Bail 101

 Bail 101


               How Bail Works
                    How to Become a Bondsman?
                    What Do Bondsmen Do?
                    Why the Private Surety System Is So Much More Successful Than Other Release
                            Mechanisms

                Breaking News-
                    The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Limits Court Costs in Bond Forfeiture Cases
                    Attorney General Opinion-  Who Can Deny Bail Under SB-6?

                The Different Release Mechanisms Currently In Use in Texas

                     Simple Release using Personal bonds (In other states may be called Own   
                            Recognizance/Release Without Bond/Release on No Bond)
                     Surety Bond
                     Cash Bond (Including cash bonds posted by Charitable Bail Funds)
                     Preventative Detention

                     General Overview of Bail Issues
                     Overview of Failed Bail Reform

                Other Release Mechanisms Used in Other States 

                      10% Bail   

                 Risk Assessments

                        All You Need to Know About Risk Assessments
                        Overview of Studies of Risk Assessments

                 Podcasts-
                        The Bail Post
                        Subject Index to The Bail Post Pocasts

                 Setting Bail (From the Prespective of Judges)

                Implementing SB6

                Using Bail Schedules
                            New Legislation from Florida Creates a Uniform Statewide Bail Schedule (Podcast)

                  Other States/Jurisdictions:
                            California
                            Has California Reached a Breaking Point in California with
                                    Guest- Ann Marie Schubert (Podcast)
                                     Audio Version- Click Here
                                     Video Version- Click Here
                            Florida
                            Hawaii
                            New Jersey
                            New York
                                    Audio Podcast- Click Here
                                    Video Version- Click Here
                            North Carolina
                            Tennessee
                            Washington D.C.

                  Personal Bonds- 
                            One Page Summary of Offenses Not Eligible for Personal Bond in Texas (SB 6)

                  Studies- 

                            Case Study in Failed Bail Reform- Harris County

                 Analysis
                           Bail Reform is a "Runaway Train that is Crashing into Black and Brown 
                                        Communities"- News Nation Townhall (3 Live Studio Audiences with One
                                        Group attending from the Dallas/Fort Worth area) (August 1, 2023)

                        Have We Reached a Breaking Point in California with Guest- Ann Marie Schubert    
                                  (Podcast)

                           Dispelling the Myth of Unwarranted Racial Disparities in Minnesota's Criminal
                                        Justice System (Report)  (Fox New Story)

                            Odonnell v. Harris County

                            Russell v. Harris County

                            Daves  v. Dallas County

                            Schultz v. Alabama
                                    Analysis- 
                                        Audio Version- Click Here
                                        Video Version- Click Here

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Most Read Posts Over The Last 30 Days

Breaking News- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Limits Court Costs In Bond Forfeiture Cases

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  The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an opinion today in Cause No. PD-0018-23; Continential Heritage Insurance Company v. Texas; In the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to address court costs in bond forfeiture cases. The court made two important rulings: 1.     The State of Texas is exempt from paying certain filing fees.  Whichever fees the State is exempt from paying, then the bondsmen cannot be required to pay them once the case is over. 2.     If the bondsmen is exonerated on a bondforfeiture under article 22.13 (a) 1-4 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, then the State must pay the filing fees in that case. The case was remanded to the Court of Appeals to determine which court costs the State is exempt from paying. To read the opinion CLICK HERE . If you would like to know more information, including how this may impact bondsmen, seeking a refund from a county, or if you are a county official and would like to know how this might impact your County, consider coming to
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New Attorney General Opinion Interprets Portion of SB 6- Who Can Deny Bail?

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On August 8, 2023, the Texas Attorney General's office issued Atty Gen. Op. AC-002.  The Attorney General had been asked to interpret article 27.027 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure which was enacted as a part of SB 6.   The article applies when a defendant is charged with committing an offense that is a felony while they are currently out on bail in a pending case for another offense which is also a felony.  If the two cases are in different counties, then SB6 requires notification to be sent to the other court.  If the two offenses are in the same county, then only the judge over the first court can magistrate the defendant on the new charge. The statute contains an exception which allows the court to designate another court to perform the magistration. The question that the Attorney General's office was asked to address was if the court designated to perform the magistration on behalf of the district court is not also a district court judge would the magistrate or the
Read more

Breaking News- Judge Rosenthal Finally Dismisses Russell- Federal Litigation in Harris County Over Felony Defendants

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  The Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas has dismissed Cause No. H-19-226; Russell v. Harris County ; In the United States District Court for the Sourthern District of Texas.  The case was dismissed August 31, 2023.  This will bring to close the litigation seeking to "force" Harris County to simply release defendants in felony criminal case proceedings. This litigation push started in Houston in another case called Odonnell v. Harris County .   In that case, Judge Rosenthal forced the county to adopt a simple release system for misdemeanor cases that has lead to an average of an 80% failure to appear rate over a two year period of time. After their "success" in the Odonnell  case, the same activists filed suit in Dallas County (the Daves  case) seeking to extend the Odonnell  ruling to felony cases as well.  Also, the activists filed suit in Galveston County (the Booth  case) and they filed a new suit in
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The Bail Post Episode No. 42- Federal Bail Litigation- Schultz v. Alabama- A Tale of Two Counties with Guest Sheriff Matt Gentry

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On this episode of The Bail Post, we discuss two different counties approaches to federal bail litigation.  In both counties, the federal courts entered preliminary injunctions to fundamentally change local bail procedures.  In Schultz v. Alabama, the county appealed, refused to settle and fought the litigation every step of the way.  The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the preliminary injunction and returned control of bail back to the county.  In contrast, in O'Donnell v. Harris County, the county appealed and won only to have the trial court enter a new preliminary injunction.  It was appealed as well and the 5th Circuit stayed the 2nd preliminary injunction stating that there was a substantial likelihood that the judges would win again.  However, the case did not go forward because there was an election and new judges were elected who promised to resolve the litigation.  A settlement was entered that tied the hands of the judges going forward.   On this episode, we h
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The Bail Post Episode No. 41- Has California Reached a Breaking Point with Guest Ann Marie Schubert

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Anne Marie Schubert is a career prosecutor.  Schubert earned a bachelor's degree from Saint Mary’s College of California in 1986 and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco in 1989. Her career experience includes being the Sacramento County District Attorney, Supervising Deputy District Attorney of the Sacramento District Attorney's Office, and Deputy District Attorney of Contra Costa and Solano Counties. Schubert has been a board member of the National District Attorneys Association and has been affiliated with Fight Crime: Invest in Kids and Stand Up for Victims. On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss whether California has  reached a breaking point with rising crime and criminal justice reform.   If you would like to learn more about the letter from the Oakland NAACP (referenced in this episode) demanding action on crime from their local politicians  CLICK HERE . If you would like to learn more about the News Nation townhall mentioned in this episode CLICK HERE .  V
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