Montana State Auditor James Brown has suspended the insurance producer license of a Kalispell bail bondsman accused of exploiting people under his supervision, including allegedly trading bond services for sexual favors.
The suspension order, issued Aug. 3, bars Laine Kendall Callahan from operating as a bail bondsman in the state pending a revocation hearing, which he may request within 21 days of receiving the order. Callahan denied ever using his position to request anything personal from a defendant, including sexual acts, in an interview with an investigator from the Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, which Brown heads and which licenses bail bondsmen as insurance producers.
The office opened its investigation in January after a referral from the Montana Department of Justice alleging Callahan was abusing his authority as a surety bail bond producer.
According to the suspension order, one witness said Callahan compelled her to perform oral sex to “work off” what she owed on a bond, and that she complied only because she believed refusing would lead to her bond being revoked. The witness said Callahan “held [her] life in his hands.”
A second witness alleged he performed unlicensed work as a de facto bail agent to retire his own bond debt and received monetary kickbacks for promoting Callahan’s service inside the jail, saying he referred more than 300 people. Investigators also found Callahan routinely took vehicle titles as collateral without proper documentation or authorization, and did not return them promptly after bond obligations were met, according to the order.
The order concluded Callahan used “fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest practices,” and described him as “incompetent and untrustworthy” and “a source of injury and loss to the public.”
Regulators cited the scale of his business in justifying immediate action. Over a four-month period ending in March, Callahan issued 133 bonds totaling more than $1 million, according to the agency, which determined his continued operation posed an ongoing threat to the public.
“When a bail bondsman fails to comply with the requirements of Montana’s laws and regulations, the public loses trust in our justice system,” Brown said in a statement, adding that he acted “to protect the public by halting Callahan’s ability to continue operating as a bail bondsman in Montana.”
The agency described the matter as ongoing and credited its working relationship with the Department of Justice and Attorney General Austin Knudsen.