Appellate panel hears challenge to denial of Tennessee Bonding Company’s petition to write bail bonds

Tennessee Bonding Company appealed a trial court order denying its petition to write bail bonds, arguing the denial rested on inaccurate affidavits and that the trial court proceeded with a June 7 hearing without the company’s counsel present.

The appeal, argued before an appellate panel in Tennessee, centers on whether the trial court properly considered unauthenticated evidence and whether the company was denied a meaningful opportunity to be heard after its attorney, who said she had been declared a high-risk pregnancy patient, was unable to attend in person and had requested a remote option.

Appellant counsel told the court the company filed its petition for approval in July 2023 and first appeared for a hearing on Nov. 27, 2023. Subsequent hearings were held in April and June 2024. Counsel said the June hearing proceeded without her after she twice notified the court and sought a Zoom link for medical reasons and provided a doctor’s note. "Counsel never heard from the court and the state," the attorney said, and later argued the trial court’s order denied the petition "due to inaccurate affidavits only," a characterization the appellant disputes.

Allen Groves, arguing on behalf of the State, said the trial court properly denied the petition because the…