08/14/2017
One thing happening in Harris County is the increase in the use of personal and unsecured bonds, mainly for misdemeanors but also some felonies. This is partly due to an ignorant ruling by a judge in the 5th circuit but also from pressure by irresponsible politicians like John Whitmire. What kind of offenses are Harris County letting defendants walk free on in the hope they'll show up to court? DWI, DWI 2nd, Assault, Assault on a Family Member, Assault-Bodily Injury, and Harassing Communications, or stalking, to name a few, and those are just the misdemeanors.
What will be the effects of this misguided policy? First, an increase in defendants missing court. I have an extremely low Failure to Appear rate as due most bail bondsman, my FTA rate is around 1%, the rest of Harris County bondsmen have a rate under 5%. Defendants are missing court at a rate around 30% under this new "system". Second, you'll see an increase in crime as defendants are released unsupervised. Third, you'll see an increase in taxes, or cuts in spending elsewhere, to pay for the new system as well as for court costs and the re-arrest costs for the missing perps, costs borne previously by bail bondsmen and their defendants. And fourth, as the costs are shifted from the private sector to the public sector you'll see a loss in private sector jobs, jobs that actually pay taxes.
As you can see this new system will be an expensive failure, it's been proven so everywhere it's been tried, and it will result in the streets of Houston, and the surrounding areas, being less safe. If you want to make a difference call your state representatives and let hem know how you feel.
