Cheryl Burns

President & Chief Executive Officer

Appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer in 1999, Cheryl actively pursues advancement of the surety bail industry while promoting strategic corporate growth. Seventeen years earlier, she and our founder, Harvey Childs, formed Bail USA, Inc. where she managed the daily operations of our headquarters while functioning as Corporate Secretary and Treasurer.

Cheryl has maintained positions on the Boards of Directors of Thiel College, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, and our local newspaper, The Record Argus. She is credited with forming the newly recognized Association Surety Bail Agents (ASBA), a network of bail agents dedicated to preserving the future of the surety bail industry. She is a member of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS), and has been a licensed bail agent since 1980.

Cheryl is a not only a pioneer in the industry but a true success story for her accomplishments in a previously male-dominated profession. She is nationally recognized for continually setting standards of excellence for the surety bail industry.

[ Read "A Message From the President" ]

 

Harvey Childs

Chairman of the Board

Harvey, Chairman of the Board of Bail USA, Inc. and our founder, has been a licensed bail agent for 45 years. Occasionally, he is still seen posting bonds at local magistrates’ offices and the county courthouse.

Harvey obtained a B.A. degree in Hispanic studies from the University of Seville in Spain and an M.A. degree from the Cultural Institute of San Lorenzo. He is fluent in five languages and enjoys Spanish and American history.

Harvey entered the surety bail profession in 1956, making him the third generation in his family to follow this occupation. Although Harvey grew up in Pittsburgh, he would make his home in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, 65 miles north. For nine years, he posted bail bonds for clients throughout the tri-county area. In 1969, Harvey expanded his operation to include 16 additional western Pennsylvania counties, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Ohio. In 1970, he founded the Pennsylvania Association of Bail Bond Underwriters and successfully challenged the Keystone State to recognize bail agents as “Officers of the Court”. During the next 10 years, Harvey expanded his growing network of professional bail agents into 25 additional states, is recognized as one of the founders of the Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS), and hired Cheryl Burns as his assistant. By 1982, Harvey and Cheryl partnered to form what is known today as Bail USA, Inc. Two years later, the company became the Managing General Agent for a billion-dollar, blue-chip insurance company. This led to Bail USA, Inc. becoming the largest underwriter of surety bail in the country.

In 1999, Harvey turned the presidency of Bail USA, Inc. over to Cheryl so he could spend more of his time traveling around the country visiting our bail agents. Harvey’s vision for the future of the bail industry is evidenced by his lifelong pursuit of the professional standards and integrity that remain a constant presence in every part of the surety bail profession in the United States.

 

Nadena Owens

Vice President of Operations

Nadena is the Vice President of Operations of Bail USA, promoted to this position in 2010. Her primary focus is with reorganizing the internal structure of the company to streamline processes for efficiency; to provide excellent communication between our personnel and bail agents; and to improve Bail USA's overall effectiveness in the industry.

As a lifelong resident of Greenville, Nadena believes that her small town roots established a belief in people. Her self-motivation and determination influence those around her to succeed in whatever they choose to accomplish. She enjoys preserving memories as an avid scrapbooker, being with family and friends, cooking, reading, listening to country music, and spending time outdoors.

Nadena has assisted our company's President since 1988, where she has developed a strong understanding of the needs of bail agents and the bail industry as a whole. She has experience working in all departments at Bail USA, has a firm grasp of our responsibilities, procedures, communication, and reporting requirements with Seneca Insurance Company, and has been an active Bail Bond Agent since 2006.

Nadena has authorization to approve large bonds and is available to address your questions, concerns, comments and suggestions. She believes in providing our bail agents with the highest level of personal service and support from our team of professionals to help promote success.

 

Kermit R.Tobias, Jr.

Senior Vice President

Toby serves as Senior Vice President of Bail USA, Inc. and serves as an advisor to the President and Chairman of the Board. In 1995, after 31 years of service with the Pennsylvania State Police, he retired as Sergeant of the Criminal Investigation Unit. Previous to this, Toby was honorably discharged after four years of service with the U.S. Navy.

Immediately upon joining us 12 years ago, Toby became a licensed bail agent. He posts a majority of our Mercer County bail bonds and can be seen at the magistrates’ offices and the courthouse.

 

John O’Bryon

Vice President

John serves as Vice President of Bail USA, Inc. with 14 years of service where his primary focus is strategic company growth.

John served four years in the United States Marine Corps and is a decorated Vietnam Veteran. Following his discharge, he became a Florida police officer and in 1994, joined our organization as a licensed bail agent. Within two years he was promoted to Fugitive Recovery Specialist. A licensed private investigator since 1988, John used his skills to become an expert at fugitive regulation and recovery and has established a solid alliance with law enforcement agencies across the country. He also serves as a chief field auditor traveling to our bail agent offices around the country to perform agent reviews.

 

Mike Donovan

Director of Government Affairs

Mike Donovan was brought on board at a critical time in the bail industry, to help shape legislative and regulatory reform that will impact all bail agents and the very future of our industry.

Mike served as the Political Director for Virginians for the Preservation of Bail. This organization was critical in challenging tax funded pretrial release programs in Virginia. He also worked as Vice President of Political Affairs for True Vantage Management Services, and has worked in and managed political campaigns in Virginia and across the United States. He has held key roles in campaigns at the local, state, and national level, including senior management positions in successful campaigns for offices such as Representative, Governor, and leadership positions on a recent Presidential campaign.

“This position plays an important role in helping to guarantee that bail agents are represented appropriately across the Country” Donovan said. Bail USA is an industry leader in bail and this move will provide an opportunity for the company to provide additional leadership. Moving forward, Bail USA's Government Affairs Division will act to protect and preserve commercial bail in the United States and to represent the interests of Bail USA bail agents.

A Virginia native, Donovan currently serves on the board of Americans for the Preservation of Bail. He received his Bachelors degree from City College and his Masters from Andover Theological Seminary.

 

Pat Edmonson

Political Director - East Region

Pat Edmonson has extensive lobbying and political experience, and has been brought on board as a political director - east region. While Pat's efforts will focus on the eastern states, she will represent bail interests in states across the country.

Pat was elected to the Virginia Beach School Board in May 2006, a position that she still holds. She represents over 450,000 citizens of the largest city in Virginia. She was a two-term director at large for the National Hemophilia Association, emeritus director of the Hemophilia Association of the National Capital Area, and former director of fundraising for the National Hemophilia Association. Pat is a founding director of Adventures in Learning, a non-profit, community partnership, after-school program designed to address needs of at-risk youth. She is a member of The American Friends Service Committee and The American Association of University Women.

Pat was born in Atlanta Georgia, but spent much of her childhood in Virginia and New York. Pat holds a Bachelor's Degree in History and Social Sciences from Elon University, as well as a Master's Degree in comparative religion from Princeton University.

 

Bridget Thomas

Legal Researcher – Human Relations Professional

Bridget was selected to an internship with Bail USA in 2007 while attending Kent State University's Criminal Justice Program. For the next two years, her responsibilities included processing agent bail reports, bond power replacement and administrative tasks.

Bridget was born and raised in northeastern Ohio with her five brothers and enjoys dancing, listening to country music, spending time with her family and friends, true crime programs, and is a proud supporter of the Susan Koman Foundation.

In May of 2009, Bridget graduated from Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. Following graduation, she was promoted to Bail USA's Legal Researcher and Human Relations professional.

Bridget's knowledge contributes to the development of communication with our bail agents through the most modern technology. She is credited with creating and maintaining our FaceBook and Twitter accounts.

As one of our On-Call Transfer Bond Specialists Bridget arranges transfer bond postings around the country after business hours and weekends, as well as, assisting our Vice President of Operation's with all aspects of collateral preparation and administrative correspondence.

 

Company Personnel

The personnel at Bail USA, Inc. are bail bond specialists and collectively have more than 300 years of bail bonding knowledge, experience, and expertise.

What does this mean to you? A team of highly qualified representatives always available to respond to your questions and concerns.

 

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Announcement!

Our Ann has officially retired! Her last day was December 31. She is looking forward to spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, traveling, sewing and antiquing with friends.

She has enjoyed the friendships she has built with you and the service she was able to provide during her 16 years with us.

We will selfishly miss Ann at the office every day but know that her decision to enjoy her pleasures, hobbies and family are most deserving.

We are proud to have had you as part of our family and thank you for all of your years of service Ann!

The Entire Staff of Bail USA