PDF: Sheriff Management Comments 2009 - Final PDF: Fees charged to bonding companies to cover expenses for picking up fugitives* Bond companies have paid the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office $9,917 since December 2007 to cover the cost of picking up fugitives.* An audit released in Jan. 2010, covering July 1 2008 to June 30 2009, found several instances where the Sheriff overcharged for public records, or charged for things not authorized by state law. The sheriff's office has adjusted its practices. According to the findings, charges included:- Charging $2 to $8 for accident, incident and arrest reports.- Charging $25 for first hour for phone records and $20 for each additional hour of recording.- Charging $35 per CD of accident photos.- Charging 25 cents per day for a visitation locker rentals at the jail.* Donald Gorman Jr., director of administration for the sheriff's office, said the charges outlined in the report generated about $64,000 per year in revenue.Source: Hamilton County Auditing Department, Sheriff's Office
A difference of opinion on whether the county sheriff can make bail bondsmen repay the costs of picking up county fugitives jailed in other states may leave Hamilton County's taxpayers with the bill.
It's also a question that could have implications for other sheriff's offices in Tennessee.
An audit of the sheriff's office earlier this year found no state law compels bonding companies to reimburse the sheriff for travel to pick up fugitives.
"We are unable to locate any statutory authorization for such charges," the audit report said.
But the head of the state bail bonds association said Tennessee code 40-11-201, c. holds bondsmen responsible for the costs when their clients are captured in other states.
"The bondsman ... shall remain liable for the expenses of returning the principal (the fugitive) to this jurisdiction for trial when the principal is released by the detaining authority," the code reads, in part.
Sheriff Jim Hammond said he would have to ask the county attorney whether the county should challenge the finding. He said the County Commission would have to decide whether the attorney should pursue a challenge. Hammond said if his office can no longer collect "reasonable" fees to cover expenses, he will no longer send deputies to pick up fugitives who have jumped bail.
"All I can tell you is, from a sheriff's perspective, the practice has always been to charge fees for bail jumpers," he said.
Charlie White, president of the Tennessee Association of Professional Bail Agents, disagrees with the audit's findings, saying there is a law supporting the practice. The bail agents association advocates for laws favorable to the bail bonds business, White said. White, who owns ABC Bonding Co. in Chattanooga and association attorney Bill Pope said paying for picking up fugitives is considered part of the cost of doing business.
"Counties all over the state charge this," Pope said.
White said he's paid "tens of thousands of dollars" over the years to the sheriff's office for their expenses when they pick up a fugitive.
"I've had to pay as much as $2,000 to bring them back from California, and $300 to bring them back from Georgia," he said.
County Auditor Bill McGriff and assistant county auditor Lee Brouner said they decided the sheriff shouldn't be charging bondsmen after running the question past the County Technical Assistance Service, which provides guidance to local counties. CTAS officials told the county state laws do not explicitly permit reimbursing the sheriff.
But White and Pope said state law clearly permits it, both men referencing the section in Tennessee Code 40-11-201.
"In all due respect, the auditors haven't looked," Pope said.
R. Dee Hobbs, attorney for the sheriff's office, said the sheriff will abide by what the auditor recommended, but added the office might challenge the finding.
"Don't be surprised if we raise a little sand about that," he said.
In the meantime, White said he won't ask the county for his money back. County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said if bonding companies feel the county should refund them, they would likely take it up with the County Commission. Commission Chairman Fred Skillern predicted these issues will ultimately go before a judge.
"The commission will not be the ones deciding whether it's legal or not," he said.