For example, in Tennessee, the owner of a bail bond company faces a year in jail for hiring a convicted felon to catch someone that had skipped out on bond.   What’s really mind boggling about this story is that allegedly this isn’t the first time this owner hired a convicted felon as a bounty hunter.    According to the article above, he did the same thing last year.   However, apparently it took the death of this bounty hunter for the owner’s low ethical standards to come to light.   That’s not acceptable in our opinion.

Anyone in Houston that runs a bail bond company must adhere to a strict code of ethics, or they could have their license revoked.   And, quite frankly, that’s the way it should be.    That said, we sincerely hope that it never takes somebody dying to expose poor bail bonds practices in Houston.

Believe it or not, something similar happened to us yesterday afternoon.   We were browsing the internet in search of bail bond stories that would generate great discussion on social media, when we came across an article titled “New Study Calls For Eliminating Bail Bonds.” Now, we don’t know about you, but when a story suggests that your chosen profession should essentially be eliminated, you tend to get a little upset.   That’s exactly how we reacted.

First, we started thinking about all the citizens of Houston that have benefited from our bail bonds service.   After that, we considered how the Harris County jail is overcrowded, and bail bonds help reduce that problem.   Eventually, after exhausting all our reasons as to why bail bonds are needed in the Houston judicial process, we actually read the article.

Basically, its argument for eliminating bail bonds is that they unfairly punish the poor and people of color, who often can’t afford the bond amount.  Here’s what we have to say to that:  If you can’t pay the fine, don’t do the crime.

Don’t get us wrong, we understand how easy it is to get attached to a pet. Many of our employees have their very own pets, and love them with all their heart. Furthermore, we understand that many people value pets as if they were family. They will take their pets on vacation with them, give them nice pet beds, and even dress them up in clothes like they would a child.

But this is a case of valuing a beloved pet over an actual family member, and it got us thinking.   Would you have done what this woman did if your significant other threatened to kill your favorite pet?

Keep in mind, you would be running the risk of needing bail bonds in Houston, and your relationship with your significant other might be irreparably damaged.    Not to mention, you may have to spend time in a Harris County jail cell.

Is all of that worth saving your favorite furry friend?

For example, one Kentucky teen found herself in contempt of court for this Facebook comment: “My dumbass got a DUI and I hit a car LOL.”  There are many things wrong with this post (not to mention the fact she wouldn’t take it down when ordered to do so by a judge).  First, why on earth would you broadcast to the world that you were driving while intoxicated, and secondly, that you struck another vehicle in the process. If somebody in Harris County did this, they deserve bail bonds.  Furthermore, it shows that you don’t care about the feelings of the people you hit, nor that you take driving under the influence seriously.

Since we started serving Houston residents as a bail bond company years ago, DWI’s and DUI’s are two of the most common criminal offenses that cause people in Houston to request bail bonds.   While we appreciate the business, we would rather have our city’s streets be safe for driving.   In our opinion, if you think it’s hard for you to give up your keys, or admit you need to call a cab, consider the alternative:

A suspended license, time in jail, and a criminal record.   And that’s if you are lucky enough to not injure or kill another person when driving intoxicated.

According to the story on Fox News, this man received a $137 traffic ticket. Now, instead of just calmly paying the fine and moving on with his life, he decides it’s time take a stand against this town and their perceived speed traps. Therefore, he spends six hours folding up 137 dollar bills into origami shaped pigs, and puts them into two Dunkin Donuts boxes to pay the ticket.    This tells us two things.  One, he must have been incredibly angry when the officer handed him this ticket.  Two, he actually paid attention when it was time for arts and crafts in elementary school.

However, you want to know the best part:  While the court made him unfold all of the money, they actually got a laugh out of his ingenuity.

Unfortunately, that trust may be misguided.  Did you know that depending on the make and model of your vehicle, you may be at greater risk of having it stolen by thieves in Houston?

Today, ABC13 published an article that lists the top 10 makes and models of vehicles stolen in Houston during August (list courtesy of the Houston Police Department).   Truck owners need to especially take extra precautions, as they occupied three of the top four spots on the list.

Ford trucks led the way, with 196 stolen last month.  In fact, that number was more than double the third place entry on the list: Honda cars.  Chevrolet trucks came in second with 182 stolen, and Dodge trucks were fourth with 80 stolen.

Rounding out the top 10 most stolen vehicles in August were Chevrolet cars, GMC trucks, Nissan cars, Toyota cars, and Dodge cars.

Think about it:  that’s almost 6,000 Harris County inmates that are in jail awaiting trial.   Now, don’t get us wrong, some inmates deserve to be detained prior to going on trial.  Just like you, we wouldn’t want someone accused of a major crime to be running the Houston streets on a daily basis.  Also, we realize that some people don’t have the financial means to afford to get bail bonds. However, the current number of people sitting in Harris County jails before going on trial seems too high for our tastes.

As a Houston bail bond company that works by the motto “Your Freedom is Our Business, ” it is disheartening to learn that two-thirds of our jails are comprised of people awaiting trial and can’t, for whatever reason, utilize bail bonds in Houston.

Would you agree?

For example, during Labor Day Weekend, Avalon Academy, a local non profit daycare facility, was burglarized. Stealing from an organization trying to help local kids which is not even trying to earn money from their efforts? That’s about as low as you can get.

Then, last week in New Braunfels, a woman was arrested on DWI, which is nothing shocking. What is problematic is she was arrested with an infant in the back seat. Driving drunk is bad enough, but it goes to an entirely level when you endanger the life of a child in the process.  As a family owned Houston bail bond company, we can’t fathom going to out to a local bar to drink heavily with an infant , much less driving home afterwards.

Maybe we are crazy, but we would never want to set a bad example for our children. What about you?

First of all, this bail bondsman did not have the appropriate license.  Instead of doing the professional thing and studying to obtain it prior to soliciting any clients, he stole the license number of a different bail bondsman in a different city to look up inmate information.  Have you ever seen “School of Rock” where Jack Black illegally impersonates his “teacher-friend?”  This is very similar.

You see, unlicensed bail bondsmen should have no access to an inmate database. Then, this unlicensed bail bondsman used the information he never should have been able to see to get six inmates to work with him in 2010 and 2011.   Luckily for anyone in California, he won’t be able to do this anytime soon, as he was sentenced to a year in prison.

The lesson to be learned here is while we understand you want to bail someone out of jail as quickly as possible, it still pays to do the proper research.