The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

  "The Day I Told My Daughter Goodbye" by Ken W. Good No parent wants to see a child go through a bone marrow transplant.  There are things about this experience that we still do not talk about in our family.  There is no logic to why some children make it and others do not.  We nearly lost Laurel.   Our daughter Laurel was born with a rare condition where she did not make enough platelets.  So when she was five she underwent a bone marrow transplant at Children's Hospital in Dallas.  My wife and Laurel "moved in" to the hospital on December 6th and they did not return home until March the next year. I stayed in Tyler since our oldest daughter was in school.  I went to Dallas every weekend and my wife would go to a hotel and try to recharge for another week.  We were on the transplant floor which is an isolation floor.  So we did not allow family or friends to help us. One of the ways that I dealt with the situation was that I kept a blog/journal.  This is the e

On Episode No. 45 on The Bail Post, we discuss a debate that we recently participated in against a representative of Civil Rights Corps.  This is the organization that has filed bail reform and criminal justice reform litigation across the United States.  This organization filed all of the cases in Texas that made their way to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.  These cases include:   ODonnell v. Harris County ,  Daves v. Dallas County ,  Russell v. Harris County  and  Booth v. Galveston County . This group has raised tens of millions of dollars from donors to fund these cases.   We discuss our preparation for the debate and our expectations.  We also talk about the heated and we mean very heated debate that took place and the toxic language that Civil Rights Corps uses.  We also talk about our take away from the debate and whether there can be any common ground found when Civil Rights Corps cannot agree on such things as simple facts such as whether the reforms in

On this Episode of the Bail Post we are at the PBT Annual Meeting and we are recording "live" to tape where we have a panel discussion regarding the Inside Scoop about Bail Bond Boards.  Our guests are Ethel Segura and Michelle Turner.  Ethel Segura is the Bail Bond Administrator for the Bexar County Bail Bond Board.  Michelle Turner is the 1st Assistant County Attorney for Fort Bend County and is the attorney for the Fort Bend County Bail Bond Board. On this unique and different episode we discuss common mistakes that bondsmen make and several new statutes that may impact the actions of bail bond boards moving forward. This is an audio only episode.  Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE Spotify-                        CLICK HERE Google Podcasts-        CLICK HERE Podcast Index-            CLICK HERE Amazon Music-          CLICK HERE Stitcher-                      CLICK HERE iHeart-                        CLICK HERE TuneIn + Alexa          CLICK HERE Podca

The PBT Annual Meeting was held last week in San Antonio, Texas.  The meeting had record attendees, record vendors, and demonstrated that PBT has outgrown its space for the meeting. The them for this years meeting was the "Thin Blue Line" to support law enforcement.  There was a panel discussion about Border Security and it had representatives from our county sheriffs, the DPS and a retired home land security representative.  The presentation was an eye opener if you are truly concerned about border security. There was also a presentation about the most recent Texas legislative session from representatives of the PBT- Legislative Committee and lobbyists.   There was a live recording of the PBT Podcast The Bail Post talking about the "Inside Scoop About Bail Bond Boards."  PBT's podcast is closing out Season 2 and is now ranked in the top 10 of the 60 Best Criminal Justice Podcasts. Next, there was a presentation from Eric Granof with AIA and Mike Whitlock with A

Is 2024 the Year of the Woman for the Professional Bondsmen of Texas?  At the recent annual meeting, Irma Montemayor was elected president of PBT.  She will serve for the next two years.  She is only the third woman to be elected President.  She has been involved in the bonding industry since she was 18. "It is my goal to continue to build on the legacy those before me have formed through hard work and dedication.  I pray for the wisdom in all my decisions and pledge to seek guidance and advise from those willing to collaborate in order to continue making PBTx the model association for the rest of the  Country.  God Bless the great State of Texas!" Irma has served in many different capacities.  She has been a member of the executive team as the secretary.  She has served as convention chair and in many other roles.   Irma is licensed in Hidalgo County and her bonding company is A-Fast Bail Bonds.  Join us in congratulating Irma!  

At the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas, Cindy Hammons was selected as Bondsman of the Year.  Cindy has served as a board of director for PBT for some time.  She has served in numerous capacities and was the annual meeting convention committee chair for 2023. Cindy has been a bondsman for over 20 years.  She grew up in Freeport, Texas and has always been a part of Brazoria County.   "I am over the top, grateful and elated for being selected for this honor.  So many other great bondsmen have received for this award in the past and I am in some really great company which makes me want to work even harder every day to live up to their standards." Cindy is licensed in Brazoria County and her company is Cindy's Bail Bonds.

See a video of PBT's 2023 Skeet Shoot from the Annual Meeting on October 11, 2023.  Please join us next year.

  At PBT's Annual Meeting it announced that it would be raising funds for Camp Esperanza which is a camp for kids with cancer.  The camp allows kids a week of camp to play and to explore. Camp allows them the opportunity to discover their new selves.  Additionally, the camp has doctors and nurses from Dallas Childrens Medical Center to care for the kids while they are at camp.   The bail industry like so many other industries and families have been touched by various cancers.  The Whitlock family started an annual golf tournament for many years.  The Whitlock family was touched by cancer.  PBT partnered with the Whitlock family for several years.  A PBT board member's daughter attended the camp annually after receiving a life saving bone marrow transplant when she was five. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this worthy cause. PBT's fundraiser has now closed.  But if you would like to donate  you can do so directly to Camp Esperanza by  CLICKING HERE .

  Fundraiser Dates-  10-12-2023 through 10-31-2023: The 2023 Annual Meeting for the Professional Bondsmen of Texas took place last week from October 12-13 in San Antonio, Texas.  This year's activities included the kickoff of a fund raiser for Camp Esperanza which is a camp for kids with cancer. Over the course of 2 days from October 12-13, 2023, bondsmen attending the annual meeting contributed over $20,000.00 for this very worthy cause.  This allows 40 children to attend Camp Esperanza this year.   Now you have the opportunity to participate as well.  The fundraiser will continue for the next two weeks until the end of October.  There are numerous ways that you can contribute. I f you would like to donate online   CLICK HERE If you would like to contribute with  a check:               The Bridwell Foundation/Camp Esperanza               c/o The Good Law Firm               5604 Old Bullard Road, Suite 102               Tyler, Texas 75703 About Camp Esperanza: Camp Esperanza offers

A County Judge can be the judge of a constitutional county court, a judge of a county court at law or the judge presiding over a county's commissioners court.  On this episode of The Bail Post our guest is the The Honorable Judge Tim O'Hare.  He is the Tarrant County Judge over the commissioners court.    After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991 with a BBA in Finance, he went on to earn his law degree from SMU School of Law in 1995.  Tim spent the last twenty-five years building a successful legal practice and real estate investment company.  During this time, Judge O’Hare earned the title of “Texas Super Lawyer” nine consecutive years. Judge O'Hare took office in January 2023 and just finished his first budget cycle for Tarrant County where the commissioners court cut the county's budget saving the taxpayers millions of dollars.   How does a first term county judge navigate local politics and get various office holders to agree to cut their budge

Susie Cannon is like family, a much loved and honored family member.  She knows where everything is.  She knows all the family (PBT) stories.  She ensures that the family keeps moving forward.  If you call the PBT phone number, until recently, you spoke to Susie.  If you went to a continuing education class,  you interacted with Susie.  If you had a problem that needed to be solved you spoke to Suzie.  For many years, she has ensured that our continuing education school has been properly approved by the State Bar of Texas.  She ensures that our quarterly meetings, our annual meetings and so many other things are taken care of and are simply done.  We are probably not aware of all the things that Susie does for us and will not know all of them until after says her final goodbyes at the PBT Annual meeting Octboer 11-13, 2023. Susie Cannon has served numerous presidents of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas.  She has been a fixature of the association for so long that we promised not to g