Bail Bonds: The Vital Role of Bail Bond Agents in Improving the Economy

In keeping with my last blog post on the need to change the general public’s negative perception of the bail bond industry, I wanted to point out some important facts about bail bond agents that many people don’t know or understand. And many of these facts stand out to me even stronger now as we all still face tough economic hurdles.

Just yesterday, I heard another report on how the worst of the economic crisis is behind us. We, nevertheless, continue to hear reports about state and local government projects that are reaching dangerous and unsustainable deficit levels. These various crises are not limited to just one state but are a common occurrence across every state and local government in the country. But as one looks at this grim news, I still come back to the role of the bail bond agent and bail bond sureties and how we all demonstrate our value not only to the criminal justice system, but to the economic landscape overall. We do this through both tax dollars saved and tax revenue generated. As a private enterprise, the surety bail system in America provides a guarantee that a defendant will appear in court…all at no cost to taxpayers or the government. Even further, the bail bond system generates revenues for local, state and federal coffers through a variety of taxes paid by both the bail bond agencies and their bail bond insurance companies. Just ask a pretrial service agency how many tax dollars they saved today.

In addition to these revenue generating and tax saving facts, the bail industry also addresses another key concern in this economic downturn…the record high unemployment levels still facing most regions of this country. The commercial bail bond industry employs thousands of individuals in small businesses while protecting our constitutional rights and improving public safety in our communities.

Bail bond agencies throughout the country are the classic small business engine of our economy and like all small businesses their success is the success of our nation’s economy. So the next time you hear someone make a derogatory statement about the bail bond industry or a bail bond agent, stand up and correct them. Our industry is one of the most colorful, interesting and noble professions around and I invite everyone to learn the truth. Stay tuned for more on this subject.

I encourage your thoughts and comments.