Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Bail bond industry pressured

The Connecticut Post Online - Bail bond industry pressured: "Connecticut's bail-bond industry could see major reforms this year as lawmakers attempt to better regulate what has become a wide-open business, where fierce competition has actually escalated the amount defendants pay to get out of jail.

The multimillion-dollar industry, in which defendants pay a small percentage of the actual amount of a court bond, is marred by agents confronting and undercutting each other in state courthouses.

On any weekday morning, bail-bond agents stand around the lobby of the Golden Hill Street courthouse in Bridgeport, pressing their business cards on families of defendants as they leave arraignment courtrooms.

Reformers within the industry want to ban bond agents from soliciting on any state property, including courthouses and police headquarters."

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