Getting out of jail in Magic Valley
Bail bondsman Eve Collins might be instrumental in getting inmates home for the holidays, but that doesn’t make her a softy.
She maintains she has to be hard-nosed at times.
After all, Collins and other bail bondsmen put their money on the line that inmates they bail out will comply with terms and show up for court dates.
When they don’t and try to flee justice, she sometimes dons a bulletproof vest, taser and handcuffs in order to return them to custody.
That situation doesn’t happen regularly, she said, as she has developed a reputation that it doesn’t pay to jump bail on her.
But when it does occur, you can’t call it bounty hunting. The proper name is “bail enforcement.”
“Idaho thinks bounty hunting sounded too rough,” Collins said.
But Collins, who has been in business for 14 years, has a heart as well.
“Sometimes you will be hit in the heart and you want to run to the jail and get them out,” she said.
Running a bail bond agency is an interesting profession in which she finds financial risk, danger and even a bit of humor.
Organizations within the bail bond industry even got her connected to celebrities like Duane Chapman, known as “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” and his wife, Beth, before she died in 2019.
Plus, she needs to keep up on the latest regulations regarding the bail bond business.
“Every year they come out with things you can’t do, or things you need to do,” she said. One of the latest regulations is that she is required to charge interest on unpaid premiums.
Life as a bail bondsman
Bail bondsmen get people out of jail while they are awaiting court hearings, but the service isn’t free.
Typically, inmates, or friends and family, put up 10%, plus fees, of the bond, called a premium, as a fee for getting out of jail. That 10% is not refundable, even if charges are eventually dropped.
Collins likens the bail bond business to car insurance. It’s even regulated by the same state agency — the Idaho Department of Insurance.
“You pay a premium to stay out of jail while your case is pending, that’s where the 10% comes in,” she said. “It’s just like car insurance — that’s the easiest way to explain it.”
Collins usually asks for collateral to cover the remainder of the bond, in case the suspect tries to flee from justice. The amount differs depending on flight risk, such as how long the person has lived in the area, the job they hold and whether they have worked together successfully in the past.
“I have a good memory about who has run from me,” she said.
Collins has put liens on $50,000 pickups, or even homes, but she maintains she doesn’t want to go into the business of repossessing people’s property. She just wants people to comply with the terms the way they were agreed upon.
When it comes to payment or collateral, she prefers cash or credit card. Jewelry for collateral is difficult because it would require appraisal and a safe place to keep it. One time a guy said he didn’t have any money and wanted to offer a generator. She passed on the offer.
Aa person doesn’t need to pay the entire 10% premium all at once, but can often finance part of it through the bond agency. That can be useful. After all, she said, if someone has a $50,000 bond, “who has $5,000 lying around?”
When inmates don’t keep their promises, such as not showing up for court appearances, trying to flee from justice, or stop making payments on the balance they financed, the bail can be revoked.
“I only have two bad ones right now. That’s it,” Collins said.. “That’s pretty good for an agency that writes as much as I do.”
And when people are on the lam, it’s the bail bond agency’s responsibility, not the responsibility of law enforcement, to find them and return them to jail.
“They are on my money,” Collins explained.
That’s when bail enforcement kicks in, and she said it is usually not the people with a large bond that jump bail, because they don’t want their family or co-signer to be on the hook, potentially losing valuables they have put up as collateral.
She’s had to use a stun gun on people during bail enforcement, and “they don’t like it,” she said.
The process of bringing someone back to custody can be scary and unnerving, said Taunua Pellegrini, who works with Collins. Fortunately, Pellegrini has a tall, large husband who assists with bail enforcement duties.
Bail bond agencies notify law enforcement before attempting to take someone into custody.
“We’ll call them up and tell them where we are going, we are looking for this person and they have a warrant,” she explained. “They will help us if we think we need assistance.”
Collins said she has never been hurt, although a man one time pulled a knife on her ex-husband, who used to be a co-owner of the agency. The fugitive ended up getting his arm broken as her ex-husband disarmed him.
There are tender moments as well.
Collins tells of a woman who had no prior criminal record. She was found with drugs in her vehicle as she was traveling through the area, along with her dogs, on her way to Montana, where her family was going to meet her.
“She was a good person,: Collins said. “She had never been in trouble.”
Collins went out of her way to get the bail process in order and even helped find her a hotel room.
Then there are times when Collins feels like a counselor — or maybe a mother — lecturing younger people that they need to get their lives together or they will end up in prison.
And sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. She has refused to bail some people out, even if they have the money in hand.
“Sometimes I want them in jail before they kill themselves or somebody else,” she said. “I am honest with them. I say you need to get cleaned up, you need to get a plan together, some treatment before we get you out to be with your family.”
And often family members agree that jail is the best place for their loved one at that time, she said.
Collins told of times when people have thanked her for keeping them in jail because it saved their lives.
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Collins said she often sees the same people regularly.
“They say a good criminal is one who pays their attorney and bail bondsman,” she said. “I have seen people who have an income of $50,000 that are in jail, and they say ‘Eve, get me out.’”
And if Collins knows they are good for the money, that’s what she will do.
Laughing a little
Pellegrini said she can find humor in almost every situation an inmate finds themselves in.
“I had someone say, ‘I was just sitting on the couch and they took me back to jail — and I don’t know why,’” Pellegrini said.
“That is not how the police work.”
While there is often humor to be found in the way a crime was allegedly committed, the funny stuff usually ends if they miss a court date.
“Because when you go get them, they are mean,” Pellegrini said. “They don’t want to accept responsibility.”
Hard to slow down
Running a bail bond agency is a tough but exciting job, Collins said.
It can be a tough business to get into as well.
When she became interested in the career more than 15 years ago, Collins said, she had to do her research alone because others weren’t willing to share information.
Once a person gets licensed, however, they usually stay in the business until retirement, she said.
Although nearing retirement age and admits to having a health problem or two, “it’s tough to slow down.”
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