Author: Michael Whitlock

By Michael J. Whitlock June 23, 2020 The American Bail Agent Coalition (ABAC) is an extension of the American Bail Coalition (ABC). It brings agents and surety company representatives together for a common cause. ABAC will be holdings its 5th conference this week which will be held virtually (online) due to COVID-19. I get calls and texts almost everyday from bail agents across the country, many do not even write for American Surety Company, asking about the fate of the bail industry in the United States. Do we have a future? Should we look for other work? What’s going to happen with California and No on Prop 25? So, we when I see the registration numbers for the upcoming ABAC Virtual Conference, I’m shocked at how anemic are the numbers. Rarely does a day go by…

By Michael J. Whitlock November 5, 2020 It’s been a long hard slog these past two years as the bail industry worked to overturn SB10, enacted legislation that if put into effect, would have eliminated the use of bail in California. That effort was rewarded on Election Day when more than 6 million Californians voted no on Prop 25, the referendum to overturn SB10. Californians for Safer Communities was the engine behind Prop 25. All in, more than 10 million dollars was spent by the bail industry to preserve the right to bail in California. That seems like and is a lot of money but well short of the war chest held by those in favor of Prop 25. Ultimately, it was the people who were the real currency in this fight. They rejected the…

Michael J. Whitlock May 26, 2021 Another year and another slate of legislative measures attempting to reduce or eliminate the constitutional right to bail in lieu of either releasing offenders with no conditions for appearance or detaining them without bail. California, Delaware, Nevada and now Ohio have pending bills aimed at making it easier on criminal offenders. SB 182 was heard in the Ohio State Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday (click here to watch). The arguments made by the bill sponsors left me agog. SB 182 is a whopping 268 pages long. The sections pertaining to bail include the right to affordable bail, denies judicial discretion in setting bail and pushes for issuing a citation in lieu of arrest for most misdemeanor and several felony offenses. There seems to be little consideration or recognition of…

Michael J. Whitlock June 15, 2021 Early on in my upbringing, I would do something stupid, and my dad would give me a sideways look and sometimes a slap to the back of the head and ask “where is your #%$*ing common sense?” From that point on, I tried to limit making similar errors in judgment as I rolled through life to reasonable success. Criminal Justice reform efforts over the last several years have been less than nuanced, to say the least. Reformers have taken an all or nothing approach and where this has been successful, has caused a steady increase in crime across the nation; the dreaded “unintended consequences.” Alaska, New York, and Utah are three states who recently rolled back enacted bail reform after a meaningful increase in crime and…

By Michael J. Whitlock August 3, 2020 I heard the sad news earlier this week Jim Lane had died. I've known Jim for about 15 years. My interaction with Jim over that time was largely through PBT. Jim also provided some assistant to our company with cleaning up an agency we had in Parker County. I didn't ask, Jim reached out to me to offer some assistance. That's the kind of man he was. In more recent years Jim and I connected over BBQ. You shouldn't judge a man by the size of his smoker but Jim's was much larger than mine. During the last several years, Jim and Mike Byrd would smoke up a bunch of brisket, chicken and sausage at PBT-Austin meetings following the Steven G. Whitlock Memorial…

By: Michael J. Whitlock I dropped down to Atlanta on Monday to attend a golf outing for Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat.  The event was held at the Country Club of the South.  A beautiful and challenging golf course. But I digress.  Sheriff Labat and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, both newly elected, recently gave the what-for to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners over insufficient funding for staffing and equipment needed in their efforts to fight the surge in crime and to prosecute a mountain of pending cases.  Law  enforcement is bringing sexy back. People are getting fed up with the ever-increasing rate of crime across all offenses.  When I say people, I mean law enforcement, prosecutors, law-abiding citizens, business owners and most importantly, crime victims.  How many…

[caption id="attachment_13124" align="alignleft" width="164"] Michael J. Whitlock[/caption] My wife Marcia and I carpooled to work today.  I said nothing when my bride continued talking about work while Martina McBride sang Independence Day on the radio.  Today’s her birthday so she gets a pass.  Marcia raised our four kids and tolerated my intense travel schedule over the last 32 years.  It was the least I could do. Speaking of travel, I was in Tallahassee earlier this week to attend the Florida Surety Agents Association meeting.  FSAA legislative advocate Shawn Foster put together an amazing lineup of legislators to speak to the group.  It was refreshing to hear from lawmakers who have not succumb to the pressure of passing overreaching criminal justice reforms.  So far there have been no reform measures introduced…

Indiana Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder held a news conference yesterday in Indianapolis to discuss his #WheresTheOutrage initiative and Indy’s “local broken system of catch and release.”  Violence has been on the rise in the Circle City for the last several months.  Just this morning, Rick Snyder tweeted, “ANOTHER person shot overnight in Indy brings city to 112 people shot, 44 stabbed and 28 killed in last 56 days. That’s 156 shot or stabbed!” In his presser, Mr. Snyder decried the fact repeat violent offenders were regularly being released from jail on $500 cash bonds with an ankle monitor.  That when the offender cuts off the monitor, they are arrested, charged with escape and re-released on a $500 bond with an ankle monitor, “how does this make sense…

[caption id="attachment_13124" align="alignleft" width="300"] Michael J. Whitlock[/caption] Justifying his efforts to eliminate bail requirements for criminal offenders, the late New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles Daniels, stated during an interview by KOB4 posted August 4, 2017, “There are very few that actually go on the run. Most of the people in New Mexico and nationally do it for the same reason they don’t make their doctor’s and their dentist’s appointments.” U.S. Attorney General William Barr was in Albuquerque last week to announce the capture of 325 fugitives by a federal and state joint task force in the Albuquerque area. During his press conference AG Barr lamented New Mexico’s criminal laws were subpar. That the judiciary was not detaining violent offenders pending trial which is allowable now that New Mexico amended its state…

[caption id="attachment_13124" align="alignleft" width="300"] Where in the World is Mike Whitlock[/caption] New Hampshire, the fifth smallest state in the nation established a summer study committee to review bail reform legislation passed in 2018.  On behalf of the American Bail Coalition I traveled east this week to testify at a Wednesday hearing at the state capital, together with the lone actively writing bail agent in the state. The passing of SB 556 had an immediate and profound impact on New Hampshire’s pretrial release system once unsecured bail became the presumptive form of release.  Bail agent Julie Carkhuff testified she wrote 165 bonds in August 2018 (the month preceding SB 556 going into effect) compared to just 16 bonds in August 2019.  So, 150 defendants who previously could afford to pay for…