The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

  This is a summary of the bail bills or bills that may relate to the bail industry that were enacted in the 2025 Texas Legislative Session. HB 1522-  This bill amended the Texas Open Meetings Act to change the notice requirement from 72 hours to 3 business days.  The biggest impact of this change will impact Bail Bond Board meetings.  The notice now must be posted 3 business days before the meeting.  A weekend cannot be counted in that time period. To see the final bill CLICK HERE .  HB 1778- This bill created Section 43.032 of the Texas Penal Code with creates a new offense "Continuous Promotion of Prostitution." Additionally, the bill amends article 17.081 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to add 43.032 to the list of offenses.  This section requires that for the list of offenses, the bail bond must include the address and driver's license number for the defendant and the surety.  Additionally, article 17.465 (b) of the Texas Code of Crim...

  SB 9-   This is the clean up bill for SB 6 that was passed 2 session ago.  This is a large bill and we will summarize the bill by sections. Section 1-    This section creates article 16.24 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.  The section requires that once the defendant enters a pretrial intervention program, the attorney representing the state or the attorney's designee who is responsible for monitoring the defendant's compliance SHALL enter the conditions in the appropriate statewide law enforcement information system maintained by DPS or modify or remove the information.   This section goes into effect January 1, 2026. Section 2-    Amends 17.021 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the public safety report.  The new portions of the report require it to state: (F)  whether the defendant is currently on community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision for an offense; (G)  whether the defenda...

HB 2697- This bill amended article 17.19 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.  Article 17.19 authorizes a surety or bail bondsman to file a request for a warrant with the magistrate or the trial court based upon some action on the part of the defendant.   The existing statute required the surety or bail bondsman to give notice of the request to the defense attorney if the defendant was represented by counsel.  That notice must comply with Rule 21a of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.  Further, the statute requires that  the affidavit set out certain matters regarding the defendant including the reason why a warrant is needed. Section 17.19 states that if the request for a warrant meets the statutory requirements the trial court or magistrate must or shall issue a warrant of arrest for the defendant.   If the trial court refuses to issue a warrant, then the surety or bail bondsman has an affirmative defense to any subsequent failure to appear...

Season 2 is HERE!  This season begins much like the way that Season 1 began; a back to basics.  We start Season 2 by asking the question of "Why is the private surety system so effective?"  Throughout the United States the different release mechanisms used can be grouped into four categories:  the private surety bail system, cash bonds, personal bonds and preventative detention.  The private surety system has the lowest failure to appear rate by far of any the release mechanisms used.  Why is it so much more effective than any other release mechanism?  Join this episode of The Bail Post to learn more. Also available on: Apple Podcasts-            CLICK HERE Spotify-                        CLICK HERE Google Podcasts-        CLICK HERE Podcast Index-            CLICK HERE Amazo...

Accusations of fraud have surfaced in bail records linked to a man accused of killing his wife and the owner of a Houston bonding company whose office was searched earlier this year by local and federal law enforcement. Bail bondsman Sheba Muharib has alleged that two unidentified co-signers who defendant Curtis Holliday used in November 2021 to secure his release from the Harris County Jail were paid, according to recent court records. Holliday had been ordered held on a combined bail of $400,000 on two felony charges: murder and assault with continuous family violence. He paid 10 percent premium to Muharib’s Aable Bail Bonds to get out of jail, according to an affidavit of surety to surrender principal document. “We believe the defendant has provided fraudulent information in order to receive a bond,” Muharib wrote. “It has come to the attention of our insurance company that 2 of the defendant’s cosigners were paid in order to aid the bonding process. We were unaware of these circums...

On August 25, 2022 there will be a National Bail Reform Panel Discussion at the campus of Texas Southern University.  The event will start at 1 p.m.  Members of the panel include: Kim Ogg District Attorney for Harris County, Texas. Michelle Esquenazi noted bail bond queen from New York. Ken W. Good, attorney specializing in Bail Law and the host of The Bail Post podcast.  He is also a member of the board of directors of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas. The host for the event will be Ben Crump who is a renowned civil rights attorney.  The event is free to the public.  Come and be a part of the discussion.

  The Wisconsin Assembly was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposal amending the state constitution to make it harder for violent criminal defendants to get out on bail, hoping to capitalize on anger over the killing of six people by a driver who authorities say plowed into a Christmas parade near Milwaukee. The man charged in that case, Darrell Brooks Jr., had posted $1,000 bail on an earlier case two days before the Nov. 21 parade in downtown Waukesha. He pleaded not guilty on Friday to 77 charges, including six counts of homicide. He remains jailed on a $5 million bail. Supporters of the constitutional amendment, who have been trying since 2017 to get it passed, say their effort is not in reaction to the parade deaths. But that has given the amendment momentum it's not seen before. The amendment has been narrowed from how it was originally proposed this session to apply only to people convicted of a violent crime as defined by the Legislature. The measure must pass the Republic...

  Last year was the deadliest year in Philadelphia’s 340-year history. In 2021, 562 people were murdered in the city of brotherly love, 63 more than the 499 killed in 2020, the year that tied the record set in the notorious “crack explosion” era of 1990. While these homicides were a daily staple of local broadcast and print news, what is notably absent from coverage and official pressers was any sense of accountability by the political leaders charged with keeping us safe. The lack of any use of a bully pulpit or adult responsibility for this deadly toll has placed a bright light on the ineptitude of our state and local government and the dangerous agenda of outside political donors. The vast majority of the city’s record number of murder victims were black and brown, a harsh reality that contrasts with the “woke” agendas of the city’s white Mayor, District Attorney, Governor, and Attorney General. All of these men rejected proven criminal justice policies despite the surge of deat...

  HB 2046 would amend current law to redefine "bail bondsman" in a way that would require community bail funds to function as professional bail bonds companies, with all the attendant licensing requirements. Those requirements would almost certainly limit what community bail funds can do and would risk putting some out of business altogether. To see more CLICK HERE .

  Utah lawmakers are taking another crack at moving the state away from a cash bail-based system that has freed or released people based on their wealth rather than the severity of their crimes. Officials plan on doing that by instructing magistrates and judges to focus on a person’s risk level when setting the conditions of his or her release from jail before trial. And while the courts can still impose bail in these situations, the proposal says they should adjust the amounts based on the person’s financial status and ability to pay. This plan that’s coming before state lawmakers in this week’s special session is the result of months of negotiation, and it’s something defense attorneys, bail bondsmen and sheriffs all say they can get behind. “Is it perfect? No,” Steve Burton, executive director of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said during a Tuesday legislative committee hearing. “But is it something we feel like is progressive and helps create a more fair syst...

  The New Rules regarding Charitable Bail Funds go into effect January 1, 2022.   I.      What is a Charitable Bail Organization- A Charitable Bail Fund is an organization that files cash bonds to get individuals out of jail. In SB 6 the definition of a "charitable bail organization"  is a person or group that accepts and uses donations from the public to deposit money with a court in the amount of a defendant's bail bond. The definition applies to any charitable bail organization that files more than three cash bonds for defendants in a any 180-day period.  II.      Groups Excluded from the Definition-     The term does not include:       1.    a person accepting donations with respect to defendant who is a member of the person's family, as determined under Section 71.003, Family Code; or      2.    a nonprofit corporation organized for a religious purpose.   ...

  NEW YORK- Good news: State lawmakers may be starting to worry that voters are linking their 2019 no-bail-required law to the spike in violent crime. Bad news: They’re making meaningless gestures that let them  pretend  they’re fixing the law without offending the pro-criminal left. Case in point: Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D-Westchester) and state Sen. Elijah Reichlin-Melnick (D-Rockland/Westchester) are pushing legislation  to give judges discretion to set bail  in certain gun cases. Great. But it won’t make much difference because judges  already  have discretion in many such cases. Meanwhile, their hands are tied in cases involving numerous other violations. Nor can judges consider whether the defendant is a danger to the community. The current statute also forces them to impose the “least restrictive means” to ensure an accused person returns to court. And it contains discovery rules that enable defendants to get key info about witnesses, prompti...