Terms of Use

1. These terms, and who they bind

These terms govern use of the eBOND operations console operated by Palmetto Surety Corporation (“Palmetto”). By signing in you accept them, both for yourself and on behalf of the agency whose authority you act under. If you do not accept them, do not sign in.

They cover the console itself. They are not a bail bond, not an agency agreement, and they create no contract with a defendant, an indemnitor or a court.

2. Who may use the console

Access is granted by Palmetto, by invitation, to named individuals: licensed bail agents of agencies enrolled with Palmetto, managing general agents overseeing those agencies, and Palmetto staff. There is no public sign-up and no self-service account creation.

You may use the console only while you hold the licence or appointment your jurisdiction requires, your agency remains enrolled and in good standing with Palmetto, and your agency has authorised you to act for it. Palmetto may grant, narrow, suspend or withdraw access at any time and without notice -- including when an agency's enrolment ends, when a person leaves an agency, or when Palmetto has reason to doubt an account's security.

3. Your sign-in credential

Your mobile number is your identity in this console. One-time codes are sent to that handset, and everything done in a session opened with it is recorded against you in the audit trail.

• Do not share your access, your handset or a one-time code with anyone -- not a colleague, not an assistant, not another agent in your office. Everyone who needs access gets their own account.
• Do not leave a signed-in session unattended on a shared device. Sign out instead.
• Tell Palmetto immediately, by phone, if your handset is lost or stolen, if your number is changing or being reassigned, or if you suspect anyone else has used your access.
• Tell Palmetto when someone with access leaves your agency, so that account can be closed.

You are responsible for what is done under your sign-in.

4. The text messages, and stopping them

eBOND.link is operated by Palmetto Surety Corporation, which is the sender of this console's text messages. The sign-in card names the product and this document names the company; they are the same body. Two messages go to a number typed on the sign-in card or the Claim Access card, and each answers something you did -- nothing here is sent unprompted:

• Your sign-in code. Asking to sign in texts a one-time code to the number registered to your account. One message goes out each time a code is requested or resent, and only in response to a sign-in attempt.
• The decision on a request for access. If you asked for access from the Claim Access card, one text goes out when the request is decided -- either that the access is ready, naming what to sign in with, or that it was not approved, naming the number to call. A request Palmetto's own records settle on the spot is answered with a sign-in code instead. One message either way, not a series.

Neither of them is marketing. Palmetto does not text marketing or promotions to operators of this console, there is no list here to be put on, and the number is not sold, rented or traded. Message and data rates may apply; that charge is between you and your carrier.

You can stop the messages whenever you like, and it is worth understanding what stopping them costs before you do:

• Reply STOP to a Palmetto text and the messages stop. The sending number confirms it, and stops texting that handset.
• Sign-in codes stop with them. Your mobile number is the only credential this console has, so the account cannot be used at all while the messages are stopped -- there is no password to fall back on.
• Reply START to the same number to resume, and sign-in codes start arriving again.
• For help with the messages, or if you cannot get back in, call Palmetto on (843) 971-5441. The sending number does not answer a HELP keyword.

Stopping the messages is not the same as closing an account: the number stays registered, your access stays as it was, and the account can be used again as soon as the messages are resumed.

5. What the console may be used for

The console exists so that you can execute and monitor bail bonds for your agency: finding a defendant's booking, reserving and issuing powers within your assigned authority and jurisdiction, and reviewing the executions, limits and inventory belonging to your agency or, for a managing general agent, to the agencies beneath it.

Defendant and booking information in the console is for the bail transaction in front of you, and for nothing else.

6. What is not allowed

• Sharing an account, a session, a handset or a one-time code, or signing in on someone else's behalf.
• Using defendant, booking or offence information for anything other than the bail transaction it belongs to -- including marketing, solicitation beyond what your licence permits, resale, research, or passing it to anyone outside that transaction.
• Automated collection: scripting, scraping, crawling or bulk-extracting the bail network's data through the console, or any use that treats the console as a data feed rather than a place where an operator does work.
• Working around limits: attempting to exceed an authority limit or bond count, to write outside an assigned jurisdiction, to act for an agency you are not authorised to act for, or to submit while an agency is frozen or a power is quarantined.
• Misrepresenting who you are, which agency you act for, or what authority you hold.
• Probing, scanning or interfering with the console's security, or attempting to reach records belonging to another agency.
• Reverse engineering the console or the interfaces behind it, or reselling access to it.

7. What the screen shows is not a grant of authority

Available powers, writing and underwriting authority, remaining capacity, open liability, agency standing and defendant eligibility are operational displays. They are assembled from records that synchronise on a schedule and from a third-party network, and they can be incomplete, out of date or wrong.

A figure on the screen does not create, extend or confirm authority. Your authority to write a bond comes from your agency agreement with Palmetto, your appointment and licence, the power of attorney issued for that bond, and the law of the jurisdiction -- never from a number in this console. A power shown as available may turn out not to be usable, and an amount shown as within a limit may still be refused.

8. Freezes, refusals and withdrawal of powers

Palmetto may refuse a submission, freeze an agency, quarantine powers or suspend an account at any time. Some of that happens automatically: where the console cannot confirm from Palmetto's records that an agency holds and has accepted the powers it is drawing on, or where a reconciliation against those records fails, the agency is frozen until the discrepancy is resolved. The system is built to fail closed rather than write a bond it cannot account for.

A refusal or a freeze is not a failure of these terms and puts Palmetto under no obligation to execute the bond. If you believe one is mistaken, call Palmetto rather than trying to work around it.

9. Jail and booking data must be verified before you execute

Defendant names, inmate and booking identifiers, booking dates, charges, bond amounts and jurisdictions come from the eBONDS / iGuarantee network and, through it, from the booking systems of individual jails. Palmetto does not create that information, does not control it, and does not warrant that it is accurate, complete or current. A charge may have been amended, an amount changed, a person already released.

Verify the booking and the charge against the official source before you execute. Executing on the strength of what the console displays is your decision and your responsibility, and the bond binds the surety all the same.

10. What controls if there is a conflict

Where anything in these terms conflicts with your agency agreement with Palmetto, with the power of attorney or executed bond documents, with Palmetto's underwriting instructions, or with applicable law and regulation, those control and these terms give way. These terms govern the use of the console alone.

11. Availability

The console depends on systems Palmetto does not control -- the bail network, jail systems, text message delivery and hosting among them. It may be unavailable in whole or in part, with or without warning. No uptime is promised here and access at any particular moment is not guaranteed, so keep a way of transacting that does not depend on this console being up.

12. No warranty

To the fullest extent the law allows, the console is provided as is and as available, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or non-infringement. Palmetto does not warrant that the console will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that information drawn from third-party systems is correct.

13. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Palmetto is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost business or lost data, arising from use of or inability to use the console -- including a bond written on information that proved wrong, a submission refused, or the console being unavailable.

Nothing here limits Palmetto's obligations under an agency agreement or an executed bond, or any liability that cannot be limited by law.

14. Confidentiality

What you see in the console -- defendant and booking information, agency records, authority limits, inventory and liability figures -- is confidential. Use it for the transaction at hand, and disclose it only to people who need it to complete that transaction or where the law requires it. This continues to apply after your access ends.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute about the console that is not resolved between us belongs in the state or federal courts located in South Carolina, and you consent to their jurisdiction. This does not displace a dispute-resolution provision in your agency agreement, which controls for matters within its scope.

16. Changes to these terms

Palmetto may revise these terms. The date at the top changes when they do, and the version at this address is the one in force. Continuing to use the console after a change means you accept it; if you do not, stop signing in and speak to your Palmetto contact.

Contact