News
Updates from the National Association of Bail Agents
They Can't Win the Argument, So They're Changing the Dictionary
From redefining "bail" as any form of release to rebranding licensed bail agents an "industry," the movement to eliminate commercial bail has spent thirty years rewriting the vocabulary of pretrial justice — and courts are starting to adopt the new definitions.
Impersonating a Fugitive Recovery Agent Is More Than Misleading—It Endangers the Public
NABA President Michelle Esquenazi writes that unlawfully claiming the title "Fugitive Recovery Agent" isn't just misleading — it puts the public at risk and undermines a profession built on lawful authority, training, and accountability.
California Is About to Give Prosecutors a Reason to Let Defendants Walk Free — And Bill the Bail Agent for It
A little-noticed provision in California SB 562 would force bail agents to refund most of their premium if a prosecutor misses a 21-day filing deadline — creating a financial incentive for ideologically aligned DAs to run out the clock, an unconstitutional unfunded mandate on the courts, and a mandatory refund trigger tailor-made for the most common pattern in domestic violence cases.
The Fix Is In: How a California Court Ruling Is Being Used to Dismantle the Bail System — And What Utah's Experience Tells Us About What Comes Next
A unanimous California Supreme Court ruling in In re Kowalczyk narrows when bail can be denied and requires ability-to-pay assessments — reopening a pipeline into government-supervised pretrial release that Utah's own court records show operating with no financial accountability when defendants fail to appear.
Bail & Fugitive Agents are the "First Responders" of Criminal Justice!
The public perception of who we are has been branded by Soros & Co. for a long time. Have you ever wondered why they are after us? Our profession has been fighting to keep our heads above water — and it's time for more fighters to step up.
Who Pays When the Bondsman Is Gone? The Cost-Shift Nobody Talks About
Bail reform's fiscal argument compares jail beds before reform to jail beds after. It almost never accounts for the cost of the replacement system — government-staffed pretrial agencies, electronic monitoring contracts, and expanded judicial calendars. That system is not free. It is not even cheap.
The Missing Comparator: What Bail Reform Research Actually Measured
The studies most often cited to support bail reform never compared text reminders to commercial surety. They compared reminders to nothing at all. That distinction matters more than reform advocates have been willing to say.
When We Can't Trust the Courts, We've Lost Our Democracy
As a licensed Georgia bail bondsman, military veteran, and small business owner, I have dedicated my life to ensuring the safety and well-being of my community. Whether it's helping to secure the rele