The Professional Bondsmen of Harris County (PBHC) met for their monthly meeting on March 2, 2011. The guest speaker was Harris County Attorney, Vince Ryan. He opened his talk describing his life journey which led him to his honorable position. From there, he launched into the tasks his office and employees face every day. When he opened the floor to questions from the audience, he was greeted with all sorts of Pretrial issues. The bondsmen in attendance were very prepared on this subject matter and brought up many topics for Attorney Ryan and his staff to research when he returned to his office.
Vince Ryan is also involved with the Be An Angel Foundation and mentioned several other Harris County politicians that are part of the fund raising activities to build Barrier-Free Playgrounds so that children with multiple disabilities will have a safe place to play. The PBHC are actively involved with the Be An Angel Foundation and a park was recently completed using the funds generously donated by the members of the PBHC raised during their Christmas Gala. The dedication for this park will be held on Friday, March 4.
Several bonding offices in Harris County have been dealing with a new scam. The bonding offices will get a phone call from someone pretending to be a deputy or another jail official wanting information on the defendant’s co-signers for the last bond posted. They profess to have “lost” the information and know that the bondsmen’s files will have the needed data. Once they have this information, they call the defendant’s family and/or co-signers asking for more money to get the defendant released from jail. Yes, some defendant families have lost money. But, the bondsmen in Harris County are tracking the phone calls, calling the authorities, and making sure that all bonding offices are on the look-out for this scam. To read more on this topic, visit AIA’s Bail Bond Scam Alert.
John McCluskey updated members about the work the PBT Legislative Committee is doing to track bills and inform legislators of the economical advantages of the bail bond industry. The committee members have developed an impressive presentation that skillfully answers any questions that could come up on the bills they are following through the system. A copy of the AIA brochure, “The Need for Accountability” wass also given to the elected officials.
Glenn Strickland went over the agenda and other issues facing the Harris County Bail Bond Board that meets next week. Other PBHC committee leaders updated the members on city bonds, jail reduction issues and the gathering of data and statistics that are used to support Pretrial Services arguments.
The next Professional Bondsmen of Harris County meeting will be held on April 6. To find out information regarding other upcoming association meetings, follow the link, bail bond agent association meetings.