Joplin Globe Continues Bail Bond Investigation

The Joplin Globe has printed another report investigating Jerry Mitzner Jr., a Missouri licensed bail bond agent with a criminal record, including felony convictions. According to the Globe, Mitzner has seven convictions in Kansas ranging from aggravated robbery to indecent solicitation of a child. In Joplin, Mitzner also has been issued 41 misdemeanor and ordinance violations since 1995. He was found guilty on 24 of those charges, including harassment, obstruction, and driving while intoxicated.

Mitzner’s municipal rap sheet so alarmed Joplin Municipal Court Administrator Lawrence Myers that on Dec. 6, 2005, he wrote the insurance department to ask, “Does Mr. Mitzner meet the standards to be licensed by the State of Missouri Insurance Department as a bail bond agent?” Myers also said, “I do, however, have concerns regarding his extensive history in this court and giving sanction of such by putting him on our approved list of qualified bail bond agents.” On May 5, five months later, Stephen R. Gleason, an insurance department senior counsel, replied. “The (department) issued a bail bond agent license to Mr. Mitzner because it determined that there were no statutory grounds to deny the license,” Gleason told the Globe. Gleason referred questions to department spokesman Matt Barton. “The bottom line here is that the department as well does have some questions about whether he would be qualified, based upon those municipal infractions,” Barton said. But Mitzner’s attorney, Peter C. Edwards, said his client is well within his rights to have the license.

The Globe reports that Insurance Department spokesman Matt Barton also said that Mitzner’s felonies are too old to affect his license, but the municipal offenses may provide some statutory authority for the department to begin a review and determine if there is enough evidence to warrant a complaint to be filed with the Administrative Hearing Commission. A state law was changed in 2004, which now says that the bail bond licensees cannot have felony convictions in the last 15 years. The law was changed by Missouri Professional Bail Bond Association, who wrote and backed the legislation. Virgil “Lee” Jackson, who was an association director, wanted the law changed because of his felony convictions. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Bob Behnen of Kirksville, who accepted campaign contributions from Jackson, Jack Allison, and the bail bond association.

The department has previously granted bail bond licenses to felons, but not general bail bond licenses to felons. The department changed that position last fall, and ordered a "crackdown" of all licensed felons, after the federal arrest of Lee Jackson. Since that time, the department has filed complaints with the AHC asking for discipline against license holders who are convicted felons. The Department of Insurance said it would be reviewing the licenses of all those currently licensed and of new applicants. The authority, the department said, comes from Missouri Supreme Court Rule 33.17, which states that felons cannot act as surety in bail bond cases. The Department of Insurance asserts that “no felons” rule applies to general licensees, and also bail bond and surety recovery agents. No ruling has been published by the Administrative Hearing Commission on the department’s recent complaints against felons with bail bond licenses. In the last Globe report, Missouri Professional Bail Bond Association president Jack Allison argued that the “no felony” rule applies only to general bail bondsmen. Allison is the general agent for Mitzner and was the general agent for Lee Jackson until his federal arrest.

The Globe obtained a copy of Mitzner’s application for licensure as a bail bond agent. The application asks, “Have you ever been convicted of or pled nolo contendere (no contest) to any misdemeanor or felony, or currently have pending misdemeanor or felony charges filed against you (misdemeanor does not mean minor traffic violations)?” Mitzner answered “no.”

See the original documents obtained by the Globe here, including Mitzner's bail bond application, letter from the local court, and Dept. of Insurance response.