Clerks, who are responsible for bail hearings, have taken public
heat in recent years for the overtime pay they receive when going
to after-hours bail hearings.
Due to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that bail
hearings must be held within six hours of arrest to avoid
constitutional issues, clerks are often called after work hours to
set or deny bail, and earn the $40 fee the arrestee pays after bail
is set.
"Taxpayers get an enormous bang for their buck," Boston Municipal
Court Clerk-Magistrate Daniel J. Hogan said about the additional
after-hours fees clerks earn. "We may be there for a bail hearing,
but we also perform significant constitutional duties for no
compensation."
For example, Hogan, who was summoned down to the police station in
July 2008 to admit someone to bail, was brought to detectives who
also needed an arrest warrant. Although Hogan was only at the
station to issue bail, he also went through the process of issuing
a warrant - at no extra cost to the commonwealth and for no extra
compensation - and then had a hand in watching the Boston police
track down Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, the man who used the
alias of Clark Rockefeller.
"I was pleased to be a part of that," said Hogan, who was on hand
to watch the Amber Alert go out for Rockefeller's daughter, Reigh.
"When the system works, it really works."