Bail payment service allows arrestees to pay with credit

An arrest can ruin a student’s Saturday night, but sleeping in the slammer might become a phenomenon of the past with a credit or debit card transaction.

Government Payment Service Inc., or GovPayEXP, a service that allows people to bail themselves out of jail on the spot without cash or a bondsman, is seeing an increase in business from the summer months now that IU students are back in town.

In September, 51 payments were processed at the Monroe County Jail compared to 32 in June and July and 38 in August. On average, 42 transactions are made each month during the school year while 32 are made during the summer months, said the company’s vice president Debby Conrad.

Dale Conrad, CEO of GovPayEXP, created the company in Indianapolis in 1997, and it has been used in Monroe County for almost nine years. Today GovPayEXP has more than 1,100 contractors in 33 states and expect to process from $150 to $175 million in transactions this year, Conrad said.

“I realized that law enforcement and jails had a problem with collecting money because people didn’t always have cash in their pockets,” he said.

If an arrestee has a $100 cash bail, he or she can call GovPayEXP – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – and give the operator his or her name and credit card information. The operator will process it through the credit card company to make sure the money is available and add a fee according to the bond price.

Shortly after, the police department will receive a confirmation that the arrestee has paid, and the arrestee is released.

“It’s kind of like Home Shopping Network if you will. ... It’s very simple, it takes about three-and-a-half minutes over the phone,” Conrad said.

All payments can be made on the Internet, through the call center or a touch-tone voice-recognition system.

Remote bail payment is the newest feature. If the arrestee has no method of payment at hand, he or she can call a relative or friend. This is designed for “out-of-towners” who cannot make it to the jail.

The service benefits the jail by eliminating overnight stays; however, the jail generates “absolutely no income,” said Karen Bridges, the administrative coordinator who handles bailouts at the Monroe County Correctional Center.

A lot of people have taken advantage of GovPayEXP, especially students, she said.
The service can also be used to pay taxes, traffic tickets and utility bills. The next step will be to enter the university book store realm, he said.

Now in the Bloomington area, GovPayEXP deals with the Monroe County Clerk for fines, traffic and child support payments and the Monroe County Probation Department, said Rebecca Simpson Holloway of GovPayEXP.

“It’s always a win-win-win situation – the jail really doesn’t want to have you there for minor offenses,” Conrad said. “You certainly want to get out because jail is not somewhere you want to get up in the morning and brush your teeth, and it’s a win for us because it helps make our business successful.”