Some black and Hispanic state lawmakers are worried that too many poor minorities are stuck in jail because they can't afford to pay a bail bondsmen.
Kentucky no longer utilizes the bail bondsman system.
Pretrial Services was created by legislation in 1976 as part of the Bail Bond Reform Act, which also eliminated the commercial bail bonding system. With strong support from Gov. Julian Carroll, the General Assembly made it a criminal offense to post a bond for profit in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This innovative approach initiated a statewide pretrial services program. Previously, many rural areas were not served commercially. In spite of a constitutional presumption of innocence, under the commercial system, a citizen could be substantially penalized for paying a non-refundable fee to obtain releases from custody. Contingent to such contracts, the bondsman agreed to return the defendant to court in the event of a failure to appear; however, most absconders were located and returned by regular law enforcement personnel.
