Should Bail Bonds Companies Require Clients to Check-In?

One of the biggest burdens in the bail bonds industry is making sure your client doesn’t flee the state or skip their trial. You have a responsibility to ensure they attend every court date, as does the person who paid for the bail bond.

A few weeks ago, we mentioned the use of electronic ankle bracelets to enforce this policy, but we have another idea this week. Let me first say that this is a suggestion, not a mandatory agreement with 1-800-BAIL-BOND.

Many Los Angeles bail bondsmen are requiring their clients to check-in to your bail bonds office within 24-hours of being released, which leaves enough time to get a meal, change clothes, and shower before checking-in.

You then have each party sign a check-in form for their records, which will allow you to gauge your client’s intentions and flight risk. From there, you can go about check-ins in one of a few different ways.

1) Face-to-face: Require defendants to personally meet at your office, especially if you’re afraid that they will skip trial.

2) Telephone calls: Give each client a PIN that they must use to check-in. you can make this a daily event if necessary.

3) Online: This also requires a PIN, but could be easier to fake either location or who is actually checking-in.

4) Combination of the above: Require weekly meetings with daily phone or web check-ins.

All of these options help your bail bonds business keep track of clients’ whereabouts so you don’t have to locate them later. It is in everyone’s best interests to set up some sort of system like this.