BOND CALLED MAJOR REASON MAKERS OF METH RE-OFFEND

ATHENS, Tenn. - Prosecutors and police officers say the biggest
contributing factor to repeat meth offenders is their right to get out of
jail on bond while awaiting trial.

Addicts who are caught making methamphetamine in homemade labs get arrested
repeatedly, in some cases three or more times, while they are free on bond.

Tom Farmer, a Hamilton County officer who works with a regional meth task
force, said some addicts are still high when they are released from jail
and they return to "using and cooking dope."

Tennessee's Constitution gives meth addicts a right to bond, typically
within 48 hours of arrest.

Will Pinkston, an aide to Gov. Phil Bredesen, said the governor understands
that bail bonds make it harder for authorities to stop meth manufacturing.

The governor has proposed restrictions on the sale of cold tablets used to
make meth and increased penalties for using or making the drug. His
proposal does not mention bail bonds.

"The bonding issue is the single most difficult issue in all of this,"
Pinkston said. The governor's meth task force had public meetings and
"heard over and over again ... something ought to be done to address the
bonding situation. Everybody clearly recognizes the bonding problem."

But there may be no easy solution, short of amending the constitution. And
Pinkston said nobody is talking about that kind of step, which he described
as "probably a far-fetched scenario."

"There may be other ways to try to get at the issue," he said.

Judges could use some discretion in releasing meth addicts so quickly or
they could set higher bonds, he said.

"If they begin viewing methamphetamine as a significant threat, that may
affect how they set the bonds," Pinkston said.

McMinn County General Sessions Court Judge James F. Watson said that's not
an option. Bail bonds are a constitutional right for any criminal offender
he does not consider likely to miss a scheduled court date, even addicts.

"Under our rules, court defendants are entitled to make a bond," the judge
said.

Meth abuse can cause brain damage and violent behavior, and exposure to the
potentially explosive vapors from meth labs can cause health problems. That
makes the meth epidemic a "unique situation," Pinkston said.

"If we can minimize these numbers of labs, we will be able to deal with
meth in much the same way we do with other drugs," he said.

McMinn County Sheriff's Department records show that since 2002, John
Roland Malone, 52, has four meth-related arrests. Some charges were for
cooking meth and others were for possessing chemicals used to make it.

Malone, who was freed on a $50,000 bond in December, one month after being
freed on a $20,000 bond in another meth arrest, recalled the correct total
of arrests as "at least six on me." Malone said he has a May trial.

Sheriff Steve Frisbie said Malone was out because "our bails are not high
enough."

Watson said he considered $50,000 to be a steep bond when he set it in
Malone's case. "We're all caught in it," the judge said.

Hamilton County public defender Ardena Garth said, "Bail isn't supposed to
be to punish. They have got a right to bail and a right to be presented
before a judge."