Despite state police investigation, business as usual for bond company
Monday, 05 April 2010
An Arkansas State Police investigation into the operations of a local bail bond business is continuing, according to spokesmen for the the ASP, Arkansas Crime Information Center and Arkansas Professional Bail Bondsman Licensing Board.
Kathy’s Bail Bonds in Benton, owned by Kathy Chism, is the subject of the investigation.
The business remains open, however, and employees were answering the telephone on Friday afternoon.
Chism’s attorney, David Cannon, told the Courier that it’s business as usual at Kathy’s Bail Bonds.
“They’re still in business,” Cannon said. “No criminal charges have ever been filed. The business has never closed — it’s always been open.”
Cannon acknowledged that an investigation was initiated a few weeks ago, but said he does not know if it’s continuing.
A local attorney who asked not to be identified was asked what happens to the bonds that people have obtained through a bail bonding business if the company gets into trouble.
“The bail bonding company owner writes for a company and that company has to have sufficient assets to cover the bonds,” he said.
By way of comparison, he said a bail bondsman is to a larger company what a local insurance agency would be to a larger enterprise like Travelers, he said.
“The bondsman has to post with the bail bonding company sufficient securities or assets to show they are good for the bail bonds they write,” he said.
ASP Investigator Jeff Whitlock would not comment on the status of the Chism case, but confirmed that the probe is in progress.
“This is an ongoing investigation, so I cannot personally comment on it at this point,” Whitlock told the Courier on Friday afternoon.
Rick Stallings of the Arkansas Crime Information Center also confirmed that the case is ongoing, but would not elaborate further.
“This is an open case and I can just refer you to the Arkansas State Police,” Stallings said.
Bail bonding businesses are overseen by a state licensing board.
L.E. Peters, director of the Arkansas Professional Bail Bondsman Licensing Board in Little Rock, also was contacted and acknowledged that Kathy’s Bail Bonds is under investigation, but would say little else.
“I cannot discuss anything that’s part of a current investigation,” Peters said.
The bail bonding board’s responsibilities, according to its Web site, are:
•Administering the Professional Bail Bondsman Examination weekly.
•Licensing those who pass the examination and otherwise qualify.
*Determining whether those who apply for an Arkansas bail bond company license qualify.
•Annually issuing renewal licenses to all qualified bail bondsmen and bail bond companies,
•Conducting investigations into violations of statutes and rules and regulations based on complaints and/or information received by the board office.
•Conducting hearings and taking disciplinary action where appropriate.
•Monitoring mandatory continuing professional education for professional bail bondsmen who hold a valid Arkansas license.
•Conducting yearly audits of bail bond companies to ensure compliance with record keeping and reporting requirements.
In earlier developments regarding Kathy’s Bail Bonds, Arkansas State Police two search warrants and seized computers and other items from the bonding busines, apparently in relation to the investigation that alleges misuse of police passwords to illegally obtain private information on local residents.
A few weeks ago, State Police special agents were seen searching the home and office of Chism, who resides in Alexander. At least four ASP cars were seen at each location by neighbors and acquaintances, and agents were observed removing boxes and computers from both buildings, several witnesses told the Courier.
Authorities reportedly are investigating how two local police passwords to the Arkansas Crime Information Center database were compromised and allegedly misused more than 1,200 times since last fall to access criminal, family and even financial background on unknowing people.
One of the passwords that was compromised was registered to the Bauxite Police Department and the other was to the Alexander Police Department, according to a source close the investigation who did not want to be named. It is not known who, if anyone, in those departments is under investigation for possibly compromising their passwords.
Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady reportedly contacted the ASP after learning that the ACIC was looking into an unusually large number of “hits” and suspicious activity on the two passwords, so he requested that the State Police officially look into the matter, he said recently.
On Friday, he said he could not elaborate on the case, other than to say it is ongoing.
Two neighbors and an acquaintance — all of whom asked not to be named — told the Courier previously that they had seen nearly a half-dozen unmarked police cars at Chism’s home on David Drive just outside Bryant near Alexander and her office at 718 S. Neeley St. in Benton. Special agents, most of whom were in plainclothes, were carrying boxes and boxes of materials and computers out of both buildings and loading them into the police cars, the witnesses said.
The ACIC first began investigating the passwords’ compromise and misuse a few weeks ago following allegations that two law enforcement officers in Saline County gave out their passwords to a private resident to use for personal and professional gain. It was unknown at that time who specifically was being investigated for allegedly using the passwords illegally.
Brad Cazort, administrator of field services for the ACIC, confirmed at that time that the investigation was ongoing, but would not comment on any specifics. But a source close to the investigation who did not want to be identified told the Courier that an officer from Bauxite and one from Alexander have allowed at least one person to use their passwords to ACIC to access personal information on hundreds, possibly thousands, of local residents — including information that could lead to identity theft.
“There have been allegations made in Saline County, and we are looking into it,” Cazort said. “If anything comes from that investigation, it will be handed over to (Saline County) Prosecuting Attorney (Ken Casady).”
ACIC is the state agency responsible for providing information to law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies in Arkansas. It oversees a comprehensive data system that is accessible by criminal justice agencies in more than 250 locations in Arkansas. This state system is interfaced with the FBI National Crime Information Center as well as similar systems in the other 49 states. ACIC also collects and publishes statistics on crime and manages the crime victim notification system and the state sex offender registry.
The database includes not only criminal background information, but it also includes driver’s license data and photos, Social Security numbers, every known address current and past, employer information, family names and information and other data that would make identity theft a very real possibility.
According to the ACIC Web site, “with the exception of crime statistics, access to most data maintained in the ACIC system is restricted to governmental criminal justice officials for criminal justice purposes, and is specifically exempted from the Freedom of Information Act.”
Only certain law enforcement officials are given access to the center’s information. Under the law, a law enforcement official is supposed to have probable cause before accessing the ACIC database on a suspect, such as after pulling someone over for a traffic offense or during an investigation for a criminal offense.
The source close to the investigation told the Courier that the Alexander password that was compromised had more than 1,200 “hits” on ACIC recorded since October — which is perceived as being much higher than average for a Saline County municipality, much less for a small one such as Alexander, which had a population of about 650 according to 2007 U.S. Census numbers.
Officials with ACIC could not confirm whether 1,200 hits for a town the size of Alexander was normal, saying it was part of the investigation and that information was not yet complete.
If personal information was available to someone who was not a law enforcement official, it could be used for fraud, officials and the source noted.
Kristal Kuykendall and Richard Duke of the Courier contributed to this report.
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