April 5, 2008 Wheeling Island is 50 miles east of Cambridge, Ohio. We have scheduled a limousine trip to Wheeling Island Racetrack and Gaming Center for Greyhound Racing and slots! Do you want a limousine trip to Cabella’s store, the world’s foremost outfitter, is 60 miles east of Cambridge, Ohio? Keep watching for details.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

The next meeting of the Ohio Bail Agents Association will be held
Saturday
April 5, 2008
10:00 - 3:00 PM
at the Ramada Inn
2248 Southgate Parkway, Cambridge, Ohio 43725
740-432-2337
All bail agents doing business in Ohio are invited and encouraged to attend.
I am asking you to join us in welcoming our Guernsey County public officials by attending this important and informational meeting. In addition, the Association has made provision for agents to earn 2 hours CE credits (which have been approved by the ODI) by attending this meeting. You must pay for your CE, sign in, and sign out. For information regarding the continuing education program contact Vice President Mary Smith at 419-865-7300. For those wishing to stay overnight, there is a special room rate of $60.00. Please reserve your room by March 28, 2008, with the password “OBAA” or explain you are with the OBAA to ensue this rate.

The agenda is as follows:

10:00 - 12:00 General Meeting
Updates by the Executive Officers on proposed legislation and other association activities. Plan to attend. You input is welcome.

12:00 -1:00 Lunch $15.00 charge
Fried Chicken, Baked Turkey with dressing, Parsley Buttered New Potatoes, Buttered Baby Carrots, Full Salad Bar, Dinner Rolls, Choice of Non-alcoholic Beverage and Dessert (White & Chocolate Cake)

1:00 - 3:00 Panel Discussion
Panelists to be determined.

PLEASE RSVP by March 28th to ensure enough space for the luncheon.

Reminder: The membership year is July 1 - June 30th. Full Membership is only $125 a year.

For more information contact:
Jerry Leister
Southeastern Regional Director
740-638-5028
cumberlandcomm@localnetplus.com

WHEELING DOWNS TRIP
April 5, 2008

Depart: Holiday Inn - Cambridge, OH 4:30 PM
Depart: Wheeling Island - 10:30 PM

Game Table
Slots
Dog Racing post time 7:30 PM

Each person will receive
[1] $10.00 in coins
[2] Live Racing Program

Cost for transportation is $20.00
[You can’t drive there and back for that]

Reservations: Call Jerry Leister at
740-638-5028 by March 28, 2008
cumberlandcomm@localnetplus.com

April 5, 2008

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PRESENTATION BY JEFF WALLING, OBAA member in good standing, presented to the judges in Cuyahoga County Criminal Justice Building. Its message was powerful enough that they have invited Mr. Walling back to learn more about the tried and true approach to releasing defendants on pure bail bond. Please take this moment to read it, print it, and distribute it. [editor]

Dear Honorable Judges and Guests,

Hardened criminals are taking over the streets in our county due to the revolving door more commonly known as ten percent and personal bonds! Is this what the taxpayers deserve?

If the thought process is to raise revenue for the county through bonds, one must ask yourself how is it working? True, at any given time there may be extra money being contributed by the Clerks office for forfeited money acquired from ten percent bonds that are posted, but are you subtracting from this figure the cost of police officers continually arresting the same person over and over again because they have failed to appear in court when required? Are you subtracting the costs of our Judges time when a defendant fails to appear because they are released on easy bail? Are these statistics going to get people who are elected by the taxpayers re-elected? The community is learning that the current system of ten percent bail is allowing hardened criminals to remain free on the streets to commit more crimes!! Ten percent hasn’t raised revenue, but has racked up costs against citizens who must hide, work underground, and cannot apply for a taxable job!!

The right of the accused to remain free while awaiting trial is a fundamental part of our judicial system. The purpose of a surety bond is to guarantee that the accused appears for trial. The accused on ten percent bonds become immune to the judicial system as they have no respect for the police or the Court itself!!

As bail agents, we would like to mention a few of the benefits for setting surety bonds. Surety bail controls and monitors the accused for their appearances with little risk to public safety. The bail agents have a financial incentive, and we constantly reinforce what we in the bail profession refer to as the “Circle of Responsibility”. By this I mean that the bail agent incorporates the accused’s family and friends as guarantors on the bond. If a bail agent has a mom or dad as an indemnitor on a bond, we have learned that the defendant will be there!
The surety bail bond process results in superior appearance rates at no cost to the taxpayers! In addition to the “Circle of Responsibilty” concept, the bail agent takes a comprehensive application- gathering information and references that assists in the immediate contact or apprehension of the accused. Unlike the ten percent bond system which has no responsible party attached to it, the surety bond keeps a “watchful eye” on the accused. When a Court date is missed by our defendant, the Court instantly notifies the bail agency and we in turn
immediately set about to contact our guarantors and the defendant. The results are that we can often set a new Court date and get the defendant back on track.

As bail agents we work for you! As “Officers of the Court,” all surety bail agents must maintain, through continuing education, a surety bail license, accredited hours every other year, and we are regulated by the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Is the public and Judicial system aware of the fact that while a surety bail agent is backed by a surety company that it is the bail agent who has the ultimate responsibility of ensuring a defendants appearance in Court? With the ten percent system, if a defendant fails to appear, the Court forfeits the entire bail amount but is only able to obtain the ten percent cash that was deposited up front. When a forfeiture occurs on a surety bond and the bail agent cannot locate the defendant, One Hundred percent of the bond is forfeited and collected!! In reality, a ten percent bond is a ninety percent reduction of good bail!! At this point one must once again ask yourself - is the Judicial system looking to make money off of the ten percent cash system of bonding or is the purpose of bail to ensure a defendant’s appearance in Court, and if found guilty, to pay fines and costs?

In closing - I ask you to review the two systems of bail - ten percent cash bail or private surety bail. Yes, as entrepreneurs bail agents make money, but we assume a risk for the money we accept - that is our job!!

Compare the failure to appear rates on surety bail vs. the revolving door system of bail. Does the revolving door system of bail, such as ten percent and personal bail save or costs the taxpayers money? Are police officers able to perform their jobs better if the Court uses surety bail or the revolving door system of bail? We never needed amnesty programs before the ten percent system was enacted!! Public safety is in your hands, we believe in good surety bail, we believe in the job that we do - now you once again must be the Judge!! Thank-you.

Respectfully,

Jeffrey S. Walling
Spokesperson for the Ohio Bail Agents Association

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In September 2008, the association will vote for the best leadership possible.

Woody Fox was made Nominating Committee Chairman at the Officers Meeting January 11, 2008. Contact Mr. Leister if you want to be on that committee or wish to nominate a member for the upcoming election. Send nominations to Woody Fox.

If you desire a position on the board or an officers chair, come to every meeting to find out more about running. Bring agents to join and vote for you! Election week is the most important weekend for bail agents in Ohio. It coincides with the annual conference. Be political and gather support for yourself and your company. Nothing better than three or four candidates for each office. If you know someone who would be perfect offer to nominate or second them. Candidates can publish qualification and campaign promise here. Send them to secretary@obaa.org.

CORRECTION: Woody Fox is chairman of the nominating committee, not Jerry Leister as earlier reported. - I checked the minutes and it states: OBAA Sat, Jan 12, 2008 Quarterly Meeting Columbus, Ohio we four officers previously voted Jerry Leister as membership chair and the board later agreed. Woody Fox volunteered to chairman the nomination committee. - ED

“Decisions are made by those who show up.” ~ Unknown quotation; variously attributed to Woody Allen and Harry S Truman.

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See if your picture is displayed in one of our past events starting on this page. Read who the speakers were and be sure to thank them for attending the event. We are here to help our clients and indemnitors, make our service known, to improve our service, and to help the courts. We make Ohio safer, empty the jails, and provide this service at no cost to the taxpayers.

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