The Texas Legislature is in full swing.  A few weeks ago, the House Criminal Jurisprudence committee was conducting a hearing on multiple bail bills.  The ACLU of Texas gave testimony highlighting a story alleging that a defendant was lost in the Harris County jail for 18 years without  a conviction before his case was dismissed.  Of course, the headline was not correct.  A defendant had been arrested for capital murder and found incompetent to stand trial.  What followed was a cycle of the defendant being sent for treatment for several years, then moved back to the county jail to be re-evaluated to determine whether he was now competent to stand trial.  The cycle was repeated multiple times.  On this episode of The Bail Post we talk about mental health issues in the Criminal Justice System.  Contrary to what was reported to the House committee, the problem was a mental health issue not a bail issue.  Our guest is Ramey Heddins from MHMR of Tarrant County.  Join us as we discuss trying to fit the square peg of mental health issues into the round hole of Criminal Justice.

On this episode, we talk immigration, deportations and bail.  Our Guest is Randy Adler.  Randy is a very good friend and we have known each other for many years.  Randy has been practicing bail law in the state of Texas for over 40 years.  On this episode we discuss what bondsmen can do when they post a bail bond for a defendant and then learn that there is a ICE hold.  This is an issue that has grown in importance with the changes made by the Trump administration regarding the border, illegal immigration and deportations.  How do these changes impact ongoing criminal cases?  Find out on this episode of The Bail Post. 

Also, on this episode we discuss the "Ex Parte Clear" case and an article written by the Municipal Association entitled "Clear as Mud."  We discuss these cases from the perspective of the bail industry regarding seeking a warrant pursuant to article 17.19 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

Finally, we discuss the passing of a member of the board of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas.- Charlie Pickens.  

Jim Quinn is a former assistant district attorney in Queens, New York.  His family has lived in New York for four generations.  Jim was on the front lines as New York passed bail reform through the the budget bill in 2019 and when it went into effect in January 2020.  Jim has written numerous articles about the New York bail reform and its impact on crime.  On this episode of The Bail Post we look back at 5 years under the New York bail reform law including the three roll backs by the New York legislature.  Join us and find out whether these reforms have been a success or whether they have been a failure. 

On this episode of The Bail Post, we discuss the major bail bills pending before the Texas Legislature.  There are two proposed constitutional amendments:  SJR 1 and SJR 5.  There are also two bills:  SB 9 and SB 40.  

SJR 1 is a proposed constitutional amendment that states if you are charged with a felony and you are in Texas illegally and did not enter a port of entry properly, then you are not entitled to bail.  The House companion is HJR 16.

SJR 5 is a proposed constitutional amendment to expand preventative detention to give judges the discretion to deny bail for certain third time felons.  The House companion is HJR 15.

SB 40 states that no government funds may be given to a non-profit for the purposes of posted bail by a charitable bail fund.  The House companion is HB 76.

SB 9 is a major bill that made up of changes to the bail process, adds new charges to the list of offenses to which no personal bond may be granted and makes minor changes to the charitable bail fund statute.  The House companion is HB 75.

You can see these bills HERE.

These bills appear to be on the fast track.  They already have been voted out of the Texas Senate and are part of the Governor's priority items which means that they may have hearings, be considered and be voted on before March 15th.

Join us as we highlight these important bills and where they are in the legislative process.

At the end of the Star Wars movie "New Hope" the rebels have a great victory only to see the victory short lived in "The Empire Strikes Back."  On this episode of The Bail Post we find out the great victory of the November election is already slipping away in California and the entrenched advocates are well on the way with their "Plan B."  Our guest is a returning guest.  He is retired Chief Patrick Jordan.  He worked for the L.A. County Sheriff's office for over 30 years.  He has intimate knowledge regarding  the California Criminal Justice System the reforms that have been pushed for years.  

Join us as we discuss the November election and the both the success of the election and how the political advocates already are getting around the results.

"History is full of examples where good intentions paved the way to disastrous outcomes.  Today, we are witnessing another such moment -- a social experiment in criminal justice reform that has unleashed unforeseen consequences on our urban communities.

This experiment was built on two flawed premises.  The first was that bail is unnecessary and people would voluntarily appear in court without financial incentives.  The second was that “soft-on-crime” policies would not lead to increased criminal activity.  Both assumptions have proven catastrophically wrong, but the damage has already been done.

A group of individuals advocating bail reform -- and criminal justice reform in general -- established a network of groups to push a series of initiatives.  It was funded by a small number of extremely deep-pocketed foundations and wealthy billionaires.  Among them, the Open Society Foundation and its prominent backer, George Soros, played outsized roles in driving the agenda.  They set up a network of groups that may be broken into four categories."

On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss a recent lead article in the PBT Newsletter entitled "The Untold Story- Selling Out Public Safety One District Attorney at A Time" and our guest is the author Eric Granof.

This Episode of The Bail Post was recorded several months before the election last November.  When we attempted to post information regarding this episode on social media, it was immediately deleted.  After multiple attempts to post the information we began to question our decision to cover this matter.  Were we duped?  Were we just wrong?  Then the issue of cartels and drugs became an issue in the Presidential election.  Now that the election is over, it appears that this information was "suppressed" by social media.

This episode of The Bail Post highlights how cartels are taking over the legal marijuana drug industry in California and in other states that have legalized the trade; taking advantage of lax immigration policies.  Our guest is Daniel Greenfield.  Daniel has been a writer, columnist and a journalist for nearly twenty years. In that time he has tackled stories across the country and around the world.  Daniel has worked alongside legends in the field like David Horowitz.  He has also met many senators and congressmen, and has told many stories of ordinary people struggling against impossible odds.

Daniel's first book, Domestic Enemies: The Founding Fathers' Fight Against the Left was published in April 2024. It tells the forgotten stories of early American history and the struggles that shaped a nation.  Daniel is also the author of the article- California Legalized Drugs.  Cartels Took It Over.  Join us for this episode of The Bail Post.

On this episode of The Bail Post we discuss an important case involving a recovery agent who was licensed in Louisiana.  A defendant who was charged with a misdemeanor failed to appear for court and then went to the state of Missouri where she was staying at the time she was filed.  The recovery agent and his partner traveled to Missouri, took the defendant into their custody and began traveling back to Louisiana.  The defendant was eventually dropped off at a sheriff's office in Mississippi.  The two recovery agents were charged with federal kidnapping charges because they crossed state lines.  One of the recovery agents plead guilty and was given probation.  The other went to trial and was convicted and given a sentence of 10 years.  

The case was appealed because of the jury instructions given by the trial court.  

Join us to find out why the court of appeals reversed the case and what the future holds for the recovery agent.

The district clerk wears many hats.  As we have seen the expansion of the digital formats and e-filing, the hats that the district clerk has to wear has only expanded.  As many counties have overseen the conversion of old software systems to new over the last couple of years, some have experienced more problems that others.  Our guest on this episode of The Bail Post is the District Clerk of McLennan County.  Mr. Gimble has overseen software conversion, has been appointed to state committees and commissions and is in the forefront of planning for the future (think central statewide database).  Join us and all the many things that you never even knew the district clerk took care of in your county. 

On this episode of The Bail Post we meet the new President of PBUS David Stuckman as we discuss multiple issues.  One of the issues that we highlight is the recent data breach of Capitar's cloud based bail software and the responses by bail agents.  We also discuss bail in the state of Kansas and we find out that there are both property bondsmen and corporate bondsmen.  We also discuss the laws in Kansas for returning the defendant to custody.  We also discuss the Professional Bondsmen of the United States, how it functions and it upcoming meeting.