Bail amounts being set lower, local bail bondsmen say

The bail amounts that magistrates and judges are setting these days are getting lower and lower, several local bail bondsmen say.

That makes it easier for defendants to get out of jail while awaiting trial, but has added to the industry's difficulties in making a buck. "They are absolutely getting lower," added Stephen L. Grobel, a Hampton bail bondsman.

"Because you have smaller bonds, you have to do more volume," said Jim Searcy, a local bondsman. "At the end of the day, it all balances out, but you find yourself doing a whole lot more work."

A second DUI offense that might have carried a $5,000 bond a few years back, Searcy said, now might be half that, or about $2,500. That cuts in half what the bondsmen makes on the deal, to $250 from the previous $500.

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