Maryland Bail Bonds Blog

Many of the cases that skip bail for us are instances where defendants appear for court and are found guilty, but told by the circuit court judge that they can report back later to begin serving time. For bail bondsmen who are actually liable for the bonds they post this is an unfortunate fact.

From what we understand this is something between judges and attorneys that make the attorney "look better" for their client. Even though the attorney did not win the case, they were able to work out an agreement with the judge which allotted the defendant time to get everything in order before checking in to the respective detention center. In some instances, this can mean buying time to pack up your things and get out of town.

This, to a legitimate Maryland Bail Bonds Company, causes many headaches and makes our fugitive recovery agents work overtime to locate defendants who fail to appear for sentencing hearing. One might think that bail bonds companies in Maryland would unite together and try to enforce new legislation and require the possibility of a new bond to be posted in order to come back for sentencing.

The reason Maryland Bail Bondsmen do not unite on this idea is because over 80% of the companies out there are not liable for the bonds that they post. So what do they care if the defendant doesn't appear? It's somebody else's problem. Here is a parramount instance where the bail bonds system fails and is why so many people view this industry in a negative light.

When a defendant shows up for court and they are found guilty it is a completely different circumstance than when we posted the original bond. Initially, you are innocent until proven guilty. When you are guilty, you are guilty!

Of course there are convicted people out there who actually use their time accordingly to get their finances in order and make sure their families are ok while they are in jail. But in many cases these situations produce unnecessary warrants that add to an already high total of open warrants thanks primarily to the non-liable bail bondsmen that don't care to look for them.

Check out Big Boyz Bail Bonds Pens being used by ABC 2 News team!

Big Boyz Bail Bonds posted a bond in Baltimore City Central Booking for a defendant from Montreal, Canada. The defendant was here for a college sailing regatta that was supposed to take place in Annapolis. Unfortunately for our client, he was unable to compete due to being arrested in Baltimore City on very petty misdemeanor charges. The charge is considered "a college prank" by his attorney Brian Thompson of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin, and White.

The Baltimore Sun has written an interesting article as a result of this event questioning the functionality of the bail system. Our client was not the only person arrested during this event. There were three people in total being charged with the same charges. One commissioner set bail in the amount of $1,000 for a female. The two males involved received a $175,000 bail. Big Boyz Bail Bonds posted one of the males. The other defendant hired former federal prosecutor Andy White of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin, and White to represent him at bail review. The bail review judge lowered the bond in line of the female co-defendant and set his bond at $1,000.

There is certainly a lot of information that a district court commissioner has to take into consideration when setting a bail for a person charged with a crime. The two underlying factors are the defendant's ability to show up for court and if the defendant poses a danger to himself or the public. With our client being from Canada, there is certainly some element of flight involved. With the "college prank" nature of the charges, many would argue that these accused defendants are not a danger at all. So how does one commissioner set bail at $1,000 and the next set bail at $175,000?

Any way you look at it. This is one of MANY issues concerning the bail bonds system here in Maryland. There are arguments that can be made that the state could survive without corporate bail while others would argue it's an absolute necessity in a city with an overflow crime rate. We hope that everyone reads the article to gain some additional perspective on this industry as a whole.