The Harris County Bail Bond Board, including judges and DA Kim Ogg, should leap at a...
A full room at Harris County Commissioners Court as the county’s bail bond board met to consider the recommendation to require that bonding companies collect a minimum 10 percent of bail before posting a surety bond, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Houston.There are some problems facing the Harris County criminal justice system that are complex, requiring legislation, money, or years of debate to solve. This ain’t one of them.
Harris County bondsmen have for years been offering bargain basement fees on an increasing number of violent felonies.sometimes 1 or 2 percent of the bond amount a judge set in the case. Some bonding companies even offer payment plans. These deals further compromise an already faulty cash bail system.
“Does the board have the authority to even pass such proposal? Our view is yes,” Fombonne told the editorial board last week. “The law itself is very broad about what the board can regulate, which is each phase of the bonding business.” Fombonne added that the office’s legal opinion is supported by state Supreme Court case law.
So whom do we blame? Local elected officials for giving these business people too much leeway in our criminal justice system. We must have rules and standards. And we must have some way of checking if they’re being followed. As private entities, bonding companies are not obligated to disclose fees and that leaves judges in the dark as to whether the bond they set was sufficient to keep a high-risk defendant off the streets.
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