Mississippi Bail Agents Association

Mississippi Bail Agents Association
805 South Wheatley, Suite 150, Ridgeland, MS 39157
Office: 601-899-8599 Fax: 601-899-8598 mbaa@msbail.org
Executive Director: Patti Smith

PBUS Sanctioned Association

2008 Continuing Education
On April 14, 2008 the Governor signed into law changes to Miss. Code Ann. 83-39-3. These changes require any professional, soliciting or bail enforcement agents have eight (8) hours of continuing education every year with a total of sixteen (16) hours per licensing period. All agents have until September 30^th of each year to complete your eight (8) hours. Important: You have to have 8 hours each year; you cannot take 16 hours in one year. If you fail to complete your 8 hours of continuing education by September 30^th, each year, your licensing will no longer be valid and you will have to take the pre-licensing class to get it reinstated. How will this work? In September of each year the MS Bail Agents Association, MBAA, will electronically submit, to the Dept. of Insurance (DOI), the names of everyone who completed the continuing education class that year. Everyone will continue to receive a Certificate but it is for your records. You will not mail it to the DOI. The MBAA is still talking with the DOI on how renewals will be done in 2009. You can read Miss. Code Section 83-39-3 on the legislation page. We will continue to post updates on the website as information becomes available to us. Continuing education schedule and registration forms are on the â€œEducationâ€ page of the website. Also, each year you are still required to submit an annual report to the DOI. This report has to be submitted by June 1st of each year. Nothing has changed regarding that law. __________________________________________________________________________________________________

MISSION STATEMENT:
THE MISSION OF THE MISSISSIPPI BAIL AGENTS ASSOCIATION IS TO PROVIDE
INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND REPRESENTATION FOR THE BAIL AGENTS OF MISSISSIPPI.

WHO WE ARE
The Mississippi Bail Agents Association (MBAA) was founded in 1991 as the Professional Bail Agents Association of Mississippi, Inc. MBAA is statutorily authorized to approve pre-license and continuing education in the State of Mississippi and is recognized as the voice of the bail agents of Mississippi.

In 2006, MBAA begin working with the state legislature to upgrade the bail laws. In the legislative session of 2000, the law was changed requiring 40 hours of pre-license education and 8 hours of continuing education annually. Since 1992, there have only been two years in which the MBAA did not succeed at making changes to the state bail statutes. Our goals are to protect, promote and preserve our profession.

WHAT WE DO
A bail agent works with the justice to help assure the appearance of a person charged with a criminal offense in court. A bail bond is a three way contract between the state, the agent and the defendant that guarantees the state that the defendant will appear for court whenever, and as many times as the court demands, until there is a final disposition on the charges.

The bail agent does three things:
     1. We guarantee the defendant's appearance in Court
     2. If the defendant fails to appear, we locate the defendant and bring them back to court or jail.
     3. If we cannot do the first two, we pay the face amount of the bond to the court

Along with the criminal defense attorney, we help to protect an individual's constitutional right to remain innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, while at the same time protecting victims rights by insuring they get their day in court by insuring the defendant's appearance.

HOW MUCH IS A BAIL BOND
The standard premium for a bail bond for a resident of Mississippi is ten percent (10%) of the amount of the bond or Fifty Dollars ($50.00), whichever is greater, there is also a twenty-five ($25.00) processing fee on each charge. An agent shall be allowed to charge no more than Fifty Dollars (50.00) for expenses resulting from a bond of One Thousand Dollars ($1000.00) or less when the bail agent is required to travel outside the counties in which they do business.

For a defendant who resides outside the state of Mississippi or any defendant who is charged with a capital offense, the premium is fifteen percent (15%) plus the applicable travel and processing fees.

In addition to the bail premium, Mississippi jails charge a processing fee (sometimes called a turn-key fee) of twenty-five ($25.00) and some jails charge other fees.

REGULATION
Bail agents in Mississippi are regulated by the Mississippi Department of Insurance. A license is required to write bonds and to do bail recoveries. Operating as a bail agent or impersonating a bail enforcement agent or bail agent is a criminal offense and violators will be prosecuted. Out of state recovery agents must be licensed bail agents and must register with the Sheriff BEFORE any action is taken.