Private Surety Bail
The private surety bail bond industry saves taxpayers millions of dollars each year by producing defendants for court to receive their sentences. The Pretrial Release program at the Orange County Jail, and others across the country, continues to grow using our tax dollars and are competing with private enterprise. Such programs are failing to adhere to their original mission of helping indigent defendants or defendants charged with first-time, non-violent offenses to be released from jail. Instead they often release serious and/or habitual offenders under the guise of controlling the jail population.
Private Surety Bail
§ The most effective and efficient method of pretrial release, which guarantees the defendant’s appearance in Court
§ Private surety bail outperforms all other types of pretrial release
§ Private surety bail has the lowest failure to appear rate – defendants who fail to appear are more likely to commit additional crimes
§ Felony defendants released on a private surety bail are less likely to have failure to appear in Court and become fugitives
§ For defendants that do fail to appear, private surety bail is more successful in locating and returning the defendant to Court
§ Bail agents can devote the time necessary to make sure fugitives are apprehended successfully
§ Public safety is better served by the private surety bail system than taxpayer-funded pretrial release systems and can help to relieve jail overcrowding
§ Conditional private sector release of a defendant is in the public’s best interest
§ Public safety and the wise use of taxpayer dollars should be a shared goal
§ The private sector is accountable financially and physically for defendants
§ Private surety bail invests and instills financial incentives by integrating family and friends as guarantors of a bond
§ Private surety bail can be posted in a timely fashion
§ Bail agents are committed to their respective endeavors and perform their jobs with the utmost competence and professionalism
Key Facts
§ Re-arrest rates are highest for those defendants released on their own recognizance
§ Taxpayer-funded programs have no financial responsibility for defendants who fail to appear or become fugitives, nor do they attempt to locate such defendants
§ Failure to appear is higher for defendants released on their own recognizance, unsecured bail or the 10% deposit bail
§ The economic cost of failure to appear is substantial
§ Research has shown that many individuals released via a Pretrial Release Program are able to post a bond within 48-to-72 hours (many have posted bonds for previous arrests)
§ Truly indigent individuals who cannot post a bond should first be given the opportunity to be released via a Pretrial Release Program, thus making the most efficient use of this taxpayer-funded program
The Florida Constitution states that every person charged with a crime or violation of a municipal ordinance or county ordinance shall be entitled to pretrial release on reasonable conditions. Likewise, Florida Statutes states that there should be a presumption in favor of release on non-monetary conditions for any person who is granted pretrial release. However, Pretrial Release Programs are not financially or physically responsible for their clients, nor do they attempt to apprehend a defendant if they fail to appear in Court. The limited face-to-face contact of a pretrial release program diminishes the accountability of a defendant’s actions.
There is a role for both the private surety bail industry and pretrial release programs to play in the public safety arena. The private sector and a government-funded pretrial release program should work collaboratively together on any issues related to a defendant’s release from Jail. Public safety and the wise use of taxpayer dollars should be a shared goal.
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