Room Rate $109+tax. Call 713-462-9977 and ask for the Professional Bondsmen room block. Meeting registration form will be available in February.

Two Lawsuits Filed Against Brewster County Sheriff

PBT President Scott Walstad is seeking volunteers to serve on PBT committees for 2012-2013.  If you are interested in serving on a committee, please complete the Call for Volunteers form and email it to Scott at scottwalstad@gmail.com, or by fax to 214-651-6808.  We may not be able to fill all requests due to limited space on committees, however, we appreciate our members who volunteer and will make every effort to honor your request.

 Meetings are generally held in conjunction with the January, April and August quarterly meetings.  If travel is an issue, committee meetings may be held via conference calls. 

The deadline to submit a Volunteer Form is December 23, 2011. 

Below is a brief description of each Committee.

Convention Committee (generally meets in April and August)

Purpose:  Develop PBT educational sessions at the annual convention by suggesting topics and speakers, solicit sponsorships for the convention and golf tournament, and solicit items for the auction.  The committee will also assist on-site at the convention. 

Continuing Education Committee (meets 3-4 times a year)

Purpose:  Develop topics and recommend instructors for the bail bond courses, assist the Annual Convention committee in developing topics and speakers as needed.  

Budget Committee (will met once or twice a year)

Purpose:  Assist with preparing the annual budget, review financial policies, and quarterly financial statements. 

Legislative Committee (meets at least 3 times a year and utilizes conference calls as needed.  Committee will meet more frequently during a legislative year.  Volunteers should be willing to travel to State Capitol if needed.)

Committee consists of all past presidents plus additional PBT members appointed by the President.

Purpose:  To watch state and federal level issues and develop legislative strategy.  Develops educational articles for the newsletter and website, oversees governmental affair consultants and assists with the Legislative Workshop seminar if held. 

Membership Committee (meets 3 times a year)

Purpose:  Increase the number of new members by active participation in membership campaigns, bail bond courses, phone calls and in-person visits.  Enhance the retention of existing members through contact at events, outreach to lapsed members via phone calls, emails and in-person visits.  Responsible for verifying all members are in the proper membership category (i.e. active or associate) and informing PBT Headquarters before posting on the Find a Bondsman page of the website. 

Program and Speaker Committee (meets as needed)

Purpose:  Recruit speakers for the three quarterly membership meetings and luncheons, if applicable.  Act as host to the speaker at each meeting and perform the introduction of each speaker.  

Publications Committee (meets 3 times a year)

Purpose:  To determine the editorial content and recruit volunteers to write articles for the Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall newsletter.  Committee members should be willing to write for the newsletter and suggest meaningful education articles as well as solicit advertising from industry supporters.

 Web Site Committee (meet as needed)

Purpose:  Develop/update web site pages, develop advertising rates & plan to present to the board of directors for approval, solicit advertising, and work with the webmaster to see that updates and revisions are made on an ongoing basis as needed. 

Pre-Trial Release Committee (meet as needed)

Purpose:  Assist in gathering and monitoring information and news articles from Pretrial Counties to be used at a later date if needed. 

Allied Organization Liaison Committee (telephone activity)

Purpose:  Recruit volunteers and/or man the PBT display at the Sheriff Association of Texas, Texas Jail Association and the Texas District and County Attorneys Association conferences.  

Thank you for your interest in making the Professional Bondsmen of Texas a strong voice for the bail bond industry.  

Click here for the Call for Volunteers form.

The Professional Bondsmen of Harris County is hosting the 4th Annual Christmas Gala and fundraiser for the Be An Angel Fund. Over the last three events, the P.B.H.C. has raised almost $100,000 and was the majority sponsor of a dedicated play park for these special needs children
in addition to donating monies for the general fund of BAA to the benefit
of the children.

The event this year is scheduled for December 3, 2011 at the Pine Forest Country Club,
18003 Clay Rd. Houston, TX 77084. Phone: 281-463-0900. Tickets are available for $100.00 per seat.

We have changed venues and we are able to expand to 300 people from the previous limit of 150. We have numerous state, county and city elected officials attend. This year will be no different and we expect our elected official invited guest list to significantly expand. We also have had guests such as Astronaut Fred Haise, lunar module pilot for Apollo XIII and Astronaut Walter Cunningham among many other dignitaries. A majority of the Harris County Bail Bond board members attend and participate.

State Senator Dan Patrick is the official guest host and has even gone so far as to take
the shirt off his back at the event last year for it to be auctioned off for the Be An Angel Charity.
It did bring $1,500.00 for the foundation and a lot of fun was had by all.

We also have a live auction with a lot of items that cover the gamut of interesting things. From artwork, jewelry, numerous autographed books and DVD’s, and the list goes on for items large and small.

The P.B.H.C. would like to invite P.B.T. members to participate and join the P.B.H.C. in supporting this very worthy endeavor and make a difference in a child’s life with special needs.

For additional information or to purchase tickets, please contact Judy Grandmaison-Warren, Access Bonding Company, 4803 Katy Fwy, Houston, Texas 77007 at 713-227-1777.

There are two primary methods of bail in America…

• One run by the private sector…Commercial Bail
• The other run by the government…Pretrial Release Agencies
  • One cost the public nothing, in fact pays the county for failures
  • The other consumes tax dollars…some call it “Welfare for Criminals”

Overwhelmingly, the system that works best is COMMERCIAL BAIL according to a 2007 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics covering almost a decade and a half (1990 – 2004).

• Surety Bond
  • 19% still fugitives after 1 year
  • Less than 1/2 for an extended period
• Released by Government
  • 30% still fugitives after 1 year

Why is that???  The answer is simple…financial responsibility. The government employee who works the the Pretrial Release Agency has “no skin in the game” so to speak. He or she will collect the same (tax dollar) paycheck regardless or whether or not the individual previously released shows up in court. On the other hand, a commercial bondsman or woman(yep…lots of women are b”bondsmen”) is financially responsible and stands to forfiet (to the county) up to the FULL amount of the bond the longer that the individual is a fugitive. You tell me who will spend time and effort looking for the fugitive??

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Tax payer funded, government-run Pretrial Release Agencies are…

LESS EFFECTIVE & MORE EXPENSIVE

IRS Bail Bond Industry Audit Guide