Virginia’s General Assembly is considering “a bill that would punish a guy for not being poor.” What on earth does that mean? Well, here we go again, it’s all about pre-trail release; the gorilla that stands in the way of the bail industry making its money or not- or so it seems, per this article. What is pre-trail release?

Pre-trial release was first initiated in 1966 with the Federal Bail Reform Act that was passed by President Lyndon Johnson. Its purpose was aimed at indigent arrestees – those who did not have any money to post bail, but some family members in the community. Since then pre-trial release or OR (Own Recognizance) has expanded to release those WITH money, with family ties, etc. This is where the resistance sets in with the bail industry nationwide.

Most bail agents are against pre-trial release, because it cancels out a potential customer. Many times bail agents get to the jail, paper work in hand, signers and money exchanged for the bond, yet at the jail an OR has occurred. All that work, all that time just to have everything evaporate! Disheartening- yes, but the bail industry has to move on to the next arrestee in hopes the OR team has not intervened.

Now, the Virginia General Assembly is proposing a bill that states no one with funds can get OR’d. The big question lurking around this bill is “how much money does a person have to make to post a bond?” Not everyone is financially equal and this is a big concern. Is the OR team going to evaluate your check book balances as the jails are filling to overcapacity?

I say we had better go back to the origin of the bill and OR those who are truly indigent, because in these economic times, I am sure there will be plenty to qualify at that level. Hey, people are having a hard time coming up with even a few hundred dollars to post bail in these times – a thousand dollars are virtually non-existent!