The Bail Post

Over the last few years, reformers have been advocating that changes should be made to the Criminal Justice System on the grounds that bail was not needed; that defendants would go to court anyway. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these policies were used and gave us a preview of what the bail reform movement would look like if the policies were retained after the pandemic. Jeff Reisig is the Independent District Attorney for Yolo County in California. Mr. Reisig released two reports looking at recidivism (new crime) rates of defendants released on zero bail in Yolo County. The first report was issued in August 2022 and found that over 70% of the individuals released on zero bail committed new crimes within 18 months of release. One of the criticisms to this report was that there was no control group of individuals released on surety bail to give any kind of comparison. Therefore, in February 2023, an updated analysis was released adding a comparison or control group to see if there was a difference in outcomes for individuals released on bail vs. individuals released on zero bail. The results were shocking. Individuals simply released committed new crimes at a substantially higher rate and more quickly than individuals released on surety bail. Why was there such a difference? Join us for this episode of The Bail Post. If you would like to see the August 2022 report- CLICK HERE. If you would like to see the February 2023 analysis- CLICK HERE.

Our guest today is the current district clerk of Tarrant County, Texas, Tom Wilder. Tom took office in 1995 and was recently re-elected for another 4-year term last November. He serves on the Tarrant County Information Technology Steering Committee, Justice Executive Planning Committee, Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, E-Gov Committee, and chairs the Tarrant County Bail Bond Board. Mr. Wilder sits on the Board of Directors for the District Court Alliance and is a member of the County and District Clerks' Association. He also is an associate member of the Tarrant County Bar Association and sits on the TVAS (Pro Bono) Committee. Prior to being elected District Clerk, he was the owner of the Wilder Company, a Commercial Real Estate Services firm for 25 years. In 1987, Tom was appointed by Governor Bill Clements as a board member of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, the largest real estate research body in the USA. He served there for over seven years and was elected chairman 1991-1992. Mr. Wilder has received two statewide Best Practices Awards from the Texas Association of Counties and special recognition from the Texas House of Representatives for cost efficient operation of the District Clerk's office. He is here today to talk about local government and update what is happening in the District Clerk's office. Mr. Wilder has been active in National, State, and local politics beginning in 1962 on the college campus of the University of Dallas.

On March 31, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit handed down the long awaited second en banc opinion in Daves v. Dallas County. The opinon has some strident language. The court of appeals held that neither Daves v. Dallas County, nor ODonnell v. Harris County should have ever been litigated in federal court. On this weeks episode of The Bail Post we discuss the new opinion from the Fifth Circuit and address its potential impact the opinion will have. If you would like to listen to our discussion of Daves v. Dallas County 1 you can find that podcast by CLICKING HERE. If you would like to read the opinion CLICK HERE.

The Honorable Ron Rangel is the sitting judge for the 379th District Court in Bexar County. He has been served for 15 years. Join us on this episode of The Bail Post as we learn about Bexar County justice. Judge Rangel also discusses how COVID impacted the Bexar County Criminal Justice System. Other issues include implementation of SB6 and bail reform issues.

Patricia Wenskunas is the founder of Crime Survivors (www.crimesurvivors.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing hope and healing to victims and survivors of crime. Her organization works to ensure that victims and survivors are protected and their rights supported by working closely with law enforcement, the judicial system and the community. Patricia nearly died in 2002 when she was viciously attacked in her own home by someone she trusted. A personal trainer, whom she knew and trusted from her local gym, arranged to stop by her condo one day, ostensibly to help her sell Patricia Wenskunasa piece of exercise equipment. Once there, he rendered her unconscious with a pill that he claimed would help her lose weight. When Patricia came-to, she found she was undressed, with the trainer on top of her. While she struggled to get away, the trainer threatened to kill her 12-year-old son, who was not home at the time. Now enraged, the attacker attempted to suffocate her with plastic kitchen wrap. With her last surge of adrenaline, Patricia broke free but found herself with nowhere to run. With her life hanging in the balance, she she made a daring 12-foot leap from her balcony to the hard kitchen floor below. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally made it to the door. Once outside, she screamed into the street for help. This was not to be the end of Patricia’s ordeal. What ensued was her labyrinthine journey through the criminal justice system. At times it seemed that the system was far more interested in protecting the man who attacked her than it was in securing justice for her. Equally important, it didn’t seem to care about protecting society from her attacker being released to commit additional attacks on other women. Perhaps next time, she thought, he might even be “successful” at killing one or more of them. In the end, Patricia’s attacker served all of 120 days in prison for assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats. The judge threw out the charges of attempted murder. Patricia vowed to do something about the attack and its aftermath by founding Crime Survivors. Always referring to herself as a survivor – never a victim – she became a tireless advocate on behalf of those of endured situations similar her own. She does it with an optimistic tone, believing that life after a violent attack begins in one’s state of mind. A frequent public speaker on the subject, she is dedicated to the notion that with community support, respectful advocacy and hopeful healing, one can survive a violent crime, and even thrive in their personal lives. For more information: Website- Crime Surviors- CLICK HERE. Facebook- CLICK HERE. Facebook- Be Their Voice Campaign- CLICK HERE. Twitter- CLICK HERE. Twitter- Be Their Voice Campaign- CLICK HERE.

Shawn Foster has worked with the Florida Bail Agents Association before the Florida Legislature for the last 8 years. On this episode of The Bail Post, instead of soaking up the Florida sun, we are soaking up "Florida Bail." Learn how the Florida's bail system and legislative process work. See if they are doing something that could be beneficial to Texas as well.

Tillmin Welch have been a bondsmen for over 30 years. He is a past president of the Professional Bondsmen of Texas. He is a former board member. He has been honored as Bondsmen of The Year and has been awarded a honorary lifetime membership. He is also the former long serving chair of the PBT Legislative Committee. Join us as we discuss how PBT has navigated past legislative sessions. Tillmin also discusses how he has helped families to get loved ones to change from their ways to get a way from drugs and gangs. Even in retirement, Tillmin is active in prison ministries and continues to mentor to men in prison.

Randy Cauthen has a unique perspective on bail. Randy worked in law enforcement for over 27 years. After retiring, Randy was not ready to be idle. So he began a second career in the bail industry. He is the President of the North Carolina Bail Agents Association and was a 2019 inductee into the Hall of Fame for the bail agents association. Join us as we learn about how bail operates in North Carolina and we compare it to how bail operates in Texas.

Season 2 is HERE! This season begins much like the way that Season 1 began; a back to basics. We start Season 2 by asking the question of "Why is the private surety system so effective?" Throughout the United States the different release mechanisms used can be grouped into four categories: the private surety bail system, cash bonds, personal bonds and preventative detention. The private surety system has the lowest failure to appear rate by far of any the release mechanisms used. Why is it so much more effective than any other release mechanism? Join this episode of The Bail Post to learn more.

A Bail related case was argued before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on December 7, 2022. The Indiana State Legislature passed a bill that placed restrictions on a charitable bail funds' ability to post bonds for defendants charged with crime of violence or charged with a felony and have a prior conviction for a crime of violence. The bill passed the Indiana Legislature and was scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2022. The Bail Project filed suit in federal court attempting to keep the new law from going into effect. On this episode of the Bail Post, find out the arguments raised by the Bail Project against the statute. Also, listen to a summary of the oral argument before the court of appeals. If you would like more information on this case, you can listen to the oral argument before the Seventh Circuit by CLICKING HERE. To see the documents in the trial court or court of appeals- CLICK HERE.

Josh Tetens has been practicing law throughout Central Texas since 2006. He originally came to Waco in 1997 to attend Baylor University where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree. Following that, he went to Baylor Law School graduating in 2005. Josh applied for jobs as a prosecutor but was not able to find a position. Therefore, he set up his own office and grew as a criminal defense attorney. In the most recent campagin season, Josh Tetens was approached to run against the sitting District Attorney. After a brusing campaign, Josh won the primary by 40 points. Josh went on to win the general election on November 8th and will take office in January. On this espisode of The Bail Post we learn about Josh Tetens, his decisision to run for District Attorney, the campaign and the issues he sees facing him as he takes office.

SB 6 was a major bail reform bill passed in the last Texas Legislative Session. As a part of the reforms, SB 6 enacted 17.027 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure which applies when a defendant is out on bond for a felony charge and is arrested again on a new felony charge in the same county. Article 17.027 states that the defendant must be magistrated by the judge over his pending case. The statute also says that the provision is not to be interpreted to change the timing requirements set out in article 15.17 (which requires magistration within 48 hours of arrest). On today's episode, Guest Thomas R. Cox, III discusses how this provision is being implemented in Dallas County. We also discuss other criminal justice reform issues on this episode of The Bail Post.

On this episode of our podcast, we discuss the impact of rising crime on economic development. In areas across the country we are seeing the impact of bad bail reform policies where business are suffering or closing because of decriminalization policies. Our guest is Eric Granof who has been a guest in the past. Eric discusses a recent presentation he gave at annual meeting for PBT on this matter. Eric is also working on paper on the subject. Eric Granof is the Vice President, Corporate Communications Chief Marketing Officer – Expert Bail Network, AIA Surety.

Sean Kennedy is a writer and public policy expert focusing on crime, justice, and urban policy. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, City Journal, CNN, and the Chicago Tribune, among others. In August 2021, Mr. Kennedy wrote an article entitled, "Losing the Victory Over Crime" and he joins us to discuss his article. This article was the original idea for a series of article that appear in the Quarterly Newsletters for PBT this year. Join us as we address how our urban areas lost the victory over crime.

California has been the epicenter of the Criminal Justice Reform/Bail Reform movement. Our guest is Bill Armstrong who is the President of the California Bail Agents Association. California has seen several attempts to reform and get rid of the bail industry. These changes can be traced back to when the State changed many felony offenses and made them misdemeanor offenses and then prosecutors in several urban areas decided that they would no longer prosecute these crimes. This proposition and decisions of prosecutors started the slide of the state of California into chaos. Now businesses are closing because either they cannot withstand wholesale shoplifting to the tune of $25,000.00 a day or the employers cannot provide a safe place for their employees to work. Since then California's legislature has attempted to go even further. But the votes has refused to go along. California attempted to adopt the New Jersey Plan, but voters said no. But the legislature's attempts to initiate bail reform has continued. As we continue to shine a light on bail reform/criminal justice reform failures, it is becoming more and more clear that reform is not the goal, but decriminalization is. Voters would never support it so reformers have sold it as "reform." California is starting to see the light. Help us spread the word to the rest of the country. Bill Armstrong is a third generation bondsman. Bill's family has been continually writing bail in LA County for over 90 years dating back to Bill's grandfather.

Have you ever heard of the expression that you cannot believe your "lying eyes?" Its a way of saying don't believe what you see, believe what you are being told. No where is this more evident than in Harris County regarding misdemeanor bail reform. Reformers tell us over and over that the reforms are working and that we should not believe anyone else who says otherwise (even the Democrat District Attorney). In this episode of The Bail Post, we evaluate whether the misdemeanor reforms are working looking at the failure to appear rates for each of the misdemeanor courts for the last two years. The numbers are jaw dropping. Additionally, we are releasing a website where any one in the public can go and see the numbers for themselves. There is no way to sugar coat this. The numbers are not just bad; they are eye openingly bad. They are so bad that our elected officials have to know and have to be intentionally hiding them. This probably explains why the bad results are spreading to the felony courts as well. You can see the website by CLICKING HERE. We are also releasing our first video version of this podcast where you can watch the podcast as well and just listen to the audio. You can see it by CLICKING HERE. After watching and/or listening to this episode, you will conclude that you can believe your "lying eyes."

In the last few months Representative Ann Johnson publicly called for Texas to get rid of bondsmen and replace the current system of release in Texas with the system referred to as "The New Jersey Plan." On this episode learn what the New Jersey Plan is and how pretrial release is handled under this release system. Our guest is Michelle Esquenazi who is a bondsman from New York. Join us as we learn about a release/detain system that relies on an algorithm called a risk assessment tool to make determinations about release. To learn more about risk assessments visit the PBT website or go directly to one of the organizations pamphlets on the issue by CLICKING HERE. This is a great place to educate yourself about all things criminal justice reform/bail reform. Educate yourself and join the debate.

The next Guest on "The Bail Post" is James Lindblad. He has been a bondsman in Hawaii for over 35 years. He has witnessed many changes to the criminal justice system over the years. Join us as we discuss HB 1567, its passage and the publics' response which caused the Governor of Hawaii to veto the bill. Mr. Lindblad suggests that the real fight was over the need for a new jail. HB 1567 was the response of progressives so that a new jail would not be needed. But law enforcement, business owners and the mayors of the four major islands banded together with social media to spread the message that releasing everyone was not working and that a change was needed. The public responded. Is the "woke" luau over in Hawaii? James Lindblad is hopeful that more positive change is coming.

Several months ago, the Harris County Bail Bond Board adopted a new local rule that requires bondsmen to collect 10% of the face amount of certain bonds before the bond is posted. In the short span of several months there have been some significant and quick ramifications as a result of the board's actions. On this episode join the discussion with our Guest Representative Gene Newman. Gene is the District 61 elected representative for the Mississippi House of Representatives. Gene also is a second generation bondsman with over 40 years experience. In addition, he has degrees in economics and criminal justice. Representative Newman also has an indepth knowledge of how bail works in Texas and has visited many bail bond board meetings over the years. Find out why the Harris County sheriff recently asked for an additional $25 million from the commissioners to address what he called unsustainable jail overcrowding. Lina Hidalgo, who is the Harris County Judge, asked what was causing the "bottle neck." Listen to our podcast to find the answer.

J.R. Woolley is the Justice of the Peace of Precinct 2 for Waller County, Texas. Judge Wooley is also the Legislative Committee Chair for the Justices of the Peace Association and he testifies before the legislature about bills that may impact the association. On this episode of the Bail Post, Judge Woolley talks about the implementation of SB6 which is the major Criminal Justice Reform/Bail Reform Bill passed by the Texas Legislature in the most recent session and special sessions.