Indiana legislative panel to probe bail bonds

As part of his appointment, Steele — along with five trial judges, four probation officers and six attorneys — will attend a Washington, D.C., seminar to study the strengths and weaknesses of the bail system.

Steele said this seminar will help pave the way for a better, uniform bail system in Indiana.

“(The bail system) has to be effective,” Steele said.

The bail system allows people who have been arrested to get out of jail while they await trial. A suspect can pay a bond as a guarantee that he will show up in court to face the charge against him. But suspects who cannot afford to pay bail spend their time behind bars until a trial.

According to a 2013 Bureau of Justice Statistics report, 84 percent of those in jail nationwide are pretrial detainees.

This contributes to jail overcrowding and costs. Steele said this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

“Many of these are low-level offenders,” Steele said. “Typically, these offenders show up to trial anyhow.”

Some jurisdictions release low-level criminal suspects from jail with several conditions as they await trial.

“Every defendant is interviewed by someone in the probation department. They do what is a risk assessment, to see if this person is likely to appear,” he said.

As the Times-Mail reported earlier this year, Lawrence County’s three judges — Andrea McCord in Lawrence Circuit Court, Michael Robbins in Lawrence Superior Court I and William Sleva in Lawrence Superior Court II — have agreed to a schedule of bond payments, according to Prosecutor Michelle Woodward.

Under Lawrence County’s current system, there are two kinds of bond. For a surety bond, the accused contracts with a third party, such as a bail bondsman, to post bail. For a cash bond, a person puts up a specified amount, usually 10 percent of the full bond, plus a processing fee. In Lawrence County, that fee is $5.

But that system is not used in all counties. Some may require a certain bond, depending on the charge, while others do not. 

For example, Morgan County bars surety bonds for most Class C misdemeanor charges, leaving a cash bond as the only option. In Lawrence County, a surety bond or cash bond may be chosen.

Steele said he would to see every county in Indiana have uniform bail bond laws.

“With 92 counties, there’s different things in different counties ... we’ve got a hodgepodge of different systems,” he said.

In January, Steele authored a bill that would have made changes to the bail system. It passed in the Indiana Senate, but it was stopped in the House.

The formation of the committee and the trip to the seminar will give Indiana lawmakers a more informed perspective when they the look at the bail bond laws again, Steele said.

“The chief justice wants to make sure we have advantage of the full program before we move ahead on bail bond law,” he said.

The study on the bail bond laws comes on the heels of upcoming changes in the Indiana Criminal Code that lowers penalties for drug and theft crimes. Steele was one of the main supporters of that change.

He said as long the laws guarantee public safety, he is confident the justice system will be more effective.