Adams, Broomfield, and Weld County Bail Bonds

Happy 2021! It’s a new year and guess what? Not much has changed on the cash bail front. There is a gap between the battle lines – for, on one side; against, on the other – and a vast gray area or no-man’s land in the division between the two. As a bondsman working the mean streets in Adams County, Broomfield County, Weld County, or the Greater Denver area, you should be standing squarely on the “for” side of the great battlefield.

Now that Prop. 25 in California has been soundly defeated, there is only one thing for supporters of the “end cash bail” movement to do, and that is to find another weapon or loophole to win their unholy war. Because the country has been living in something resembling an alternate reality for the last four years, it is not too hard to imagine where the aggrieved will go next to achieve their goals. Bondsmen everywhere, pay attention to current events.

The goings-on behind the bench in Adams County have gotten nasty with allegations of misconduct flying fast and loose in Brighton. Now more than a year into the drama, events have devolved into a series of troubling allegations, blanket denials, counter allegations and official complaints with no resolution in sight.

In what can only be described as a stunning reversal California voters overwhelmingly chose to shoot down former Governor Jerry Brown's 11th-hour attempt to shove bail reform down their throat, rejecting Proposition 25 by more than 2 million votes.

Proposition 25, or Prop. 25 as it’s commonly known, would have eliminated cash bail bonds in California and opened the state up to the kind of chaos that has befallen New Jersey and other states that fell for the bail reform ruse. Jerry Brown had signed Prop. 25 as one of his final acts as Governor in 2018 against widespread opposition. Fortunately, fast-acting voters were able to gather enough signatures to put Prop. 25 on the ballot in 2020, thereby delaying its implementation. That implementation has now been permanently shelved.

Some people are never happy. Other people never get the message. And some think the will of the people is an absolute joke, a fraud, a bad dream. When 55 percent of voters in California voted No on Proposal 25, they sent a crystal clear message – the state’s cash bail system will live to fight another day. A bondsman in Adams County, Broomfield County, Weld County, Denver, or elsewhere in Colorado should be concerned with risk assessment tools in Colorado.

After years of debate, after millions were spent by the “for” and “against” camps and lavished on legislators on both sides of the fence, California’s Proposition 25, which would have abolished the state’s cash bail system and possibly set a nationwide precedent, was defeated. According to poll results, 55.4 percent of residents voted against the measure. That is a solid gap between "yes" and "no," but bail bondsman across the country should take note. The war is not over, not by a longshot.

Across the country, divisiveness and discord have reigned supreme all year. Tune in to news about the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House response to COVID-19, and other hot button topics, and you'll see Americans not only don't get along, but no longer seem to care whether they get along. All parties have their extremes, and a storyline played out in many states marked a crucial turning point in the future of the much-debated cash bail system, with Californians' historic vote on Proposition 25 earlier this month.

Reforming the American cash bail system is no small task. Even as bail bonds professionals with decades of collective experience, we understand the need for change. Getting antiquated laws off the books, upgrading technology, improving existing processes, are all part and parcel of making the system better for everyone. We’re not in favor of abolishing something that’s supported the U.S. judicial system for 100-plus years, but we recognize the actions of a few bad actors make us all look bad.