in the jail all the time," she said.

The kiosk can't accept payments greater than $1,500, she said, and there are probably eight to 10 people a week using the kiosk to bail themselves out.

Jasmer's primary issue with the kiosk is that it's there in the lobby, where bonded bail agents are forbidden from advertising. People who aren't familiar with the courts may not know there are other options and Jasmer said she doesn't believe jail staff is educating defendants about their options - that they can pay at the machine, pay cash or call a bail agent like Jasmer and make arrangements for her to post the bail.

Jasmer said she plans to go to county lawmakers and jail staff to find out if the community can make an effort to inform defendants of their options when it comes to bail.

"Competition is competition," Jasmer said. "There are other bail agents in town and there's enough business for all of us. I think it's fine as long as people know they have options."

One concern bail agents have raised is that defendants who post bail electronically and using credit cards may be less accountable and may not have anyone watching to make sure they show up for court.

Stines said she worries the Pinellas County government is trying to offset budget shortfalls with bail paid in full on credit cards, almost hoping defendants don't show up for court so they can keep the money.

"If they wanted to say it wasn't all about the money before, they can't say it anymore," Stines said. "They have shown it's all about the money."

In Ventura County, Calif., the new credit card payment system hasn't made a big impact on business at Jerry's Simi Valley Bail Bonds.

"Business has declined," Joel Horowitz said. "But it's hard to say if that's why or not. There are so many factors."

He said he believes the credit card payments are part of the natural evolution of the justice system.

"People have more access to their money and their credit these days," he said. "The justice system has to adapt to that," Horowitz said.

And the bail industry will have to adjust with it, he said.

Amanda H. Miller is a staff writer for AboutBail.com. To learn more about becoming a member of AboutBail.com's trusted network of bail agents, contact us online.

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