Minimum Payments Should be Required of Suspects for Bail Bonds

It came as a complete surprise when, in the wake of the slaying of four Lakewood police officers, it was revealed that their murderer was released from jail three times that year without ever paying more than 4 percent of his bail amount up front.

Most people — prosecutors and judges included — were under the mistaken assumption that a criminal defendant must post 10 percent of the bail amount before gaining his or her release.

Voters in November closed one bail loophole when they approved House Joint Resolution 4220, a constitutional amendment allowing judges to deny bail in certain circumstances such as when the defendant is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole or there is convincing evidence of a propensity for violence that would likely endanger the public.

A whopping 84.6 percent of the voters approved the amendment setting the tougher bail standards.

The Legislature recognized that there were other loopholes in the law and appointed a task force to look into the matter.

Snohomish County prosecutor Mark Roe said some of his fellow task force members were “disillusioned” they didn’t know bail bondsmen required less than 10 percent to bail a client out of jail. “To be honest, I was embarrassed,” he told the Seattle Times.

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