Petty Charges, Princely Profits
Feature | Filed 7:00 a.m. 07.13.2018
A wide array of criminal charges send people to jail in northeastern Mississippi: the familiar DUI or robbery, or the less expected, such as public profanity or possession of beer in a dry county. But no matter the charge, odds are that if you land in lockup here, you will buy your freedom from Corbett Bonding.
Brian Corbett has sewn up the bail bond trade in this largely rural corner of the nation’s poorest state, minting millions from people charged with minor offenses. Operating out of a Tupelo storefront behind the county jail complex, Corbett Bonding pocketed $2.6 million in fees over a recent span of 18 months — 46 percent on bonds of less than $5,000, the ceiling for most misdemeanors in the state.
It was the highest take in Mississippi, according to a Marshall Project analysis of bonds tracked by the state Department of Insurance.
It is difficult to peer into the financial workings of the bail industry, where public sector services are performed by private companies largely shielded from scrutiny. New data collected by Mississippi and obtained by The Marshall Project offers a rare glimpse into how bail companies profit from the steady march of low-level offenders into county jails. Corbett Bonding is one of 193 bail companies in the state that over 18 months collectively took in $43 million — 36 percent from small bonds — in a state where the average annual income is under $22,000.
There are 193 bail companies in Mississippi. In 18 months, these companies took in $43 million in fees 36% from small bonds Corbett Bonding operates in 11 Mississippi counties. Over the same period of
