Colo. bail agents to be investigated

Deborah Sherman
6/3/2010
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=140280&catid=188

KUSA - A state senator has requested information about Colorado's bail bond industry after a 9Wants to Know investigation found some agents are using legal technicalities to get themselves removed from bonds to avoid paying the forfeiture and finding the fugitives.

"It is in all of our interests to ensure that people accused of crimes appear in court and that we are not inappropriately allowing people to get out of their bond obligations, " said State Senator Morgan Carroll (D) Aurora. "We need to find the data to understand the scope and magnitude of the problem in Colorado so we can make informed decisions about what the best policy changes might be for Colorado."

The senator asked the Legislative Council to research how many exoneration motions have been filed, how many were granted and which judges approved the motions.

She also requested a survey of all other states to learn how they handle motions by bail bondsmen to be taken off or removed from bonds.

Several bail agents told 9Wants to Know they've been playing the legal system to get removed from bonds.

In exoneration motions to the court, they claim the fugitive has fled the state, fled the country or that legal notices were mailed late which means they lost a valuable opportunity to find the fugitive. Some of the reasons are honest, but some are misleading, according to two paralegals.

"I've put people in Morocco," laughed a bail agent when describing what he tells judges to convince them that a fugitive can't be found. "The magic act is to not pay the money, and we're all doing it."

That means the agents can pocket the premiums that were paid by the defendants and don't have to spend any money looking for them if they fail to appear in court. If the exoneration motions are granted, the bail agents also don't have to pay the forfeiture money.

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