SAVANNAH, Ga. () – A Chatham County Recorder’s Court judge sat down with to discuss the bond process after a string of violent crimes allegedly being committed by suspects on bond.

 “It’s human nature. You’re asking other humans to do the right thing,” said The Honorable Brian Joseph “Joe” Huffman Jr., chief judge of Chatham County Recorder’s Court.

Doing the right thing does not always happen when it comes to criminal suspects out bond who violate the rules of their release.

“One of the conditions or evaluations of a bond that is not considered is hindsight,” said Judge Huffman, “You can’t go back and say, wow, I know in three weeks you’re going to do A, B, C, so your bond is denied. There is a determination that you pose a significant risk of doing A, B, C.”

Judge Huffman has conducted over 350 bond hearings in 2025, and we spoke to him about what some elected officials are calling a trend of violent crime that began March 7.

“If someone is arrested for an offense, it’s not an automatic disqualifier for bond,” said the judge.

Some factors judges consider before allowing a suspect back on the street are criminal history, flight risk, and whether the individual poses a danger to the community, but there is no uniform approach to each case.

“Not every human being is the same, that every situation is the same, and not every circumstance warrants the same treatment from the one before or after it,” said Judge Huffman, “We can’t operate in that way. It has to be case by case, and if something happens after a leap of faith is taken on an individual or situation, and as long as that leap of faith is taken in good faith, we have to trust that the system is working, even though it doesn’t always work out.”

Judge Huffman recommends if anyone is still skeptical about the bond process to sit in on his bond hearings which are open to the public.