New Mexico-Removing Felons from Bail Bond Business

While we struggle to remove felons from the bail bond industry in Missouri, Tony Madrid is fighting the same battle in New Mexico. I’ve met Tony Madrid. He has been a leader in the bail bond industry for over 30 years.

Tony and Gerald Rodriguez met with members of the Public Regulation Commission to complain that licensing and enforcement in the state is so lax that convicted felons have been able to be licensed under numerous Social Security numbers and company names, despite laws that prohibit it.

Rodriguez and Madrid both said they have tried to raise their concerns with the state Insurance Division, which oversees licensing, but have not gotten an adequate response. “It is having an adverse effect on the people of New Mexico, the bail bonding industry, and it is also making a mockery of the state law," Rodriguez said. He also said a bail bondsman working in Farmington had his license revoked in Florida, and should not have been licensed in New Mexico.

Madrid said a bill was passed last year prohibiting convicted felons from obtaining a bail bonding license, but it was amended to allow those already licensed to stay in business. Rodriguez said even with that amendment, the Criminal Offender Employment Act of 1978 should be enough to prevent a convicted felon from getting a license.

Alice Garcia of the PRC Investigations Division said the state is looking into Rodriguez' complaints, but said the investigations take time. "As simple as it sounds, it is not," she said. "You have to hear everybody's side." Commission Chairman Ben R. Lujan said the PRC may need to "cast a wider net," as opposed to simply responding to complaints.

Commissioner David King said when he was working in the corrections industry, they had a policy not to hire felons, and to fire those who were hired by mistake. "They should not be working in this area, and if they are getting licensed we need to clean that up," King said.