HOUSTON – A bail bond agent has sued the Harris County Bail Bond Board following the adoption of a new rule that requires bondsmen to collect a minimum ten percent of the total bond for certain violent or sexual offenses.
The plaintiff listed in the case is Sunya Claiborne doing business as All About Bail Bonds.
“The minimum charge requirement is classic price-fixing and a per se antitrust violation...” the court documents state.
The new rule, which was voted on last Wednesday, follows concerns about some defendants paying less than ten percent and using payment plans.
“This is a situation where you have to pony up ten percent of that bond to the bondsmen to be able to walk out of the courthouse a free man or a free woman,” said KPRC 2 Legal Analyst Brian Wice.
Court records said the rule is set to take effect on Saturday and Claiborne asked for a temporary restraining order.
“That is calling a TV time out in the midst of all of this, and freezing everything and everybody in their tracks,” Wice explained.
On Friday, a judge denied the request but Wice said the legal case can still continue in court.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, who represented the board in the hearing, said in a statement, “I’m pleased with the court’s decision today to reject the request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked this rule from being implemented.”
KPRC 2 left a message with the office of the plaintiff’s attorney but has not yet heard back.
The lawsuit also argues a new rule requiring notice of how the premium was paid and by who would force bondsmen to violate customers’ privacy rights, something the county attorney’s office pushed back on in Friday’s hearing.
The judge set another court date for May 6.