Mon 8 Nov 2010

Colorado Bail Bonds

Posted by eblack88 under Bail Bonds Colorado
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Due to the fact that Colorado laws can vary from one county to the next, many Colorado bail bonds services work specifically with the county in which they are located. While this may not always be a big headache in smaller towns, this can be incredibly important in the larger cities.

Colorado bail bonds play a vitally important function in the Colorado state legal system.  The licensing of a Colorado bail agent is administered by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of Insurance, who also regulates the bond industry.

Because of the length of time between being arrested and the court date, not making bail can mean an extended stay in jail as you await trial. This is why many people who’ve had a run-in with the law call a Colorado county bail bond to facilitate being released as soon as possible.

Fortunately, if you need their service, bail bonds or bond agents are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Typically, they tend to be very busy in the late evening, and perhaps surprisingly so on holidays. Be aware that there’s a fair bit of paperwork that goes into a bond agent securing a bond.

You’ll find that many bail bondsman are located in close proximity to the holding facility, especially in smaller areas. This can help secure a faster release for the person requiring bonding, as the bail agent is able to work their way to the holding facility more quickly and begin the needed paperwork for the bond process. During this process the bail amount will be determined and payment methods may be worked out. It may be in the form of cash bail or a property or surety bond.

The officers on staff at the holding facility will usually be more than happy to call a bond company on the arrested person’s behalf. If they do not offer to contact a bonds service, then do make sure to ask. The sooner a county bail bonding company can be contacted, the sooner the wheels can be set in motion to secure a release for the defendant.

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Fri 20 May 2011

Bail Bond Bill Would Shackle Public’s Justice – Denver Post

Posted by eblack88 under Bail Bond Bill
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This story is every reason why Senate Bill 186, which would radically alter, if not completely destroy — the commercial bail-bond industry in Colorado, should die today.

Co-sponsor Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, contends the bill is good for public safety and for saving taxpayer dollars. I believe he is wrong on both counts.

The bill passed the full Senate on an 18-17 vote last week. It would allow those arrested to post an “alternative bond” directly with the government instead of paying a bail agent to guarantee their appearance in court.

It would almost assuredly put most of the 500 bail agents in the state out of work and give the government total say in how the accused are let out of jail and monitored. Worse yet, it provides no mechanism to hunt down and capture the accused who fail to show in court.

“Nobody wants to put people out of business,” Waller told me. “It simply gives people an option.”

No, what it does is allow a government takeover of a healthy bail-bond industry and put it first in line for the millions of dollars the industry currently takes in. And that is just wrong.

Waller and I agreed to disagree. And then, I told him this story:

Wade Mitchell Parker, one of the biggest securities and construction-industry scam artists in the Denver metro area in the 1990s, on Oct. 7, 1994, skipped bail on multiple felony counts related to a log-home-building business he used to scam dozens of people out of well more than $1 million.

Peggy Hines, the agent who had guaranteed his appearance, had to pay the court $56,000. It took her months to pay it back, and it ultimately forced her out of business.

Dave Hyatt, a former bail agent who became vice president of regional bail underwriting for HCC Surety Group, felt horrible for Hines.

He decided then he would find Wade Mitchell Parker.

He met me at a restaurant the other day, carrying a 6-inch-thick folder. In it was every bit of information on Parker he had compiled over the past 16 years.

He’d gotten “America’s Most Wanted” episodes and magazine articles produced on the man. If he heard that Parker might be in a certain town, he’d plaster it with “Wanted” fliers.

No solid leads ever arrived.

“But I never gave up on him,” Hyatt said.

On April 26, an e-mail arrived for him with Wade Mitchell Parker in the subject line.

“Is he still wanted? Is there a reward?” was all it said.

Dave Hyatt, elated, immediately replied that Parker was, indeed, still wanted, but he wasn’t sure of a reward.

“OK, forget the reward,” the e-mailer, who had seen one of Dave Hyatt’s fliers, wrote back. “Who should I send a tip to his whereabouts if he is still wanted?”

It set in motion a string of e-mails that went through assorted lawyers and Jefferson County District Attorney Scott Storey, all of which landed in the lap of Detective Avis Laurita of the Denver Police Department’s Fugitive Location and Apprehension Group, or FLAG.

The detective contacted the e-mailer — who would identify himself only as Treasure Dog. On May 4, Detective Laurita wrote him back.

“Treasure Dog,” it began, “thank you for all your information. FLAG was able to pass along that information to the U.S. marshals in Virginia. We gave the marshals a location for Parker, and he was arrested this morning.”

He was found in Norfolk, living under the name of George Davenport. He is awaiting extradition.

Dave Hyatt sat across the table from me, a big smile on his face. “It was the principle of the thing,” he said.

by: Bill Johnson

The original article can be found here: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18036769

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Mon 8 Nov 2010

Colorado Bail Bonds Professionals Respond To Negative Press

Posted by eblack88 under Colorado Bail Agents
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Colorado bail agents were under attack in a news story aired last summer by 9News in Colorado.  The expose’ alleged that these bail bonds were trying to petition the courts so they could avoid paying forfeitures.  Many agents associated with the Colorado bail community felt that this news story was an unfair portrayal of the majority of Colorado’s bail bond agents who do conduct themselves according to the rules.

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Mon 8 Nov 2010

What Is Bail?

Posted by eblack88 under What Is Bail?
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At Bail Bonds Coloradowe know this may seem like a basic question, but since there seems to be quite a bit of confusion about bail, please read on.

We always hear the word “Bail” in the news or at least when one of our favorite celebrities gets arrested. No I’m not just talking about Lindsay Lohan!  But when someone we care about gets arrested and needs a Colorado bail bond, we start wondering what bail is and how it works.

By definition, bail means the legal system that allows an accused individual to be provisionally released from custody. This is usually on condition that a sum of money or a tangible asset guarantees their appearance at trial. This is based on the understanding that the accused party will return for trial or forfeit the bail and possibly be brought on charges of the crime of “failure to appear”.

The option of bail is generally extended to persons who have been charged with a crime that merits incarceration between the time of arrest and the date that the case will be tried in a court of law. To simply explain the term “Incarceration”, it means that the person will be denied the normal liberty of movement. Some people refer to it as detention by enforcement authorities such as police or military.

While it is true that bail can be granted after an arrest has taken place, it will still depend on the jurisdiction and the nature of the crime (especially). The person has the option to bail out within a few hours after entering jail. This is mostly applicable for relatively minor offenses and in situations that the chance of the suspect fleeing the immediate area is very low.

The amount of bail can differ from a small sum to a very expensive amount that would taunt many people. Fortunately enough, the court does not always require the suspect to pay the entire bail amount before being temporarily released. In other words, the suspect may choose to post a fraction of the total bail and be granted a release until the specified court date. A relative or close friend is allowed to provide the bail money required by the court with a pledge on the remaining amount. In most cases, the suspect has to pay at least one tenth of the total bail amount.

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Mon 8 Nov 2010

How Do Bail Bonds Work?

Posted by eblack88 under How Do Bail Bonds Work?
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When a person is arrested on suspicion of a crime, he or she will be taken by law enforcement agents to jail. While waiting for the case to be tried in the court of law, the suspect will be held in jail unless he or she chooses to bail out.

So what exactly are bail bonds and how do they work?

Colorado bail bonds are surety bonds which are used to guarantee the appearance of the suspect in court. By its definition, bail is a financial arrangement that a bail bonding agency will make on behalf of the suspect. The agency would have to act for the defendant and it will arrange with the court to have its client released from jail while waiting for the trial in exchange for money or collateral (tangible assets). The court will be the one to set the monetary value of the bail.

Bail bonds are considered as guarantee that the entire bail amount will be paid. There are some courts though that will accept at least 10% cash down payment for the release of the criminal defendant. The main benefit of bail bonds to the client is not having to spend all of his or her time in jail until the date of the trial.

Once the suspect is bailed out of jail, he or she is expected to abide by certain restrictions until the case is heard before a judge and this includes prohibiting the suspect from traveling outside the jurisdiction of the court. There are some instances that the criminal defendant will have to ask for the consent of the court before he or she can travel elsewhere. Electronic monitoring or scheduled visits with law officials may be required during the interim period.

When speaking about bail bonds, the suspect has to agree to attend to all proceedings related to his or her case. Failure to do so with all the conditions set forth in the bail arrangement can lead to loss of the bail money and of course, what the suspects dread the most–immediate return to a jail cell.

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Mon 8 Nov 2010

How To Get A Bail Bond

Posted by eblack88 under How To Get A Bail Bond
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Generally, a person accused of a crime must be held in the custody of the court until he or she is proven innocent. Fortunately, the suspect has the option to be temporarily released before that certain “determination” is made and this is called Bail (read: What Is Bail?) . Bail is set or established by the judge during the defendant’s first appearance (read: How Do Bail Bonds Work?). For some minor bad behaviors (such as driving violations), bail does not need to be set.

Usually, a friend, relative, lawyer or defendant will contact a Colorado bail bond company by phone and during the preliminary phone consultation; the company has to collect basic information about the situation. This information should include where the detainee is being held, how long they have been there and of course the charges involved. Personal information such as current residence and occupation also has to be obtained. The bail company or agency will need this information to assess the risk involved in the bail bond.

Should the suspect opt to purchase a bail bond, he or she will have to sign some bail bond documents and that include a bail bond application, bail indemnity agreement and a receipt. Once the paperwork is finalized, an accredited agent will post the bail bond at the correct detention facility or jail and this will result in the release of the defendant. This process can take anywhere between 1 and 2 hours (ideally). Note that the whole process cannot start until all the arrest and booking procedures have been completed.

Bail bonds can be obtained in most areas of the United States 24/7. Bail bondsmen are on an “On Call” basis whenever they are not in their offices. Other countries have a totally different policy when it comes to bailing out of jail. The courts have numerous methods available for releasing defendants on bail and the judge is the one who determines which one of these methods is the most appropriate to use.

Signing the bail bond is a promise or guarantee that the defendant or suspect will appear in the specified date of the court hearing. If the suspect fails to appear in the proceedings, this will cause the signers of the bond to pay the court the designated amount. In general, the amount of bail is calculated depending on the seriousness of the alleged offense or crime. There are some instances that a suspect can be released upon his or her own recognizance which is defined as the latter’s written uninsured promise to return for trial. A release of this sort is granted for somebody with a steady employment, stable family ties and a long history of residence in a certain community. Violation of the terms of a personal recognizance constitutes a crime and is punishable by law.

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