Bail Bond Blog
Washington State Bail Bond Blog
Note: The Bail Bond Blog is posted with the newest content at the bottom.
Bail Bond Fees - Posted October 9, 2010
Bail bond fees in Washington State are 10% with a minimum fee of $50, and the fee is non-refundable and is regulated by the state. All Bail Bond companies and agents need to be insured and are licensed by the State. Do not use a non-licensed Bail Bond Agent. A Plus Bail Bonds is insured and licensed in all counties in Washington State. We hope you will choose a reputable, professional company like A Plus, that is here to help you in a courteous and respectable manner.
Bail Bond WA State Licensing Information: http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/bailbonds/index.html
When is a bail bond needed? - Posted October 12, 2010
When a person is arrested on a criminal charge they may be held for trial, unless they furnish the required bail as ordered by the court. A bail bond includes any contract guaranteeing the attendance in court of any person arrested or confined due to an actual or alleged violation of the law.
Washington State Fugitive Recovery Association - Posted October 18, 2010
The Washington State Fugitive Recovery Association™, an Association of Professional Washington Bail Recovery Agents committed to the highest standards of professional conduct, training, and public safety has announced a new website. The new website is currently under construction but should be completed soon. You can visit at www.wsfra.org
Contact info for Snohomish Jail in Everett, Washington - Posted October 25, 2010
Snohomish County Corrections
3025 Oakes Ave, Everett, WA
(425) 388-3474
- they are asking for you to have the inmate name and CIN when you call if possible.
WA Voters Vote on Restricting Bail - Posted November 2, 2010
Seattle Times ~ The Legislature overwhelmingly approved the measure in the spring, but it is a constitutional amendment and must be approved by voters to be enacted.
Currently, the only charge for which bail can be denied is aggravated murder. The amendment would allow state judges to deny bail when a suspect is charged with any crime carrying a possible life sentence and poses a danger to the community.
Wash. judges get more authority to restrict bail- Posted November 8, 2010
By GENE JOHNSON of Associated Press
SEATTLE — Washington voters overwhelmingly decided Tuesday to give judges more power to deny a suspect bail, after last year's brutal slaying of four Lakewood police officers by a gunman who had recently been released.
The Legislature approved the measure in the spring, but it was a constitutional amendment and needed voter approval to be enacted. It was passing with about 86 percent of the vote.
Previously, the only charge for which bail could be denied was aggravated murder. The amendment allows state judges to deny bail when a suspect is charged with any crime carrying a possible life sentence and poses a danger to the community. About 4,100 defendants a year are charged with such crimes in the state.
"It is a new tool prosecutors and judges can use to keep the baddest of the bad off the streets," said Reagan Dunn, executive director of the Remember Lakewood campaign. "This was a measured, common sense referendum to the people. It doesn't violate defendants' rights and it seems sensible to most people."
Maurice Clemmons had posted bail less than a week before he killed the four Lakewood officers last November. He had been arrested for investigation of child rape, which could have brought a life sentence because of his previous criminal record.
Among the measure's supporters was Kim Renninger, the widow of Lakewood Sgt. Mark Renninger, who says it could save someone's life.
Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards were ambushed at a coffee shop in a Tacoma suburb on Nov. 29. Clemmons eluded police for two days, but was shot and killed by an officer in Seattle after a massive manhunt.
Opponents of the measure argued that judges could already set high bail or other conditions of release. The problem in Clemmons' case wasn't that the judge who granted the release had too little authority, but too little information about the defendant's extremely violent past, they said.
At least a dozen other states, including California and Florida, have constitutional clauses or statutes that allow judges to deny bail for charges other than capital crimes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
WA task force makes bail system recommendations - Posted December 5, 2010
Seattle Times ~ OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A Washington state task force formed after the shooting deaths of four police officers recommended on Wednesday tighter regulation of bail bondsmen and more information-sharing with judges who set bail.
The suspect in the police deaths, Maurice Clemmons, bailed out of jail three times in 2009 without ever paying more than 4 percent up front, including just days before the Lakewood police shootings, the Seattle Times reported.
Unlike some states, Washington does not require people getting a bail bond to pay 10 percent of its value.
The 20-person task force, which was created to study the bail system following the police deaths, did not suggest minimum payment rates for those who get a bail bond.
Judges, prosecutors and victims' advocates have argued for a fixed bail bond premium. But defense attorneys and others have worried that a minimum payment could hurt the poor, the Times reported.
Task force member and Snohomish County prosecutor Mark Roe said some officials were "disillusioned" they didn't know bail bondsmen required less than 10 percent.
"To be honest, I was embarrassed," Roe told the Times.
But the task force's chairman, state Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said the Clemmons case was an extreme example that shouldn't set policy. He also said a fixed premium could hurt poorer people charged with crimes.
"As a practical matter, the standard is 10 percent in almost every case," Kline said.
Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said he favors a minimum payment for bail bonds. Without it, bail bondsmen are effectively setting bail instead of judges, Carrell said.
"If judges can't have some certainty, then how can they ever set bail to ensure community protection?" Carrell asked.
The task force's report recommended that the 2011 Legislature come up with "a generally recognized definition of what bail means, subject to further discussion."
It also suggested giving judges more information about people seeking bail, such as risk-prediction tools from the Department of Corrections and mental health records. Bondsmen should also be required to go through background checks and county court systems, which verify bail-bonding companies, could be required to tell each other whether bail-bond companies are on shaky financial footing.
Voters in November approved a state constitutional amendment, also spurred by the Clemmons case, that grants judges broader authority to deny bail.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year 2011! - Posted December 25, 2010
Happy Holidays to everyone from all of us at A Plus Bail Bonds! Have a safe and fun New Year!
Buried explosives, weapons recovered in Tacoma suburb- Posted January 10, 2010
Please note that A Plus Bail Bonds was not involved in this incident.
(Reuters) - Authorities are investigating a buried explosives and weapons cache that may be linked to a Cuban drug-dealer informant killed by bounty hunters in a shootout two years ago near Tacoma, Washington.
The stockpile included a 37-millimeter military shell, a stick of 50-caliber dynamite, four improvised explosives, a commercial-grade blasting cap, guns and two belts of military-grade ammunition, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokeswoman Cheryl Bishop said on Saturday.
Law enforcement officials unearthed the cache -- buried four feet deep on private land in Puyallup, a suburban town located five miles east of Tacoma - and safely detonated the military shell late on Friday, said Captain Scott Engle, a Puyallap Police Department spokesman.
The property's current owners were not linked to the find or in any criminal investigation.
ATF, Puyallup police, and Pierce County sheriff's, bomb squad and fire officials, who acted on a tip in "another criminal case," secured the cache, Engle said.
Although federal authorities and local law enforcement don't anticipate filing criminal charges in the "unusual" discovery, Engle added: "We are going to do some follow-up."
ATF investigators believe the cache was linked to a dead man, killed two years ago in the nearby town of Lakewood, Bishop said, adding that she was "unable" to provide additional specifics or a name.
The incident matches local media and police reports of a killing involving Robert Pupo Roque, 34, a Cuban immigrant, alleged drug dealer and informant killed in the shoot-out by two Liberty Bail Bonds bounty hunters in May 2008.
Forrest Marshall, owner of Liberty Bail Bonds of Kelso, Washington, told Reuters his employees shot Roque in "self-defense" while attempting to collect $150,000 in outstanding bail bonds when Roque failed to show up in court.
Roque had been charged with drug dealing and unlawful gun possession. The Liberty bounty hunters later were cleared in the shooting by Pierce County prosecutors, Marshall said.
Roque was a police informant who "told the Tacoma police department in front of me and a partner that he had a guided missile, a practice missile that had been stolen from Fort Lewis," Marshall said.
Roque was said "on the street" to be involved with Mexican drug-dealers, Marshall added.
Fort Lewis, an Army base, is now part of Army-Air Force Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma following a merger in February 2010.
Bail Bond Locations- Posted March 1, 2011
Did you know A+ has bail bondsman service in Everett, Port Orchard, Port Townsend, Port Hadlock, Tacoma and Seattle? Call A Plus Bail Bonds at 866-530-2245.
Top Bail Bond Agency with service in Washington State- Posted May 4, 2011
A Plus Bail Bonds has 24/7/365 Bail Bond Service with Everett Bail, Port Orchard Bail, Port Townsend Bail, Port Hadlock Bail, Tacoma Bail, Seattle Bail and any other city in WA State. Call A-Plus Bail Bonds at 866-530-2245 for At Jail Bail Service in these locations. We can have our Licensed Bail Bond Agents help you immediately over the phone.
At Jail Bail Service at Mason County Jail & Court House, Kitsap County Jail, Pierce County Corrections and any other facility in Washington State.
Our areas of service include but are not limited to:
Battle Ground, Camas, La Center, Ridgefield, Vancouver, Washougal, Yacolt, Carson, Castle Rock, Kalama, Kelso, Longview, Woodland, Centralia, Chehalis, Fords Prairie, Morton, Mossyrock, Napavine, Pe Ell, Toledo, Vader, Winlock, Bucoda, Grand Mound, Lacey, North Yelm, Olympia, Rainier, Rochester, Tanglewilde-Thompson Place, Tenino, Tumwater, Yelm, Bellevue, Federal Way, Kent, Kirkland Sammamish, Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Bangor, Bremerton, East Port Orchard, Erlands Point-Kitsap Lake, Indianola, Kingston, Manchester, Navy Yard City, Parkwood, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Suquamish, Tracyton, Bay Center, Chinook, Ilwaco, Lebam, Long Beach, Naselle, Ocean Park, Raymond, South Bend and Tokeland.
Everett Bail Bonds- Posted June 24, 2011
A-Plus Bail Bonds has 24 hour service in Everett, WA. We do at-jail service to Snohomish County Jail on Oakes Avenue in Everett, Washington. There is some information about the jail below and remember that we do at-jail service for Everett Bail Bonds.
Snohomish County Main Jail
3025 Oakes Ave., Everett, WA 98201
Phone: (425) 388-3395
Customer Service Hours:
Reception Desk: 8:00 am - 10:00 pm, Monday through Friday
Inmate Accounts Window: 7:00 am - 11:00 pm, 7-days a week
Kitsap County Bail Bonds- Posted September 12, 2011
A-Plus Bail Bonds has 24 hour service in Port Orchard, WA. We do at-jail service to Kitsap County Jail. There is some information about the jail below and remember that we do at-jail service for Kitsap County Bail Bonds. Our Bail Bonds team can get you released as fast as possible!
Kitsap County Jail
614 Division St # MS-33
Port Orchard, WA 98366-4614
Phone: (425) 388-3395
