Critics of Las Vegas Bail Bonds Industry Complain About Crime Increase

Feb. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- As long as they shore up outstanding bonds by the annual Dec. 15 deadline, commercial bail bonding companies have the ability to charge diminutive bail bond fees to repeat criminal offenders, letting them back on the streets lightning fast for little more than pocket change.

And realistically, Mobile County judges, the District Attorney’s Office and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office have little influence to stop the practice by taking action at a higher level. Las Vegas bail bonds companies agree with action.

In one high-profile 2010 case, a repeat nonviolent offender who had been bonded out more than once, turned violent. Because of that, anyone in Mobile near the time of the April 4 slaying of Kyser Miree will not forget his name.

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office is perhaps the farthest along in making progress to combat what some call a broken system. It announced an outline this past December to improve communication between police, bail bondsmen and prosecutors when repeat offenders could possibly make bail.


That system is a notification website called docketroom.com, which is set to launch very soon. Sheriff Sam Cochran said the website will notify anyone who subscribes — including bail bondsmen, probation officers, the DA’s office and Metro Jail officials — about any suspects booked while already out on a previous bond.

Cochran said docketroom.com will even be smart phone-compatible for situations that otherwise may have gone unnoticed during the weekends.

Cochran also pointed to meetings he’s already held with local bail bonds companies in an attempt to orient them with the new system.

But, Sheriff’s Office Public Affairs Coordinator Lori Myles added, a good bit of responsibility rests on the elected judge, who in serious cases, initially sets or revokes bond.

"A lot of people think the jail is the releasing authority, but the judges elected by the public are very, very important, too,” she said. "How seriously a judge looks at and handles a bond is a major part of the process. It’s a system you have to take care of all the time.”

Under current standards, getting a hearing before a judge means arresting officers would have to make an arrest for a Class A felony or an offense considered almost as serious. If the offense isn’t serious enough, a bond rate schedule defines preset bails that would allow suspects of lesser infractions to be released without standing before a judge.  Las Vegas bail bonds companies agree with this idea.

But changing state law for what many in Alabama’s urban centers consider a problem, Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Roderick Stout said, would make conducting the business of the courts difficult in two- and three-county circuits with fewer judges.

Stout has been assigned the duty of overseeing bonding company certifications for Presiding Mobile County Circuit Court Judge Charlie Graddick. In an interview in late January, Stout called the state’s current standards for bonding companies "extraordinarily  weak.”

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