YOUR SPACE: Need to get out of jail? Deb has the keys

Deb Key has storage units for guns, cars and RVs, and safe deposit boxes for diamonds. But none of it is hers.

Key, 52, is a newly minted bail bondswoman and bounty hunter, and the pricey items are the collateral she gets from her clients.

She decided to switch careers after retiring last year as the Colorado Springs School District 11 records custodian, inspired by an attorney who told her she'd be good at it. She went to bond school and got licensed. She and another Deb started a bail business, "Double D."

"My son kind of laughed and said, ‘You'll do all right - that's a bra size,'" Key says.
The newly locked up have bail, not bras, on their minds - and bondsmen are listed in alphabetical order at the jail. "Double D was in the middle of the second page, and I wasn't getting any calls. People just start at the top and go down," she says.

So Key went solo and took the name Absolutely Affordable. "‘Absolutely' put me higher in the list," she says.

Still, she says, "It is extremely competitive. They shop bonds, just like a car dealer. So-and-so will do it for this much."

She knew what she was getting into. "When I started I called every bondsman in the phone book and asked what they charged, to find out what the going rate is. The most common bond I write is $10,000. The insurance company gives me power of attorney to loan that money to the court."

The cars, jewelry and other collateral are hers - to store, not to use - until there is a resolution in the case. The business is regulated by the state, and there are records that must be done just so, like in her D-11 days. But at least she can do it in sensible shoes.
"When I left the school district I said I'd never have a job where I had to wear a suit and heels to work."

This, however, is no 9-to-5 gig. "I get calls in the middle of night," she says.
Scary? Not really. "The parking lot by the jail is the safest place to be in the middle of night," she says. "My husband doesn't even wake up."

Despite the job change, she's still in the education business, of sorts. "I have to tell people: ‘Be on time, dress up, clean up and don't argue with the judge.' People space out their court dates. Or they say they overslept or couldn't get a baby sitter or their car broke down. They have 100 different reasons."

But she's all about customer service.

"You treat people with dignity. I deal with families more than I deal with the person bonding out. A mom bailing out her 22-year-old son, she is mortified, she is scared to death. We don't always have a good reputation. It seems like a sleazy business."

The suburban blonde with pink lipstick and polished nails finds herself defending her profession to friends and strangers. "People go, ‘Oh, my God,'" she says. "It's not icky or anything like that. I deal with good people."

Well, for the most part. Many clients are locked up for unpaid traffic tickets. She's bonded those charged with domestic violence, DUIs, securities fraud, drugs and some assaults.

She turns down cases: "I will not do pornography, pedophiles, violent crimes, rape, certain degrees of assault. That's my personal choice. This is my business."
Nobody has skipped bond, yet, so she hasn't had to turn bounty hunter.

It's been a good fit. "I worked with students' discipline records. It's more of a shock what the youth are capable of," she says. "So, no, nothing has shocked me."

-

Tell me your stories: 636-0253 or andrea.brown@gazette.com