The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Re: PBT January 2025 Planning Meeting & PBT Continuing Education Class  January 9-10, 2025 Everyone: Texas is under threat of severe weather in the next few days.  We have received calls from members of the board and bondsmen and other planning to attend our continuing education class questioning whether the meeting and the class will go forward in light of the projected weather. There are concerns that we may not have a quorum for the meeting. Additionally, we take concerns about driving conditions for our membership, our instructors and the people attending our classes very seriously. Therefore, it has been decided to push the meeting and the class to January 22nd and the 23rd at the same location.  This will be a Wednesday/Thursday and the class will take place on Thursday. We are working with the hotel to move reservations to the new dates. Thank you so much for your continued support and with your patience as we place eve...

The Untold Story- Selling Out Public Safety One District Attorney at a Time By Eric Granof History is full of examples where good intentions paved the way to disastrous outcomes.  Today, we are witnessing another such moment -- a social experiment in criminal justice reform that has unleashed unforeseen consequences on our urban communities. This experiment was built on two flawed premises.  The first was that bail is unnecessary and people would voluntarily appear in court without financial incentives.  The second was that “soft-on-crime” policies would not lead to increased criminal activity.  Both assumptions have proven catastrophically wrong, but the damage has already been done. A group of individuals advocating bail reform -- and criminal justice reform in general -- established a network of groups to push a series of initiatives.  It was funded by a small number of extremely deep-pocketed foundations and wealthy billionaires.  Among them, the Open S...

Multnomah County, Soft on Crime, District Attorney Mike Schmidt, who was voted out of office on Election Day, petitioned an Oregon judge on Monday to reconsider the sentences of eight individuals – which could result in reduced charges and see the convicts freed from prison.     “These have all the appearance of a last-minute giveaway,” Multnomah County District Attorney-elect Nathan Vasquez, the Republican-turned-independent who defeated Schmidt, told the outlet.  “They’re extremely violent individuals who have committed horrible crimes, and they’re being given some kind of a break,” added Vasquez, who starts his term on Jan. 6.  Frank Swopes, Jr. Frank Swopes Jr., who was convicted of felony murder for the death of 75-year-old Jean Stevenson during a December 1993 home invasion, is among the violent offenders Schmidt is seeking to free.  Swopes Jr., 62, went on to commit another violent crime just a week after his accomplice killed Stevenson by pushing he...

  In his first two days in office, new Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has rolled back on progressive policies backed by former district attorney George Gascón. “I’ll be prioritizing public safety while ensuring real and effective criminal justice reform,” Hochman said in a recent interview with Annenberg Media. “I believe you can do both at the same time.” Hochman’s first changes expanded the power of L.A. County prosecutors to enforce harsher sentences for crimes. This included dismantling Gascón’s Proposition 47, which stated that certain non-violent offenses, including stealing merchandise under the value of $950, would be reclassified as misdemeanors rather than felonies. Hochman backed Proposition 36, which passed into law on November 5. This legislation aimed to reinforce strict penalties for repeat offenders, specifically in regard to theft and drug-related crimes. Gascón’s restrictions on applying gang-related sentence enhancements . . . To see more CLI...

Bail reform failure keeps all of NY in danger by New York State Senator Tom O'Mara October 24, 2024 It was just over a year ago, shortly after the enactment of a state budget that paid Albany Democrat lip service to the need to end New Y rk’s failed and dangerous bail reform experiment, when Gov. Kathy Hochul declared, “We are done with bail. We accomplished what we needed to do.” Since then, it sure has looked like the governor meant what she said. She and the Legislature’s Democrat majorities have done nothing to fix a continually failing and exceedingly dangerous law that they put in place and that has turned the criminal justice system in this state upside down.  The latest exhibit of their failure comes out of Western New York in Allegany County, where I represent a portion of the eastern half of the county. Recently, following a year-long investigation and surveillance operation of an illegal drug operation in a former factory in the small town of Cuba, local and state law en...

Senator Pete Flores is the Chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.  This committee has jurisdiction over all bail related legislation filed in the Texas Senate.  It is referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.  Senator Flores was named chair of the committee after former Senator John Whitmire retired to run for Mayor of Houston.   Chairman Flores will participate on a panel discussion at the upcoming annual meeting to discuss anticipated bail issues and other criminal justice matters that may arise in the next Texas Legislative Session beginning in January 2025. PBT will be presenting Chairman Flores with a contribution from the Texas Bail PAC.  We ask that you consider making donations to this powerful Senator as well.  Contributions by check can be made directly to the Pete Flores Campaign and cash contributions can be made to the Texas Bail PAC to increase the contribution made to the senator.  Bring your checkbooks and let'...

The district clerk wears many hats.  As we have seen the expansion of the digital formats and e-filing, the hats that the district clerk has to wear has only expanded.  As many counties have overseen the conversion of old software systems to new over the last couple of years, some have experienced more problems that others.  Our guest on this episode of The Bail Post is the District Clerk of McLennan County.  Mr. Gimble has overseen software conversion, has been appointed to state committees and commissions and is in the forefront of planning for the future (think central statewide database).  Join us and all the many things that you never even knew the district clerk took care of in your county.  Audio Podcast- Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE Spotify-                        CLICK HERE Google Podcasts-   ...