female bonding
by lisa horak

The sign above Sandy Anderson’s doorway at 86C South Lexington Street shows an angel in a red dress holding a key. . .

That image is a perfect fit for Anderson, Asheville’s only female bail 'bondsman'. Though she laughs at the suggestion, Anderson’s clients do view her as an angel of sorts, for she holds the key getting them out of jail.

For the past five years, Anderson, 39, has owned Anderson Bonding. She posts bonds on people who have been arrested and receives a fee of 15 percent of the bond. Anderson, whose maiden name is Earp, is a distant relative of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp. Perhaps her lineage is responsible for the fact that Anderson is adamant that every person is innocent until proven guilty, which is where her role as bondsman comes in.

“A lot of people get arrested for good reasons, but sometimes good people make mistakes and that doesn’t make them criminals. Until a case gets to trial, I hate to think that people are sitting in jail when they could be home with their kids and earning a living,” Anderson says.

Most of the people Anderson bails out of jail are arrested for drugs, followed by domestic abuse. “Drugs are not prejudiced at all—they affect all races, all ages, both sexes,” says Anderson. “Crack, in particular, has been devastating in and around Asheville.”

Anderson is no stranger to the law. She worked as a paralegal for 13 years before entering the bail bond business. As a single mom she needed a job that would support her three kids and allow her to attend their plays and sporting events. “This is definitely not a nine-to-five job,” she says. “I always wanted to be a writer, an artist, and a mother. And here I am, getting people out of jail in the middle of the night, or going out and arresting them if they violate the law while out on bond.”

In the bail bonds business, Anderson is a complete anomaly. First, she is an attractive, poised, and sensitive woman in a field dominated by men. Second, she is kind and caring, not gruff or cynical. Despite all the bad she sees, she still believes that people are inherently good and capable of change.

Being a woman puts Anderson in a unique position. She says she is more compassionate than most men in her field and that people are very open with her. “I look at people in a motherly way. I really want to help them, not just get paid a fee,” she says. “For example, in domestic abuse situations, so many times a woman calls to get an abuser out of jail and then admits that she just got angry and called the police because ‘he made me mad.’ Too often women are living with abusive partners because there are not enough jobs or services to give them safe shelter while they get back on their feet. My heart breaks for the women who really do want to better their lives.”

Anderson cites two main challenges in her work. The first is proving to herself and the greater community that she can do this job and do it well. “I don’t know if I’d be doing this job at all if I hadn’t had my father’s unconditional support my whole life. Young girls need the support of positive men in their lives, as well as positive women. It could be that he wanted boys and he got girls, but my father taught me at an early age that I didn’t have to just do typical girl things.” Anderson says.

The second, more difficult challenge is maintaining a positive outlook and not losing faith in humanity. “I see so much sadness,” says Anderson. “I have seen children neglected and hungry and left alone by parents who have addiction problems. I have seen women with black eyes and broken bones living with their abuser because they have no other place to go.”

Anderson offers this advice to women considering being a bail bondsman: “Make absolutely sure you are comfortable with yourself and open-minded enough to take the bad with the good. Take your personal judgements out, and remember that this is a business and that you can’t fix everything.”

These were hard lessons to learn. Anderson recalls the first time she made an arrest and had to pick up a habitual felon. She arrived at his house armed with handcuffs and a gun that she carries for self defense. The cuffs weren’t large enough for the man she was arresting, and she had forgotten to load her gun. At the courthouse, she vomited from fear. And she continued to do so until she developed a thicker skin. “Finally, one day the guys at the court house told me that I didn’t look quite as green and nauseous as usual,” says Anderson.

Because Anderson’s job forces her to see the evils in society, her home life is marked by her deep desire to love her children fiercely and shield them from harm. “My kids are the best things in my life,” she says. “Sometimes the sadness I see gets overwhelming and I just have to take a day off and go to the park with my kids and remember that life is good.” Anderson says her kids, ages 16, 14, and 10, understand what it is she does for a living and that the older ones, her two boys, worry about her. “I want my kids to feel safe,” she says. “I don’t allow weapons in my house. I also know that drugs are everywhere out there. You have to be very aware of what your kids are doing. Don’t be so naïve to think it couldn’t happen to them. You’ve got to be involved and listen to what they say and what they don’t say.”

Anderson’s desire to help people better their lives reaches beyond her work. She is on the board of a local drug rehabilitation center called Life on Life’s Terms. In addition, she supports Helpmate, a domestic violence agency working to eliminate abuse and fear. Helpmate operates several programs, including a 24-hour crisis hotline, individual crisis counseling, court advocacy, and an emergency shelter.

“It’s still not enough,” says Anderson. “Women and children need assistance and there are just not enough organizations for them to go to for help. Working in this element has opened my eyes to the needs and the grim state that our community is in when it comes to community service. There are many loving people, many giving people in this community but they need to find positive direction and support.”

Despite her exposure to some of the roughest people and most perplexing social problems, Anderson says she is in it for the long haul. “I get letters and phone calls from people saying ‘thanks for listening to me. I didn’t think anyone cared.' I know in my heart that this is rewarding work. Someday, though, what I really want is to live in a cabin in the woods and make soap. After all this, I just want a peaceful life.”

Lisa Horak is a stay at home mom raising two young daughters, Molly and Isabel. She has written for non-profit organizations and is the co-editor of Heart of the Land and Off the Beaten Path, a fiction and non-fiction anthology of nature writing for The Nature Conservancy. She recently moved to Asheville from Washington, D.C., and is currently working on her first children’s book. She can be reached at horak@charter.net.