JONESBORO, Ark. — Prosecutors in Craighead County for the Second Judicial District have been lowering bonds without the approval of a judge.
This was in violation of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure.
NEA Report confirmed with Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood on Monday, June 29, that the practice had been taking place until last week, after Judge Tommy Fowler stated in court that one of his bonds had apparently been lowered without the approval of a judge.
The prosecutor said the practice had stopped and all bond modifications would be signed by a judge in the future.
The Case That Revealed It
Robert Sanders was arrested on June 17. District Judge Tommy Fowler set his initial bond at $250,000 cash or surety before his first court appearance on June 22.
With NEA Report in the courtroom covering bond hearings, Fowler was about to leave it in place when he noticed that a deputy prosecutor emailed jailers directing them to lower the bond to $150,000. The judge expressed frustration in court, asking why he should bother showing up to set bonds in the first place. Bond decisions determine whether a defendant remains in jail before trial, whether they are released, and what conditions are attached to that release.
After that, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office for all emails from prosecutors about bond modifications in the past month.
The first email we received in the response shows Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Katherine Calaway reducing bond on Sanders while also adding an ankle monitor. There is no mention of a judge being involved. NEA Report confirmed that no judge approved this, according to the prosecutor’s office.
It was not a one-time incident, though.
Throughout June, the same deputy prosecutor modified bonds with no mention of judicial approval for numerous defendants.
In one email, Calaway requested bond reductions for 31 different defendants as “agreed bond reductions.”
Even if the prosecutors and defense agree, judicial approval is still required – a step that the elected prosecutor admitted on Monday had been mistakenly skipped.
The Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure state under Rule 9 that a “judicial officer” is responsible for setting bail and conditions. Rule 1.6 (c) defines the judicial officer as a person in whom is vested the authority to preside over the trial of criminal cases. In other words, a judge.
That is not a prosecuting attorney, who is defined separately and specifically in Rule 1.6 (b).
Prosecutor Responds
Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood said some of her deputies who were trained by previous administrations had been taught that practice. She stated that it had occurred for years, and possibly a decade or longer.
However, Hagood acknowledged the practice was wrong under the rules. She said that after learning about it last week, it was stopped.
Still, she defended the actions and emphasized that nothing nefarious was going on.
NEA Report has not found evidence that any prosecutor personally benefited from the practice.
Hagood said that statutorily, the law allows the sheriff to release inmates due to medical or overcrowding issues. She said the mistake was that bonds were lowered instead of being reduced to own-recognizance, or OR. However, she defended that as more reasonable than simply releasing the inmate OR, because a bondsman would be responsible for ensuring their appearance.
“Do you want the prosecutors involved in making those decisions or not? I think the sheriff would say, ‘yes, we do.'”
The prosecutor noted that after voters did not approve a new jail tax to expand the Craighead County Detention Center, overcrowding issues were only getting worse.
“That jail tax didn’t pass, so we’re not getting more jail beds in Craighead County,” Hagood said. “And this is the price we pay.”
Hagood stated that no one knew anything was wrong, or cared, “until right now.” She reserved some of her sharpest criticism for District Judge Tommy Fowler, who raised the issue in court last week. She did not hide her disappointment with the soon-to-be circuit judge. Her frustration was apparent.
“We’re trying to save the county money,” Hagood said. “To keep the people we’re scared of in custody and the ones we are mad at or annoyed at out of custody. We can’t keep everybody.”
NEA Report contacted Judge Fowler about the subject, but he declined to comment.
For now, Hagood said the practice has stopped, and future bond modifications will require a judge’s signature.
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I think Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood had better hope District Judge Tommy Fowler isn’t in charge of setting HER bond.
I think the deputy prosecutor and the prosecutor should be fired and brought up on fraud charges they violated the law what argument do they think oks violating the same laws they are sworn to uphold
My son was one of these that was told his bond was possibly being reduced. Then in the end the prosecutor said no. This should have never had happened. His mental state has not been good this week at all after this. When you have been in jail for a lengthy time they tend to hear what they want to hear. He heard he was coming home on a 20,000.00 bond. He was so excited. Then it didn’t happen he was heartbroken. Sad.
This is completely misrepresented. This is very personal to me and it disgusts me. To accuse some of the finest prosecutors, including Sonia and Katie of wrongdoing is so wrong it is criminal in itself. They are a Blessing to our community. This is an excellent prosecutor‘s office and an excellent District Attorney in Sonia Hagood. We have a lot of things in this area in the criminal law arena that needs investigated. For sure. This isn’t one of them. Investigate why the health department hasn’t been out to review the Craighead County Jail. If they ever did, they would shut it down in an instant. Investigate why we have one ankle monitor agent with a monopoly and is mentioned to defendants by name IN COURT. Investigate who is responsible for WHY Greene County’s criminal justice system has been ran and controlled by one law firm for fifty years or more with no other lawyers having any opportunity to be included. Investigate why local judges led the charge to the Arkansas General Assembly to make certain that ten percent of every outrageously high bond was actually paid in cash rather than allowing collateral and payments which had been the case for at least thirty years. Investigate why bonds are having to be reduced by our fine prosecutors because they are set so high that people are required to be piled in on top of one another at that disgusting county jail. There are lots of people benefitting off the backs of local criminal defendants – who let me remind you are presumed INNOCENT – to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bond companies are making a fortune off the lowest socio-economic class of our community. Who else is??? There are lots of things to investigate – but the Second Judicial Circuit District Attorney and the prosecutor’s office is not to blame. As for these bond changes, at that stage of the proceedings, those prosecutors know the defendants 10x better than the judges do and they know the defendants’ cases 20x better at the stage where bail is set. And judges rarely disagree with the amount of bail a prosecutor requests anyway. This is a nonstory but there are MANY real stories out there.
So, tell us ONE true story, Hughbie. We’ll wait…. bet you don’t have one that’s true, because it’s pretty apparent you fell for these crooked prosecutors, for years before this was even reported. Kudos to Stan for shining light on the cockroaches (even though have very poor excuses). Truth stings as it should.
Mr. hughes you must kiss ass for a living! Point blank period they broke the law by changing what a judge set in place. Katie looks like coke head that acts without regard. She believes she is above the law. Sonia is just as guilty. Kickback loving ladies thats for dang sure. Craighead County should be investigated top to bottom. But will that ever happen..hell no corruption runs to damn deep here.
Why in the world would you make such a foolish accusation? Do you know what intellectually lazy means? It means you aren’t stupid and I don’t mean to imply that you are, but it means that you don’t put forth the energy and the effort to think. To gather information from informed sources. To consider different perspectives. To first attack your own argument to ensure its soundness.
This particular issue that is being terribly misrepresented and misinformed is very important to me. I have worked 28 years on the front lines of criminal defense in the State of Arkansas and primarily in Northeast Arkansas. I have seen every prosecutor. Every judge who was first a lawyer and some before they even became a lawyer. Some since they were kids. I know them all. Well. I know the criminal justice system in Northeast Arkansas. Well. This is what I do. It is my way of contributing to my community. Through many years of service in the Arkansas Public Defender Commission in nearly every county in the Second Judicial Circuit. I know communities in Northeast Arkansas from their top contributors and best people to the people who need our help the most.
I gather my information personally. I gather it from other sources that I know are reliable and from those who have the access to know. When I talk about what you do – ignore me. When I talk about what I do and what I live – Listen.
Let me set the record straight in this foolish issue. Anyone who wants to allege that a member of the prosecutor’s office is unfit in any way, needs to know the following: the office is full of highly professional people with organizational skills that better than I have ever seen anywhere. The job the staff, Dena Hooton, Jessica Davis, Sarah Burnett and many others do is something to behold. And specifically as to Katie Calaway and Sonia Hagood, know this – Katie Calaway, has been a trendsetter and progressive leader in improving our prosecutor’s office for years. Several years ago, in conjunction with COVID and some unexpected dismissals and resignations, she did the lion’s share of work salvaging the Craighead County Prosecutor’s Office when it was so far behind it wasn’t easy to see it ever coming out of it. She literally saved it. Also, back during Covid, the sitting district judge for Clay & Greene County had been lying for over three months about having bond hearings when he wasn’t having bond hearing because he was terrified of contracting Covid. There were people incarcerated with no way to be released for over 80 days. Katie worked day and night at the direction of Judge Chris Thyer, who to his credit demanded the problem be fixed the minute he realized it. How did he fix it? He told Katie Calaway to make it happen immediately and developed a way to get Clay County the means to set bail on incarcerated persons. He knew whoo he could count on.
To this very day, nearly every single officer in the Second Judicial Drug Task Force – one the biggest, most important, most respected Drug Task Forces in the WORLD, have been trained in part by Katie Calaway. Their procedures, their policies, how to legally search, how to process an arrest – you name it – Katie taught them. Hell, she established many of the policies they abide by ever single day. Her experience, her wisdom, her training protect your communities from drugs and drug-related violence 24/7/365.
Sonia Hagood has been involved in the determination of every trial case I have had giving her office. She is there. She asks the tough questions herself. She approves the tough answers. She answers for the HEAT. And she does it with many things in mind, including protecting her communities she serves. But also she protects her deputy prosecutors. I know. She’s defended them to me personally.
The office of the prosecutors in the Second Judicial Circuit are,and I mean this, masters in their craft. They are experts in criminal law. They are experienced at trying cases to juries involving crucial issues and horrendous crimes. They can relate to juries like they’ve known the jury members for years. They work with defense counsel. They listen ajd they demand. They give and they take. They make sound choices that not only punish perpetrators of crime, but they help drug addicts, they give opportunities to the convicted that help those convicted to get a boost toward being a better person and living a better life to contribute to our community. THEY LOVE AND CARE ABOUT PEOPLE, INCLUDING DEFENDANTS.
So if Katie Calaway took an unreasonable bond and amended that bond to something that worked for everyone in the criminal justice system. GOOD!! How many of you know that if judges follow the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure, every single detained accused individual that comes before him for bail is supposed to be released on the own recognizance unless they pose a specific, articulable and otherwise in preventable risk to the community or are likely to not appear at future court proceedings? And whether or not she broke a rule in doing so, which remains at issue as her explanation may ultimately prove to be correct, then SO WHAT! Have some context in terms of what she did, why, what’s was its effect, what was her reason, who did it benefit, etc. Is anyone perfect? No. All of you talking about locking her up, firing her, etc. are being absolutely ridiculous. You don’t toss aside one of the best people and most beneficial people in your lives (yes, your lives), for something so trivial. Don’t be ridiculous and intellectually lazy. And don’t attack or accuse. If you have questions or if you want more information, I would be glad to discuss.
So, tell us the truth. How many beds do the state currently hold at the CC/JO jail? Are there other beds available at other jails that CC/JO would have to pay for to house convicts? If you really “know the system”, you will have these answers. Isn’t it true that this is an option within the ARDOC system?🤔
“And whether or not she broke a rule in doing so, which remains at issue as her explanation may ultimately prove to be correct, then SO WHAT!” LOL. If you were a lawyer, I’d suspend your license…oh wait:
Mr. Hughes doesn’t seem to understand the law regarding bail bonds. As a former bail bondsman, I do understand and will explain it. The two most commonly set bonds in Arkansas are cash bonds and surety bonds.
A surety bond is a financial guarantee provided by a state-licensed bail bondsman who promises the court that the full bail amount will be paid if the defendant fails to appear in court. Instead of paying the full bond to the court, the defendant (or a family member or friend of) will pay a bond agent a non-refundable fee (commonly 10% of the total bond amount) to post the bond.
The bondsman posts the bond and the defendant is released. The 10% fee is how the bondsman makes money. You will never get this money back regardless of how the case turns out. They assume the risk and nobody works for free so the 10% is fair. Not a penny of the bondsman’s fee goes to a judge or any other officer of the court. The only beneficiary of the fee is the bondsman and the company that backs him/her. Most people prefer this type of bond. An example: Judge sets Joe Blow’s bond at $10,000. Joe Blow’s mom decides that $1,000 to a bondsman is less financially debilitating than posting the $10,000 bond herself.
A cash bond requires the defendant (or someone on their behalf) to pay the total dollar amount of the bond directly to the court or jail in cash. No bondsman is needed for this. If the defendant attends all court dates, the court will return 100% of the bond to the person who paid it once the case is resolved. The only exception is court costs and fines the defendant may owe when the case is resolved will be deducted from the bond before it’s refunded. Even if a a defendant has a surety bond, cash can be posted. In the end this is better because you avoid paying the bondsman his fee. But most people can’t afford to post the full bond amount in cash.
I love how all these experts are too damn cowardly to post under their name.
Joe, I read your long comment and I respect your position and in the grand scheme of things what you are proposing may very well be how things are supposed to work but if Katie was, and it appears only she was, lowering those bonds and making it appear as if it was court approved, which is what we get from the story, then she has crossed the line no matter what high alcalades you bestow upon her. The rules are there for a reason and there is no good excuse for violating the rules especially in the judicial system. If she don’t have to follow the rules then who the hell does? Lawyers??? Baliffs? Judges? Bonds are too high and bonds are too low… it goes both ways, but a single deputy prosecutor doesn’t get to decide which one is which without taking it to the judge with the defense a part of it and giving the judge the opportunity to hear both sides and make the decision. That’s what he/she gets paid for… not to hand it off as a shortcut to a single deputy prosecutor who apparently was doing it without even her boss knowing it was going on. That’s bullshit and there’s no glossing over it by you going to make it look good. Just my 2 cents… and no offense to you.
Joseph Hughes..what exactly would you possibly do if you knew the names?!? Would you have prosecutor handle us? Sounds like you got a hand in the pocket too. Not a single one of us is a coward. You sound cowardly by sticking up for someone who broke the law that they swore to up hold.