Founded in early 2001 as a successor to the former National Association of Bail Insurance Companies, the American Bail Coalition was originally designed as a non-profit trade organization resolved to educating governmental decision makers and the public about the benefits of a public private partnership between state government and the surety bail industry. Through that mission, the American Bail
Coalition was dedicated to the long term growth and sustainability of the surety bail industry. In October, 2013, the American Bail Coalition, in recognition of the previous mission and dedication, recast itself with the singular goal of developing a system of best practices to be adopted by state government that maximizes the pretrial release of criminal defendants, minimizes days between arrest and pretrial release of criminal defendants and accomplish both through means that protect public safety as an additional benefit. In that regard, the American Bail Coalition has expanded its mission and dedication to include creating a solution based decision making model which includes programs that are designed as drug & alcohol treatment release alternatives, mental health release alternatives, and post-conviction release alternatives. All of the American Bail Coalition release alternatives engage the surety bail bonding business in a professional, responsible, and transparent way as a criminal justice system partner. Through the creation of such a partnership, the American Bail Coalition intends to facilitate a conduit for pretrial release of criminal defendants in an economically sound way. Differing from its earlier path, the American Bail Coalition relies on meaningful and pragmatic solution based decision making models to craft resolution to jail overcrowding problems by creating symbiotic relationships between the premier insurance underwriters of bail bonds, the bail agents who provide the service of bail bonds to the public, judges, state legislators, law enforcement officials, mental health providers, drug and alcohol treatment providers and other criminal justice stakeholders. As a foundational cornerstone to those relationships, the American Bail Coalition advocates open and reciprocal communication between decision-makers, the surety bail industry and other criminal justice partners, as well as access to information to all criminal justice stakeholders to ensure timely and safe release of pretrial defendants. Throughout its process, the American Bail Coalition remains committed to building solutions that maximize the efficiency of resources without the need for added infrastructural or financial investment where possible, or ideally reducing the investment of state government funding as a solution to jail overcrowding.
