The History of Bonds

TAPBA

Our TAPBA Leadership has requested a Public Chapter for Tennessee be posted. If you are a Tennessee Bail Agent then please read the Public Chapter on the [Welcome] page or the [Important Notice] page !!

The Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee Code Online
The Tennessee Attorney General

189 Mose Dr. Sparta, TN 38583
Phone: (931) 739-3339
FAX: (931) 739-8385
E-Mail: tapba@blomand.net

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Charles W. White, Sr.
President
Chattanooga
(423) 265-1735

Danny Blankenship
Vice President
Huron
(731) 424-4193

Miriam Lawson
Secretary
Waverly
(931) 209-3881

Ronnie Carter
Treasurer
Sparta
(931) 738-2406

BOARD MEMBERS

EAST TENNESSEE
Corky Hendrix
Chattanooga
(423) 265-3800

J. R. Henderson
Sevierville
(865) 453-6400

David Sparks
Knoxville
(865) 522-1776

MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Johnny Knowles
Lebanon
(615) 449-4717

Ronnie Carter
Sparta
(931) 738-2406

Jeff Slater
Nashville
(615) 256-8333

WEST TENNESSEE
Danny Blankenship
Huron
(731) 424-4193

Derrick Britt
Jackson
(731) 423-0251

George Hitt
Memphis
(901) 528-1776

The origins of the American bail system are uncertain. There are theories on how it came about. One is that it originated in the Anglo Saxon tribes of old England. These tribes used to take hostages and then release them when the promise of a certain person was fulfilled or a certain consequence achieved. There is historical evidence that the person who provided the funds or services for the hostage could have been made to suffer the punishment of the prisoner if the prisoner himself had escaped.

In the modern bail situation the person putting up the bail is not seized, yet many say the modern Bondsman is nothing more than an extension of this old security relationship. Both the old hostage and the modern bondsman assume a responsibility for another. One pledged his body, the other pledges his material wealth. In today's bail system, money has replaced people.

Others suggest that modern bail comes from the old English laws governing debt. They held that the one who was accused of committing a wrong, had to guarantee a payment to reimburse that wrong if he were found guilty later.

Tennessee Association of Professional Bail Agents

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