Mac's Bail Bonds Talks About Pre-Trial Release In Colorado

DENVER - Dec. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- Early on in the United States of America, bail has been a part of the criminal justice system. Under the United States Constitution, the eighth amendment states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Even though the eighth amendment does not directly state that everyone has a right to bail, it is simple to put together, if bail cannot be excessive then that would mean there would have to be an availability of bail. The eighth amendment was passed in 1791 and bail is ordered by the court in numerous forms, including cash, surety, property, and in Colorado PR bonds (Personal Recognizance). The problem in the criminal justice system in Colorado today is that there is a consistent battle between two different industries, commercial bail bonding and Pre Trial Release about who should dominate bailing defendants out of custody and collect the income generated over bail.

The question that we should be asking is not who should receive the income from the defendant’s release, but rather than what industry or sector the highest return rate of defendants going back to court. According to Helland and Tabarrock, The Journal and Law of Economics (2004) showed that when a defendant is not released on a commercial bail bond they are more likely to fail to appear in court with 18% higher with cash bonds, 33% higher with deposit bonds, and 50% higher with their own recognizance (meaning Pre-Trial Release programs).

Here is some of the reasoning behind Pre-Trials low return rate to court and why they have a higher failure to appear rate.

·         1) Many defendants will have the hardship of deciding to maintain      employment or maintain the requirements set by Pre-Trial due to the      fact Pre-Trial is only open normal business hours.

·         2) I hear a lot that Pre-Trial was set up for low income families to get      released, but Pre-Trial charges fees for their monitoring that could      equal more than what the bail bond agents fees are. This could      actually increase the fees paid by the defendant for not having the      ability to meet the financial requirements of Pre-Trial.

·         3) It could cost Colorado more money in the long run for increased      staffing requirements needed for tracking down the increased amount      of FTA’s.

·      4) If a defendant does not have the ability to pay for a bond, it is     because the judge set the bond high enough for a reason or the     defendant has poor ties to the community with a high flight risk.

·         5) A defendant could potentially sit in custody longer than when using a      bail bond agent because of the availability of Pre-Trial release. If the      defendant gets arrested on a Friday, Pre-Trial is not open until      Monday morning.

·         6) A commercial bail bonding agent has a financial incentive to ensure      the defendants return to court. If the bail bond agent cannot return      the defendant back into court, the agent would be liable for a high      sum of money. Pre-Trial does not have a financial incentive to return      the defendant into court and is not accountable for the bond amount      if the defendant fails to appear.

There are many more reasons why a commercial industry is better than a government ran service. The bail bonding industry should be the number one choice when releasing defendants out of custody.

My solution for this issue would be to keep Pre-Trial Release in place as secondary monitoring programs for certain offences and also keep the commercial bail bonding industry as the leading provider for defendant’s releases.

Mac's Bail Bonds

http://www.macsbonds.com