High Bond In Boone County Causes Dispute

Yesterday, The Columbia Daily Tribune published a report regarding a $750,000 bond posted by an agent of Harold McBee of Chillicothe. The Tribune reports that Kristopher Prince, 18, was released from the Boone County Jail after posting the bond with McBee. Prince is charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action in a shooting incident in which another teenager died.

The report said that Prince spent more than five months in the county jail before his grandparents put together enough money to secure a $750,000 bond from McBee. The Princes agreed to pay $3,000 down, another $3,000 seven days after Prince’s release, and $1,500 a month until they paid a total of $75,000, or 10 percent of the bond. The family’s collateral included a 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a 1986 Chevrolet pickup and a home on Sackets Road in Boone County.

The day after Prince made bond the prosecutor alleged that he had jailhouse recordings indicating that Prince may attack witnesses to the shooting. Prince’s bond was increased to $1,000,000 cash only and a capias warrant was issued. Prince was re-arrested the same day.

The Tribune reported that despite Kristopher Prince’s arrest and his higher bond, McBee wants the Prince family to comply with the original agreement. "We performed a service," he said. "We earned that fee by getting him out of jail."

Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Knight said that after learning of Prince’s release from jail, he called the circuit clerk’s office and learned McBee’s agency didn’t have enough collateral to insure the $750,000 bond, with the family assets listed as $657,000, at most.

Since Prince’s release and re-arrest, Prince’s grandparents, Lawrence and Edith Prince, have filed a consumer complaint with the DIFP. The report said that the DIFP is trying to determine whether the $750,000 bond is in effect. Emily Kampeter of the DIFP said that state officials are investigating the assets of McBee Bail Bonds.

The 13th Judicial Circuit has since issued an order regarding the posting of bonds. "The Circuit Clerk should be contacted before a surety bond in excess of $250,000 is accepted. The Court may require additional collateral on any bond when it appears from the information available to the Court that the surety is without sufficient assets to cover the bond requested and all outstanding bonds for which the surety is liable."

See Post on Credit Bonding 4/20/2006