A different kind of bail bondsman
I Will Not Call Your Family.
Some bail bond companies buy arrest data the moment it posts and start calling everyone connected to the defendant — before the family even knows what happened. Chad Conley does not do this. He never has.
855-BAD-CHADWhat Some Companies Actually Do
This is not a rumor. This is a documented industry practice. Here is exactly how it works:
Arrest records go public
In California, booking information becomes public record within hours of an arrest. Name, charges, bail amount — all of it.
Companies scrape the data
Some bail bond companies have built automated systems to pull that data the moment it posts. They are watching the databases in real time.
They run background checks on the family
Not on the defendant. On the family. They find names, phone numbers, addresses. Ex-spouses. In-laws. Adult children. Siblings. Grandparents.
They start calling
And they tell whoever answers: 'Your loved one asked me to call.' That is almost always a lie. Nobody in a jail cell called them. They bought the data.
The family finds out about the arrest from a stranger
Before the defendant has had a chance to call anyone themselves. Before anyone knows the full story. Before anyone has had a chance to process what happened.
A real story — name changed
The Man Who Walked In Crying
A man came into Chad's office. He was a grown man. He was crying.
He had been pulled over. Someone approached his car window. He was arrested for soliciting a prostitute. He had not been convicted of anything. He had not entered a plea. Under the law, he was innocent until proven guilty.
Before he could call his wife himself, a bail bond company had already called her. And his mother. And his sister. And his brother-in-law. Not just the immediate family — the extended family. All of them got a call from a stranger telling them exactly what he had been arrested for.
He asked Chad: how is that innocent until proven guilty? How can they do that? How can they call my whole family and tell them what I was arrested for before I even had a chance to explain anything?
Chad did not have a good answer. Because there is no good answer. What those companies did was legal. It was also wrong.
Some people will say: if he did something like that, everyone should know. Chad has heard that argument. He disagrees. An arrest is not a conviction. The legal system exists for a reason. And even if someone did something wrong, their family deserves to hear it from them — not from a stranger trying to make a commission.
"He was a grown man. He was crying. His whole family found out from a stranger before he could say a word."
— Chad Conley
A second story — name changed
The 22-Year-Old Who Got Out of Jail and Found His Life Already Gone
A 22-year-old was at a college party. A girl accused him of rape. He was arrested. Bail was set at $100,000.
His parents had never dealt with anything like this. They had barely heard of a bail bondsman. They did not know what to do. They were terrified.
Before they could even process what was happening, the calls started coming in. Not just to his parents — to his grandparents. His uncles. His brothers. Every number connected to him that could be found in a background check database. All of them getting calls from strangers saying: your son, your grandson, your nephew — he's sitting in jail. For rape. Do you want to help get him out?
The family panicked. They were like deer in headlights. They had never been through anything like this. They did not know that the arrest was not a conviction. They did not know that the charge was not a verdict. They heard the word and they reacted the way any family would react when a stranger calls them at night and tells them something like that.
They bonded him out. Through one of those companies.
He got out of jail. And that is when he found out what had happened. His entire extended family had been called. Everyone knew. The bond company had their commission. And a 22-year-old — who had not been convicted of anything, who had not entered a plea, who was legally innocent — walked out of jail into a family that had already been told the worst version of the story by a stranger who had never met him.
That is what these companies do. They get paid. And they leave the defendant to deal with the wreckage.
"He got out of jail and found out his entire family had already been told. The bond company had their commission. He had nothing left to explain."
— Chad Conley
Why It Is Especially Wrong for Sensitive Charges
Cold calling is bad for any arrest. But it is worst for charges that carry social stigma — solicitation, sex crimes, domestic violence, drug offenses. These are exactly the cases where families need time to process, where the defendant deserves the chance to explain, and where a stranger's cold call does the most damage.
The charge is embarrassing
The family's first reaction to hearing it from a stranger is often to assume guilt. The defendant never gets a fair hearing within their own family.
The defendant is legally innocent
An arrest is not a conviction. A charge is not a verdict. The system is supposed to protect that distinction. Cold calling destroys it within the defendant's own family before the case has even started.
The damage is permanent
Once a stranger has called your grandmother and told her what you were arrested for, that cannot be undone. Marriages end. Families fracture. Careers are destroyed. Over an arrest that may result in no conviction at all.
The bond company gets paid either way
They collect their commission and move on. The defendant is left to rebuild relationships that were destroyed before he ever had a chance to speak for himself.
Chad's Policy — Simple and Absolute
- Chad does not buy arrest data from any source.
- Chad does not run background checks on defendants' family members.
- Chad does not cold-call anyone connected to an arrest.
- If you call Chad, it is because you chose to call him.
- Every conversation is confidential. Chad does not discuss cases with anyone outside the immediate cosigner relationship.
- This policy has never had an exception. It never will.
"I don't do this. I never have. If you call me, it's because you chose to."
— Chad Conley, Licensed Bail Agent #1843258
Why the Industry Stays Silent
Trade associations know this is happening. Surety companies know. Most agents know. Nobody says anything publicly because nobody wants to be the one who called it out. That silence is costing the industry the public's trust — and it is handing ammunition to the legislators who want to eliminate bail entirely.
Chad is saying it publicly because it needs to be said. The families who come to him deserve to know that not every bail bondsman operates this way.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know a bail bondsman won't call my family?
Is it legal for bail bond companies to call my family?
What if I need a bail bond but I don't want anyone to know about the arrest?
Does Chad handle sensitive charges like solicitation or sex crimes?
How do I find a bail bondsman who won't cold-call my family?
Call Chad — Complete Discretion, Every Time
All of Southern California. 24/7. No cold calls. No data scraping. No judgment.