The Professional Bondsmen of Texas- Blog

  For more than 20 years, A Better Bail Bond and Hamp’s Camp have raised money to ensure that deserving and underprivileged youth have a Merry Christmas. Students were chosen from 2 Houston area elementary schools, Bang Elementary & McGowan Elementary. Additionally, the Harris County Constable Precinct 2 station, Judge Lucia Bates presiding will serve as the distribution site. The sponsors raise money to purchase scooters for the students selected. This year, the supply chain shortage has caused some delays regarding the scheduled arrival of the scooters, but plans continued so that this years toys could be distributed before Christmas.  Thanks to the continued generosity of Sponsors A Better Bail Bond, Radio stations, A Better Gospel, A Better Skool & 92Kelz, the Non-Profit Hamp’s Camp was able to continue their Annual Toy Giveaway. Hamp’s Camp is a non-profit started by Rodney Hampton, retired NFL Super Bowl and Pro Bowl Champion. Hamp’s Camp has 3 primary goals: to ...

Shelly Fernandez is getting a second chance. A second chance to get her life on track. A second chance to become a productive member of her community and a second chance to raise her two children. Shelly was placed in a special program called H.O.M.E. The program provided her with the much-needed safety and security she was longing for. It also provided her with housing, food, and employment opportunities. After 10 months, Shelly is a new person. She is gainfully employed, she has proper childcare for her children, and most importantly she has a place to call home.  And if you ask Shelly, she attributes all these things to one person…Shanette Mitchell, a bail bondsman. To see more CLICK HERE .

In the last two legislative sessions, there have been bills proposed seeking bail reform.  In both sessions, a major component of reform was the adoption of a risk assessment tool.  In the last couple of years, the Texas Office of Court Administration has even developed their own risk assessment tool called PRAISTX.     The biggest flaw in these risk assessment tools is the use of proprietary black box algorithms to make important criminal justice decisions.  These are the same type of algorithms that Big Data companies use to bombard us with ads every day.  While some might appreciate an algorithm recommending books or television shows, many others have long been against their use in making determinations on insurance rates, and whether someone gets a home loan or credit card.   A group of some of the largest technology companies in the world (Partnership on AI) have issued a joint statement opposing the use of algorithms as a part of crimin...

Delegates attending conventions dates back all the way to the founding of our country.  George Washington was elected to preside over the Constitutional Convention held in 1787.  The use of delegates has continued throughout the history of the United States.  In Texas, the Republican and Democrat parties select delegates to attend county and state conventions.   Bondsmen have been serving as delegates to State conventions for years; that’s right! Democrats and Republicans.  Bondsmen like you have gotten involved and fought “Bail Reform” within the political parties.   Every two years both political parties host state conventions to debate and decide the party business and direction for the next two years.  This typically consists of electing party officers, electing delegates to their national convention, adopting a state party platform or published list of beliefs, and adopting a list of legislative priorities, that they wish to see the gove...

by Ken W. Good The concept of accountability has been ingrained into almost every part of our society.  The examples are numerous -- a child may be put into time-out for misbehaving, a student sent to the principal for a violation of rules, and a driver may be given a ticket as a consequence of speeding.   Accountability has deep roots across the globe.  Leading the successful campaign for India's independence from Britain, Mahatma Gandhi inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, once saying "It is wrong and immoral to seek to escape the consequences of one's acts."  In the history of much of the world, accountability has been a central tenet.  But this fundamental precept is changing. Sadly, a war is underway against accountability in society.  The erosion of this concept can be observed in many areas of day-to-day life, such as in our colleges and universities.  As an example, statistics from the University of North Carol...

Shelly Fernandez is getting a second chance.  A second chance to get her life on track.  A second chance to become a productive member of her community and a second chance to raise her two children.  Shelly was placed in a special program called H.O.M.E. The program provided her with the much-needed safety and security she was longing for.  It also provided her with housing, food, and employment opportunities. After 10 months, Shelly is a new person.  She is gainfully employed, she has proper childcare for her children, and most importantly she has a place to call home.   And if you ask Shelly, she attributes all these things to one person…Shanette Mitchell.  Ten months ago, Shanette never knew Shelly or her children.   Shanette never knew anything about Shelly’s past.   But today, they are good friends.   Shelly goes so far as to describe Shanette as not only a godsend but more importantly, someone whom she aspires to be. ...

The April 2020 PBT Newsletter has been released.  In this edition, Jim Lane writes a touching tribute to his friend and fellow PBT member, Bo Jones. You can see the article by  CLICKING HERE . You can see the April 2020 Newsletter by  CLICKING HERE .

by Jim Lane I want to tell you about my friend Bo Jones.  His nickname for me was a word that should not be said in mixed company.  My nickname for him was just as bad.  In other words, we were best friends.  Our families were friends and we vacationed together.  We went hunting together.  Also, we were bondsmen in the same community. We met many years ago in Weatherford, Texas, the "Peach Capital of Texas" in Parker County just west of Fort Worth.   During the time that I knew Bo, the population in Parker County tripled, but it is still a small community with a population of around 30,000 people today.  For some reason we just hit it off.  Early on Bo kept telling me that he had this unique talent for hunting with just a knife.  Bo claimed he could take out his prey by throwing his knife with absolute precision.   Now this was something I had to see.  So, we went hunting together.   For the next few hours, I wat...

The corona virus may do more long term damage than any tornado or hurricane that has hit the state of Texas. The ramifications will be felt for many years to come. These are interesting times.  Your cup is full and please know that our hearts and prayers are with you.  We want to help in anyway possible. Not Business As Usual If your county is open and everything is taking place as usual, then you are one of the lucky ones.  Please keep up the good work. Also, take this time to plan. Filing of Bonds, 17.16 Affidavits and 17.19 Affidavits Please consider setting up procedures that allow for the remote filing of bonds, 17.16 affidavits and 17.19 affidavits.  Tarrant County has allowed for the fax filing of bonds for a long time.  The original bond or power must follow and be sent to the jail in a reasonable time.  Other counties are setting up temporary procedures to allow for efiling or fax filing of these and other bond related documents. On the issue ...

The corona virus may do more long term damage than any tornado or hurricane that has hit the state of Texas. The ramifications will be felt for many years to come. These are interesting times.  This is not the time to sit still.  Here are some of the things you should be doing: Essential Businesses We belive that our indsutry is an essential business and should remain open during any stay at home or shelter in place order.  We have confirmed with several sheriff's offices that bondsmen are an essential businesses.  Our position is that we provide an essential service and should remain open to aid law enforcement during this time.. The Camercon County Bail Bond Board Administrator requested information from her local county attorney about whether the posting of bonds was an essential business and was told that the providing of services of posting bonds was an essential business and that bondsmen were authorized to conduct business during their shelter in place or...

The corona virus may do more long term damage than any tornado or hurricane that has hit the state of Texas. The ramifications will be felt for many years to come. These are interesting times. As bail bond boards across the state of Texas are attempting to struggle with how to address licenses of their local bondsmen during this time, we would like to highlight several issues for your consideration. Licenses for Renewal Over the Next 60 Day s A bail bond board issued an order stating that if the courthouse was closed, then all bail bond licenses would be continued in effect by operation of law. Once the courthouse reopened, if there were any licenses that needed to be renewed, the licenseholder would be required to file an application for renewal within 5 business days following the reopening of the courthouse and the board would act on the application within 60 days. The Professional Bondsmen of Texas appreciate the actions of this board in looking out for the bondsmen. If th...

The corona virus may do more long term damage than any tornado or hurricane that has hit the state of Texas. The ramifications will be felt for many years to come. These are interesting times. As district attorneys' offices across the state of Texas are attempting to struggle with how to address various non-bail related matters, we would like to highlight several issues for your consideration. Business As Usual? If your county is open and everything is taking place as usual, then you are one of the lucky ones.  Please keep up the good work. Also, start the planning on what you will do. Offices Restricted, Working From Home Or On Skeleton Staff If your office is crazy, you can bet that everyone else in the county is crazy as well.  In all the chaos please consider the following from our perspective: Dockets The Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals have both entered orders to govern this time.  Which one govens bond forfeiture cases?  Chap...