I have a local bonding company which has approached the sheriff's department and demanded a refund of several bail bond fees per 41.258(f) of the Government Code. Of course, as the local DA, it's referred to me. Help! I remember reading that someone has requested an AG's opinion with respect to the requirements and the mechanics of such refunds but I haven't heard if the AG has "spoken." Meanwhile, I am in hopes that some of you could let me know how you and your county are handling such requests. What entity accepts the application for a refund? What proof are you requiring for the "declines to prosecute...(or) indict" requirement? Does "declines to indict" mean only an outright no-bill or does it include "hold" for additional investigation as well? Who is taking the responsibility to make the call on these requests? Who pays the money back? I realize these are questions posed to the AG but what are y'all doing with these requests until we get an AG opinion? I'm posting this on the civil and the criminal site so please excuse the repetition. Thanks a bunch.

Mike, looks like you've started a great thread on the criminal side about the technicals of when to refund.

I'll answer your question from a practical perspective. What are the mechanics of a refund? or How does a bondsman get a refund?

We put the entire burden on the bondsman. We have a standard form, which we gave to all the bondsmen. The bonding company fills out the top 2/3rds of the form with all the particulars: name of defendant, date of arrest, police tracking number, and so on... The bondsman then presents the completed form to our office. Our victim assistant then looks up the case in our computer case management system and determines if we have hit the 181st day from the date of refusal to prosecute. If so, then no refund. If the request is presented within the 180 days then I or one of the other prosecutors sign off on the form and WE send it to the treasurer. The significance of US sending the form is the integrity of the system. Obviously the treasurer doesn't want everyone and their brother with their hand out waiting on her door step, so we deliver the form to the treasurer and the bonding company is told the "check's in the mail". The other reason for US sending the form to the treasurer is we foresaw a problem with bondsmen going straight to the treasurer without verification of entitlement to a refund.

Obviously there are glitches, there are problems now and then. But, the system employed by our office seems to keep most everyone on an even keel: not to happy and not to mad. After all, isn't that what we are out for? Can't make 'em all happy but we can do our best to keep the mad ones to a minimum.