Kevin Hudson
3-29-2011
Prof. Kuennen
Review of Bail Bond System To begin the process of bail, first there must be a suspect, an arrest, a police report filled out, and charges filed against the suspect. From here, there are five possible release options: own recognizance, property bond, cash bond, surety bond, and citation release. In the following paragraphs, I will present each of these topics and show how they are typically used. The most commonly used form of release from jail, until the court date, is own recognizance (O.R.) This program is used through the county or the specific law enforcement managed pre-trial program. In order to determine whether a suspect can be released by the own recognizance, a staff member of the program will ensure an interview takes place with the individual while in jail. If the staff member deems the suspect capable of being released on their own, they will make a recommendation to the court for the release of the suspect. Own recognizance is a base of trust on the suspect, as it holds no financial security to insure that the suspect returns under his/her own power. When using a property bond to post bail with somebody, the courts must place and record a lien on a property with a high enough value to cover the cost of the bond. It is very similar to using their property as collateral using the terms in the paperwork they must submit prior to the release of the suspect. If the suspect were to skip court/fail to appear at their previously scheduled court date, the court system can ultimately establish foreclosure proceedings against the property used to regain the money they used to bail the suspect from jail. The most popular form of bonds is the cash bond. A cash bond is exactly what it sounds like. In order to release somebody from jail with a cash bond, somebody must post the bond with the court system for the total amount of the bail that was issued by the court, in cash. The reason for using cash to release a suspect from jail until the scheduled court date is to ensure that the suspect will attend his/her own court hearing on the selected date, and also for any other court dates that may need to be issued until the case in decided upon. If the suspect does show up for their court hearing, the money will be given back to the person who put forth the money. If the suspect does not show up for their court date, the court can claim the money for forfeiture. Do not have the cash? Do not have the property? Not always a problem! A surety bond is another type of bond used to release a suspect from jail until their court date. The surety bail is an alternative to the cash bond. This process involves an insurance company that can be under a contractual undertaking the guarantees the company has the necessary amount of money of property that will complete the amount of the bond. The bail agent will have to guarantee to the court that they will pay the amount due if the suspect does not return on their scheduled court date. This guarantee is made through a surety company and/or by the pledge of property that the bail agent currently owns. Last, but certainly, no least is the citation release. Also known at the “Cite Out” the citation release encompasses the discretion of the arresting officer at the time of the arrest. At any time immediately after the arrest, the arresting officer may issue a citation release to the suspect. The arresting officer will notify the suspect that he or she must appear in front of a judge in court, on a date that will be determined in the following days. This type of release will determine solely on the police officer’s discretion and the honor of the suspect and his or her voluntarily showing up to their court hearing. The arraignment will usually be help anywhere from two week to a month from the date of the release. If the suspect were to remain in custody of the police at that point he will be transported to the court by the county or city facility in which he or she is being held. After Maurice Clemmons murdered four Lakewood Officers on a cold night in November, it took just over two months, February 2nd, 2010, for Governor Christine Gregoire to announce a review of the entire Washington State bail bond system. A new policy has been suggested that will put legislator right into the middle of the bail bonds war. With bail bond agencies undercutting each other, this causes to a serious problem of inmates getting released for less than what is asked of the state. In an article by OPB News, dated February 2nd, 2009, it was revealed that bail bond agencies were trying to get the most customers and were indeed “stealing” other agencies’ customers from them. This would happen through the mind of undercutting the other agencies by taking less than was required to release a suspect from their jail cell. In a particular case discussed by the newspaper article, Maurice Clemmons was released on a $190,000 bail after paying less than five percent, even with a required ten percent up front. With a different bail, Bad Boys Bail Bonds in Tacoma ran by Ty Brokaw, set up a payment plan on a $50,000 bail. It was mandatory that ten percent be paid up front, but Ty took half of the ten percent up front and set up a payment plans for the rest of the $2,500. Governor Gregoire is looking to involve the legislator to command that at minimal, ten percent of the bail is paid in full to a bail bond agency before the suspect can be released from custody. This is a debated discussion among many agencies across western Washington. Agencies from Seattle all the way down to Vancouver are discussing it. Some owners believe this would be right because it would keep those dangerous people in custody for a longer duration, seeing that statistically the people in jail are those of a lower-income class. Other agency owners believe that the legislator should not impose what they believe would be right on a business.
“In an ironic twist, what was the first place Maurice Clemmons worked when he moved from Arkansas to Washington: at a bail bonds company” (OPB News).

Works Cited
Cornerstone, BailBonds. (2004). How bail bond system works. Retrieved from http://www.lcs-k.com/howbailsystemworks.html
Jenkins, A. (2010, February 02). Bail bonds industry under scrutiny after clemmons case. OPB News. Retrieved from http://news.opb.org/article/6637-bail-bonds-industry-under-scrutiny-after-clemmons-case/.