People love to say, “Bail bondsmen will bond anybody.”
Not true.
We take calculated risks — emphasis on calculated — because we’re responsible for making sure defendants return to court.
If the defendant skips – the cosigner’s left holding the bag. If the cosigner can’t pay up, the bondsman is left having to pay it.
And no – the insurance company doesn’t pay bonds the way you think they do. They’ll cover a large bond that goes belly up, but they expect the bondsman to repay that amount very quickly.
We have to submit larger and riskier bonds to the insurance company for approval. We can’t just decide willy-nilly to go write a half million dollar bond.
Here’s what actually goes into a high-risk approval:
1. The charge itself
Violent felonies, trafficking cases, crimes against kids, weapons charges — these aren’t automatic no’s, but they require scrutiny. People have been known to run on these, even if they’re innocent.
2. Criminal & court history
Patterns matter more than singular events. Five failures to appear tell a different story than one missed date five years ago. Fifteen violent felonies over the last five years tell a different story than one explosively bad day. If you’ve got cases in fifteen counties over a short period of time, that’s a red flag too. We can overcome a lot of those issues, but we have to look at them.
3. Stability
Housing. Job. Family ties. Relationships. Support network. Length of time in area. State or country of origin matter, too. Does the defendant have a lease or mortgage, or are they couch-surfing, in a motel, or completely unhoused? If their family is rock-solid, that’s a good sign. If the family doesn’t want to cosign, it’s often a very bad sign.
4. Cosigner strength
One strong cosigner can outweigh three weak ones. We expect cosigners to have jobs, stable housing, and to know the defendant well for a long period of time. We prefer family members.
5. Collateral
Cash, deeds of trust, retirement accounts — there need to be assets that genuinely secure the bond.
6. Attitude matters
Is the defendant humble, communicative, and taking responsibility for fixing the situation (even if they’re unjustly accused) – or are they demanding, argumentative, dismissive?
7. Are there addiction issues?
Active addiction isn’t a bar to getting out of jail (though we do need to be sure the defendant’s not at high risk of overdosing and dying). It is, however, a situation we need to be sure is managed correctly. That’s especially true if the defendant plans on checking into rehab – we need to know where, for how long, and what lawyer will be handling the case.
8. What does God say?
Seriously now … we do ask … and if He says “run” we “run”. If He says “write it, even if it’s risky”, we do.
Beacon is known for taking on bonds other agencies refuse — but we do it with wisdom, structure, and strategy.
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