The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

  In 2022, Mosby’s last year in office, Baltimore saw 334 homicides across the city. The next year, under Bates’s watch, that number dropped to 262. In 2024, it dropped further to 202 homicides. And during the first half of 2025, Baltimore saw just 68 homicides, a 62 percent drop from the same timeframe in 2022. Auto thefts are also down 34 percent, robberies are down 22 percent, and arson is down 10 percent in Baltimore so far in 2025 compared to the same timeframe last year. “The numbers don’t lie,” Maryland Public Policy Institute fellow Sean Kennedy told the Washington Free Beacon. “Ivan Bates’s model of targeting the most violent or violence-prone offenders (gun carrying criminals) is the primary driver of Baltimore’s miraculous success.” “Homicides only started dropping when Bates came in and signaled that carrying guns meant prison,” Kennedy said. To see more CLICK HERE .

  A new ballot measure proposal, which, if approved by voters, would dramatically change the criminal justice system in the state of Oregon. The goal of the measure is to put an end to what many describe as Oregon’s “catch and release” system, where suspected criminals are immediately released before trial and then never show up. The sponsors are confident that Oregon voters will support it if given the chance. It is just the latest example of a criminal justice system that many say has grown increasingly dysfunctional. An accused hit-and-run driver on Highway 26, was later arrested for attempted murder, only to be released pretrial by a judge, over the strong objections of the prosecution and the victim’s family. They said he’d never honor his promise to appear. And they were right. He is now at large, and Oregon lawmaker Kevin Mannix says cases like these have to stop. To see more CLICK HERE .

What are "food desserts" and why are they getting larger in our urban centers?  A food dessert is a area in an urban city where food retailers are not readily accessible.  Why are food desserts growing? In the early 1990s a survey of city shoppers found that more than half left the city at least once a month to shop at stores not available in the five boroughs. Large swaths of the city, including Harlem, home to 100,000 residents, lacked a local supermarket. Crime was bad enough to sink promising ventures, including U.S. Athletics, a 13-store footwear chain that closed its outlets in the city after suffering some 1,000 shoplifting incidents. In a 1989 survey conducted by Interface, one-fifth of businesses reported having lost sales because of crime. The key to the comeback was the restoration of order, beginning with the declines in crime that characterized the mayoral administration of Rudolph Giuliani and continued into the administration of Michael Bloomberg. Those gains u...

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday unveiled a jam-packed agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, calling on lawmakers to redraw Texas’ congressional maps and address several unfinished conservative priorities from earlier this year. The governor, who controls the agenda for overtime legislative sessions, also included four items related to the deadly Hill Country floods over the July Fourth weekend, directing legislators to look at flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation and relief funding for impacted areas. The flooding has killed more than 100 people, with more than 160 still missing in Kerr County alone. Abbott’s call also includes redrawing the state’s congressional districts — following through on a demand from President Donald Trump’s advisers . . . To read more CLICK HERE . To see Governor Abbott's Proclamation CLICK HERE . .

Ricky Lane Wade, born April 16, 1953, in Shelbyville, Kentucky, passed away peacefully on July 8, 2025, in Dallas, Texas. He was 72.   Ricky was the son of Vernon Wade and Mary Tipton (Harper), and a proud graduate of Shelbyville High School. He built a long and respected career in the bail bonds industry, working to establish both A Way-Out Bail Bonds and Just Bail Bonds. His commitment to his profession led him to become an active member of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas, where he was known for his unwavering honesty and bold personality—Ricky never had a filter and never backed down from speaking the truth. He is survived by his devoted wife, Jeanie Wade; two beloved stepdaughters, Crystal Padgett and Jennifer Beck; grandchildren Brett Estrada and wife Layla, Jezzica Polk and husband Brendan, Evan Beck, and Parker Beck; and one cherished great-granddaughter, Aurora Estrada; and nephew Kyle Tipton and wife Carolyn. Ricky also leaves behind his brothers Greg Tipton and Ve...

  The Minnesota nonprofit is shifting its focus away from directly posting pretrial bail and bonds for criminal suspects. The decision will go into place on June 1.   The nonprofit was founded in 2016, and following the death of George Floyd in 2020, the group received $42 million in donations from all over the world. Since then, the group has supported thousands of people by investing $33.2 million directly into “freeing people from cages and resourcing organizations in the fight for racial justice.” * * * * The organization said they can’t sustain bailing and bonding their way out of the “harmful systems of pretrial detention and immigration detention,” and need to utilize their resources to push for positive change. The executive director of Minnesota Freedom Fund, Elizer Darris, released the following statement: “Today, Minnesota Freedom Fund announced a strategic shift away from paying pretrial bails and immigration bonds . . . " To see more CLICK HERE .

The Texas Legislature is in full swing.  A few weeks ago, the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee was conducting a hearing on multiple bail bills.  The ACLU of Texas gave testimony highlighting a story alleging that a defendant was lost in the Harris County jail for 18 years without  a conviction before his case was dismissed.  Of course, the headline was not correct.  A defendant had been arrested for capital murder and found incompetent to stand trial.  What followed was a cycle of the defendant being sent for treatment for several years, then moved back to the county jail to be re-evaluated to determine whether he was now competent to stand trial.  The cycle was repeated multiple times.  On this episode of The Bail Post we talk about mental health issues in the Criminal Justice System.  Contrary to what was reported to the House committee, the problem was a mental health issue not a bail issue.  Our guest is Ramey Heddins from MHMR...