Bail Bonds Rule Change Delayed
June 17, 2017 at 3:17 a.m.
By Michael [email protected]
Initially scheduled to be implemented across the state in January, the full implementation of the rule will now take place in 2020, according to Kathryn?Dolan, public information officer for the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Indiana Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2016 to encourage courts to use a “risk assesment tool” when deciding whether to grant a defendant a bond or release them on their own recognizance.
The rule was tested in 11 counties before full state implementation.
Dolan said that they don’t have enough data yet to assess the impact, so they delayed the start date.
The rules would have released most defendants without bond, unless a judge ruled the accused was a “danger to society” or “a flight risk.”
Traditionally, when a person is arrested the court assigns a bond level. The bond allows people to be released from the jail.
These bonds are either cash only or surety.
Surety requires going through a bail bondsman, who charges between 8 and 10 percent to secure a bond.
According to the order, the new rules were put in place to create a system where an accused person doesn’t remain in jail because they can’t afford the bond.
The rules would represent a big change from what people in Kosciusko County are used to, said Lt. Don Wiesehan, Kosciusko County Jail commander.
Wiesehan estimates about half of the current jail population is awaiting trial while the rest have already been sentenced.
Dolan said they still encourage judges to use the risk assesment tool, a series of questions designed to determine whether an arrestee is a flight risk or a danger to society.
Local defense attorney Jay?Rigdon said the rules probably wouldn’t change anything.
He said terms like “danger to society” and “flight risk” can be open to interpretation and allow judges plenty of leeway in setting bonds.
One problem in the state is judges who use the bond system to secure court fines before a person is convicted.
Ridgon said some judges set the bond at an “odd amount” for the purpose of making sure court fines are paid.
Rigdon said a former Kosciusko judge said he used that tactic all the time.
The court was only looking to enforce what is already in the state constitution, he said.
The constitution says not to put people in jail unless they need to be, Rigdon said,
“There are plenty of people in jail who don’t need to be there,” Rigdon said.
Rigdon said the solution would involve challenging unreasonable bonds at the appellate court level. He said that’s tricky because by the time it gets to that point, the case is already over.
Owners of local bail bond companies are celebrating the delay, and contend the rule threatened to put them out of businesses.
“Every bond agency in the county would have been put out of business,” said Curtis Stavedahl, owner of Ace Bail Bonds. He said the court overreached in its ruling.
“The court can’t just make laws like that,” he said.
Myra Barnett, who owned Barnett’s Bail?Bonds before selling it to her granddaughter, said she was happy to hear of the delay.
In addition to keeping the business alive, she said it helps keep residents of Kosciusko County safer.
In the 11 counties that have tested the new policy, Barnett said, the result has been more people skipping bail and more danger to residents.
Barnett worked in the industry for 24 years.
Someone needs to be responsible for people who skip bail, she said.
“If someone skips bail, I go get them,” she said.
She said if more people are released without a bond, more will not show up for court.
“It’s easy to hide when you don’t have a job,” she said.
“When you write a bond, you get more information than law enforcement usually does, she said. “You have to — it’s your money on the line.”
Initially scheduled to be implemented across the state in January, the full implementation of the rule will now take place in 2020, according to Kathryn?Dolan, public information officer for the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Indiana Supreme Court issued a ruling in 2016 to encourage courts to use a “risk assesment tool” when deciding whether to grant a defendant a bond or release them on their own recognizance.
The rule was tested in 11 counties before full state implementation.
Dolan said that they don’t have enough data yet to assess the impact, so they delayed the start date.
The rules would have released most defendants without bond, unless a judge ruled the accused was a “danger to society” or “a flight risk.”
Traditionally, when a person is arrested the court assigns a bond level. The bond allows people to be released from the jail.
These bonds are either cash only or surety.
Surety requires going through a bail bondsman, who charges between 8 and 10 percent to secure a bond.
According to the order, the new rules were put in place to create a system where an accused person doesn’t remain in jail because they can’t afford the bond.
The rules would represent a big change from what people in Kosciusko County are used to, said Lt. Don Wiesehan, Kosciusko County Jail commander.
Wiesehan estimates about half of the current jail population is awaiting trial while the rest have already been sentenced.
Dolan said they still encourage judges to use the risk assesment tool, a series of questions designed to determine whether an arrestee is a flight risk or a danger to society.
Local defense attorney Jay?Rigdon said the rules probably wouldn’t change anything.
He said terms like “danger to society” and “flight risk” can be open to interpretation and allow judges plenty of leeway in setting bonds.
One problem in the state is judges who use the bond system to secure court fines before a person is convicted.
Ridgon said some judges set the bond at an “odd amount” for the purpose of making sure court fines are paid.
Rigdon said a former Kosciusko judge said he used that tactic all the time.
The court was only looking to enforce what is already in the state constitution, he said.
The constitution says not to put people in jail unless they need to be, Rigdon said,
“There are plenty of people in jail who don’t need to be there,” Rigdon said.
Rigdon said the solution would involve challenging unreasonable bonds at the appellate court level. He said that’s tricky because by the time it gets to that point, the case is already over.
Owners of local bail bond companies are celebrating the delay, and contend the rule threatened to put them out of businesses.
“Every bond agency in the county would have been put out of business,” said Curtis Stavedahl, owner of Ace Bail Bonds. He said the court overreached in its ruling.
“The court can’t just make laws like that,” he said.
Myra Barnett, who owned Barnett’s Bail?Bonds before selling it to her granddaughter, said she was happy to hear of the delay.
In addition to keeping the business alive, she said it helps keep residents of Kosciusko County safer.
In the 11 counties that have tested the new policy, Barnett said, the result has been more people skipping bail and more danger to residents.
Barnett worked in the industry for 24 years.
Someone needs to be responsible for people who skip bail, she said.
“If someone skips bail, I go get them,” she said.
She said if more people are released without a bond, more will not show up for court.
“It’s easy to hide when you don’t have a job,” she said.
“When you write a bond, you get more information than law enforcement usually does, she said. “You have to — it’s your money on the line.”
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