Possible Illegal Act Commited by DC Officials

Ok, I don't know if this is the right place to post this, if not please move it to where it needs to be..

I have a long story to tell so you might want to get a cup of coffee...

My friend is currently jailed in Ford County Jail for failure to appear in court for a debt. it falls under the following state statute:

kansasstatutes.lesterama.org/Chapter_61/Article_36/61-3608.html

Everyone at the jail and courthouse keep telling me that this is not a criminal case it is a civil case...

The bail has been set at the amount of my friends debt $7500 cash only, my friend really does not have the money, nor a job at the moment, and none of her family or friends have that much money either to pay her bail.

Although she did recently procure employment, keeping her in jail will ensure she no longer has it..

I cannot get a court date set for her. I have asked several times when her court date will be and have been told that it will be at the discretion of the creditor's attorney and that my friend will basically sit in jail until the bail is paid as the creditor's attorney is not returning phone calls to the jail to have the court date set...

I have tried contacting the jail to see when a court date will be set. I have tried contacting the courthouse they say to contact the jail, the jail says to contact the courthouse. I tried to get a bondsman to write a bond, he would have done it but the jail told him he could not due to the fact that it had to be cash only, he too asked when a court date would be set and was told that a court date might never be set, as my friend is at the mercy of the creditor's attorney and she would sit in jail as long as that attorney wants her to sit there.

She failed to appear, so the creditor got a default judgement, she failed to appear to the hearing in aid of execution, so they filed a citation to show cause for why she should not be tried for contempt of court, she failed to appear for that. This is the section of the KS statutes that covers it:

# 61-3606: Contempt. If a person fails to appear in response to an order for a hearing in aid of execution, or if a person who has been subpoenaed to testify at the hearing fails to appear or to testify concerning anything about which the person can lawfully be questioned, the court shall issue a citation for contempt to that person providing that the person must appear in court at a date and time specified to show cause why the debtor should not be held in contempt and punished for contempt. The citation for contempt does not need to be supported by affidavit or other verification.

History: L. 2000, ch. 161, § 67; L. 2002, ch. 157, § 14; July 1.

# 61-3607: Same; hearing; penalty. If on hearing, the court determines that a judgment debtor is guilty of contempt, the court may punish the person by a fine in an amount to be set by the court or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not to exceed 30 days, or both. The court may also order the person guilty of contempt to pay the reasonable attorney fees incurred by the judgment creditor in the filing of the contempt citation and the hearing thereon.

History: L. 2000, ch. 161, § 68; Jan. 1, 2001.

# 61-3608: Bench warrant; hearing; penalty. (a) If a person fails to comply with the requirements of K.S.A. 61-3606, and amendments thereto, or if it appears to the court that the person is hiding to avoid the process of the court or is about to leave the county for that purpose, the court may issue a bench warrant commanding the sheriff to whom it is directed to bring such person before the court to answer for contempt. The bench warrant does not need to be supported by affidavit or other verification. The court may make such orders concerning the release of the person pending the hearing as the court deems proper.

(b) When such person is brought before the court, a hearing shall be held to determine if the person should be punished for contempt. If the court determines that the person is guilty of contempt, the court may punish the person by a fine in an amount to be set by the court or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not to exceed 30 days, or both. The court may also order the person guilty of contempt to pay the reasonable attorney fees incurred by the judgment creditor in the filing of the bench warrant and the hearing thereon.

I'm so very frustrated...

I've tried calling the Ford county attorney's office but they couldn't talk to me about the case, said they aren't handling it. I've called the court house to see when her hearing date will be and am told that the next hearing will be a bond hearing and that they are waiting on the creditor's attorney to set that date (I don't understand that...).

I've talked to several attorney's, but none of them seem, to handle these types of cases, the best I got so far is one of the attorney's is attempting to contact the creditor's attorney for my friend. Some of the attorney's I've spoken to have told me that they think what is being done is illegal, as she has been sitting in the ford county jail now for almost 7 days and has not been brought before a judge at all!

I have a friend that's a policeman, he spoke to the sgt. of the jail to ask when the court date would be and what was going on, as right now she wasn't getting due process, the sgt. told him that the local court has them do this all the time, pick debtor's up for failure to appear, then hold them with their bail set at the amount they owe, then they hold them until someone pays their debt, my friend told the sgt. that they can't hold her forever, and that it doesn't seem very legal, the sgt. agreed but said they just do what the court tells them, he said she could be there for 5-8 weeks or more if no one pays...

This is really messed up.. It's like debtor's prison, created on legal loopholes and technicalities... I mean, I realize that failure to appear for court is a crime, and that's what she was arrested for, but how in the world can they just hold her forever without taking her before a judge?? It doesn't seem legal or constitutional...

The attorney's and Judge's know the law, shouldn't my friend have been taken before a judge asap (within 72 hours) after being arrested for a contempt hearing?? Everyone is due their day in court, and she shouldn't be punished before contempt is proven (each and every element). I find it interesting that the following exists on the Ford Count District Courts Webpage, KS Judicial Branch - District Courts - 16th District Rules

Anyone know what rule 23 is or was?? As I find it very suspect that it deals with the exact statute that involves my friend, bench warrants and hearings, it makes me wonder if local rule 23 is still being enforced...

Anyone know a lawyer that could file a Habeus Corpus motion to at least get her before a judge?

I tried to contacting the ACLU, but they said my friend needs to make the complaint to them in writing, and the jail won't let me see her to tell her any of this nor will they take anything to her to be signed..

So I'm not sure what else to do other than start trying to come up with the ransom, err, I mean bail money... Any suggestions?

take it to the news outlets? not globe, of course. that would probably be a waste, but maybe KAKE or KWCH? nothing like a little investigative journalism.....

Possibly contact the Attorney General's office in Topeka and see what they advise.

I used to work for a collection agency and I can tell you that if a judgement is taken for non payment of a debt they first either try to set a payment arrangement or if not then they garnish wages, or if the person is not employed it can go to a court date and try to settle that way. If a court date is set and you do not show, then you are in contempt then yes a warrant will be issued by the court. I think it was not very smart on your friends part to not show for 2-3 court dates. She has no one to blame for the situation she is in but herself. Many different oportunities at many different times are given to pay the debt before it gets to the situation she is in.
You said that she can not be held longer than 30 days (if I read it right) so she needs to either pay or do her time knowing she will be out in 30 days. I do not know the laws of how long someone should be held before you are allowed to see a judge though. you would probably need to speak to the attorney that issued the judgement but most collection agencies will not speak to you because it is not your debt. You sound like a very good friend to have and I wish your friend the best of luck with her situation.

Let this be a good lesson for everyone to pay their bills!!

Or at least acknowledge the debt and try to come to an agreement with them.

At the very least one should go to court when summoned. The fact that your friend is in the situation that she is in is her own doing. Sounds like she had plenty of opportunity to work something out and choose to ignore the orders of the court.. sorry but you will find no sympathy here! Perhaps next time this happens she will remember to appear. I would be the court has a review hearing in the near future. Until then sound like she is learning a valuable lesson.

Hutchinson News and Wichita Eagle are very good print otlets that do a good job of reporting news....

I don't know that media will do much about it, when she did skip court appointments...there IS consequences for things when people do that...theres a reason certain things are required and set in the system. Would I be happy about it if it were me? No. Not at all. But skipping your court dates, is a big no no...I would expect to probably stay in jail for 30 days if I didn't go to my court dates.

I don't disagree, Lucky - it's a little like thumbing your nose at the authorities, but I have no idea how much the debt is. I imagine the debtor is unwilling to get involved because they already laid it at the feet of the courts. And the courts are rightfully unwilling to discuss the matter with anyone other than the accused. Birdboy, you may already have exhausted what few opportunities you had to help. But it doesn't hurt to keep trying - it'll make you feel better, anyway.

The bail has been set at the amount of my friends debt $7500 cash only

Ok, I'm confused. I thought this was Birdboy's friend.

I believe Northstar was quoting Birdboy...without the little quotation thingys lol....

Oh. Makes sense. Disregard!

You mean Jolly is in jail?

I thought "debitors prison" went by the wayside many many years ago?

I think this person went to "dumbass prison". That's the only kind of person who would just skip out on a court date and think it wasn't going to bite them in the hind quarters. So now we are stuck paying the bill for a few weeks! Go figure!

I thought bail is always set at a first hearing by the Judge.
You mean they set bail without a hearing and without a judge?

If she was picked up on a warrant, the judge set bail when he signed the warrant.

But the thing is you can't go to jail for not paying a debt. Failing to appear would be a reason, but I don't think it is right for the court to collect a debt for a collection agency.

Here is what I found....

source - Debt Collectors Can't Put You In Jail For Debt

There are probably 2 or 3 different circumstances at work here and it would be hard to sort it all out. The bottom line is, though, that the judge shouldn't have been ignored when he sent an invitation to meet-and-greet in his courtroom. That's generally never a good idea.