LV bail bond firms file suit against court, city

Bill Gang

Wednesday, April 29, 1998 | 10:36 a.m.

Fourteen Las Vegas bail bond companies have filed lawsuits against the Las Vegas Municipal Court and the city over a $40-per-bond administrative fee that the firms claim was illegally collected.

The two lawsuits, filed by attorney Robert Griffy, are seeking reimbursement of more than $360,000 paid between 1991 and 1997, when the Nevada Legislature passed a statute authorizing the collection of the administrative fee.

According to the lawsuits, the fee system was challenged in 1995 and the state attorney general's office rendered an opinion that the fee was improper.

But the city refused to follow the opinion, declaring the conclusion "weak" and not binding on the court that handles traffic offenses and misdemeanor crimes.

In a Nov. 26 letter to Griffy, Deputy City Attorney Stephen Jones warned the bail bond companies that the city could terminate their business relationships if the fee collection was challenged in court.

"Just as the Municipal Court has the unfettered discretion to agree or refuse to do business with any bondsman, your clients have always had the option not to do business in Municipal Court," Jones wrote.

"Your clients would be well advised to consider the wisdom of proceeding anything further with their claims."

Because of the veiled threat, the lawsuits are asking the District Court to issue injunctions against the city preventing retaliatory action.

At issue is whether a municipal court system has the authority to mandate its own administrative fees above what may be authorized by statute.

In the 1995 opinion, Deputy Attorney General John E. Cunningham III concluded that since municipal courts are created by state statute, the courts have only the powers specifically given by the statutes.

Jones, in his letter, called that a "startling conclusion" and said the city's position is that courts have inherent powers to control their administrative processes.

Whether that includes the power to set and collect fees will now be determined by a District Court judge, whose conclusion the Municipal Court is required to accept -- at least until the Nevada Supreme Court speaks on the issue.

The companies named in the lawsuit assigned to District Judge Gene Porter include Z Zoom Bail Bonds, North Town Bail Bonds, Angel's Latino Bail Bonds, AA Butler Bail Bonds, Mainstreet Bonding, Metro Bail Bonds and Fremont Bonding. That lawsuit asks for refunds of nearly $182,000.

The lawsuit assigned to District Judge Kathy Hardcastle includes Blackjack Bonding, Pat's Bail Bonds, All American Bail Bonds, Signature Bail Bonds, Mainstreet Bonding, Mary's Bail Bonds, Mike's Bail Bonds and Able Bail Bonds.

The amount sought in that legal action is nearly $186,000.