Remarks of Armando Roche, President

Professional Bail Agents of the United States

Sub-Committee on the Constitution

Committee on the Judiciary

March 30, 2000

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

My name is Armando Roche; I reside in Tampa, Florida; have been in the bail profession for 29 years; and have recently been re-elected President of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States, (PBUS) a professional organization representing 14,000 bail agents nation wide.

PBUS was founded in 1981 by those of us who wanted to strengthen professionalism in our businesses and accomplish more in the services that we provide to our communities. We are a rapidly growing national organization and serve as the policy center for state, and local bail associations. We meet biannually, and operate a national headquarters in Washington, D. C.

Bail agents play a key role in the criminal justice system by securing the release of pre-trial detainees and guaranteeing their appearance in Court. These services are provided efficiently and at no cost to the tax-paying public. Unlike bounty hunters, bail agents are highly regulated by Departments of Insurance, or other Boards, hold a license from those bodies, have had pre-licensing education (including periods of internship), testing, continuing education and certification programs.

Over 49% of the bail agents in the United States are women; generally, small family-owned businesses (some having existed for several generations). Our membership is politically, racially and culturally diverse.

You must understand that most agency owners --- to apprehend fugitives --- use experienced professionals, many who have previous law enforcement backgrounds. Others choose to handle recovery in-house. An area that has had detrimental influences on the image of the profession is the fugitive recovery aspect. In recent years there has been an influx of inexperienced individuals desiring to be recovery agents. They may have gone through a private school, or no school, and most have not had any comprehensive training. The problems created by bounty hunter abuses have produced four discernible responses.

First. The State of Florida has addressed the problem of bounty hunters by providing that no person can represent himself/herself to be a bail enforcement agent, bounty hunter, or other similar title; and that no person, other than a certified law enforcement officer, is authorized to apprehend, retain, or arrest a principal on a bond, unless that person is qualified, licensed, and appointed by the Department of Insurance or is a licensed bail bond agent by the state where the bond is written.

A violation of these provisions constitutes a felony of the third degree, and is punishable by fine, imprisonment for five years, or both fine and imprisonment.

Second. PBUS has drafted a Model Act for adoption at the state level and is being advocated by our members across the country, this has resulted in legislation being passed in: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.

The Professional Bail Agents of the United States stand for complete regulation of the bail enforcement recovery process together with severe penalties for violations.

Third. PBUS would like to see state legislation that would require a background investigation check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a local law enforcement check, along with a psychological profile test for any individual that would receive certification, prior to licensing. This is the same standard profile that is required of law enforcement officers and should be considered to be of no less of a need for a person that wants to be involved in fugitive recovery.

Fourth. PBUS has established a model set of required standards for fugitive recovery on bail enforcement that is supported and adhered to by all of its members. These standards regulating fugitive recovery will continue to be aggressively promoted and lobbied by our membership in those states, which have not adopted any standards. We continue to believe that state legislatures are the appropriate forums for corrective legislation.

The position of professional bail agents continues to be very clear, regulate the bounty hunters at the state level or prohibit bounty hunters altogether.

Mr. Chairman, some four million defendants are released yearly on a financially guaranteed appearance bail bond.

In conclusion, the net effect of making bail agents state actors subject to the provisions of 1983, will unquestionably eliminate the bail agent and the surety or insurance companies they work for. It has been made clear to us by many sureties that they will not remain in the bail business if this bill places them under the 1983 Civil Rights Act. The reason for this is that the cost of defending federal civil rights litigation would be prohibitive.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you and the Members of the committee for allowing me this opportunity to appear and be heard.