Life and times of a bail bonder

May 24--For Sheri Davis, bailing people out of New Hampshire jails is a way of life ... and a full day's work.

Calls come in at all hours of the day nearly every day. People aren't simply arrested 9-to-5 Monday through Friday.

"There isn't a day I don't get a phone call," said Davis, owner of Bailn' U Bail Bonds of Raymond.

Davis works a 24/6 schedule. Her only day off is Sunday. She is afraid if she worked that day, too, she would "probably go insane."

Davis spends much of her work week on the road, meeting clients and their families to write bail. Those meetings are usually preceded by Davis performing background checks to see what kind of a risk a person is before deciding whether or not to bail them out. The determining factors can be previous convictions and Davis' belief in a potential client showing up in court.

"Not everybody deserves to get out of jail," she said.

Another part of Davis' job is keeping tabs on her clients. Davis and her team typically call clients three times a week and remind them about pending court dates. The goal is to predict flight risks before bail is jumped.

"If we can't reach you, it's a problem," said Davis, who adds she also often drives clients to and from drug and/or alcohol abuse classes and to celebrate sobriety milestones. "We truly want to help people and help make our communities safer."

Bail bonds are intended to ensure someone will show up in court when expected. Not everyone needs a bail bond.

Some people are released on personal recognizance, which is almost like a handshake agreement saying you will show up for your court appearance. Others are only released if they pay a cash bail.

Bail bondsmen don't get involved in either of those cases. They only come into play with what are called "surety bonds." A surety bond is a promise the bail bond agent will pay the full bail amount if the person flees. That is a scenario Davis and other agents dread and try to avoid. Because of the financial risk, New Hampshire law allows bail bondsmen to charge a non-refundable fee up to 10 percent of the bail.

The bail bond agent also can collect other collateral on the loan and often have a co-signer on the bond known as an "indemnitor." Like the co-signer on a conventional loan, this person is liable for paying the surety bond amount if the client jumps bail.

Davis sometimes also splits the risk with other bond agents.

Collateral on a bond can be anything of value, including someone's home.

Davis recently began using GPS-based monitoring bracelets as an option for her clients in lieu of collateral. She likes that it allows her to see where they are at all times. The bracelets can be programmed to alert Davis if a client is approaching a restricted area, such as the home of someone who has a restraining order against the client.

Davis said that feature gives her a good feeling. "I'm not saying the guy is guilty or not guilty," she said. "But if he is guilty, I'm keeping someone safe."

The bracelets have even helped save her clients from self-inflicted injury. She recalled a time when the GPS showed one of her clients in a known drug neighborhood for an extended period of time. She and her team drove to the client's location and found him drugged out.

"He was out of his mind," she said. "I'm going to put you back in jail to save your life."

Davis said a warning alarm is issued within a minute if a client tries to remove the bracelet.

She said bail-jumpers are rare and she encounters them no more than once or twice a year. She believes that's partly due to the preparation work she does before taking on a client. When one does jump, she must get custody of the client within 45 days or pay the bond to the state.

Davis uses former police officers and state troopers as "bounty hunters" when necessary. She tries to avoid needing them because their pay is a percentage of the bail.

Davis opted not to discuss her strategies for tracking bail-jumpers because she doesn't want to reveal her tricks. But she doesn't mind telling about the way she found a jumper after learning one of his friends had died.

"We saw where the funeral was," she said, and sent her team to collect him there. "The guy was pretty mad."

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