Posted on 09/06/2001 7:46:21 AM PDT by lonestar
BY MIKE LOUT - In a surprise move Jasper District Attorney Guy James Gray filed the paperwork in District Court on Tuesday asking the bond be forfeited on five different defendants who failed to appear as promised on the 22nd of this month in connection with various crimes they were charged with.
The petition filed by Gray asks the court to order various bonding companies that guaranteed the appearance of the defendants to pay a total of $75,000 dollars to the county.
Gray’s actions come following a series of stories aired over the last two weeks, which revealed the county did not have a procedure or policy in place to collect the delinquent bonds. It is estimated the failure to do so over the last 20 years or so may has resulted in thousands and thousands of dollars slipping through the cracks at the courthouse during times when the county officials sometimes had to raise taxes to pay the cost of keeping county government going.
There is no word yet whether or not the procedures will be carried out in county court. Just last week several defendants also failed to appear in county court as well and county Judge Joe Folk was made aware orders for the forfeiture of bond as far back as 1995 have been signed but have never been acted on.
Gray has also been seeking a presidential appointment while not doing the job he was responsible for doing.
Mike Lout, owner of KJAS, the local radio station, has been named Texas Broadcaster ot the Year, three straight years ,broke the story with his investigative reporting.
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