The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) announced on Oct. 21 that an Essex County Grand Jury has returned indictments against Michelle Bowman, 51, of Danvers, on charges related to misusing more than $71,000 in bail funds and forging a recognizance form to conceal her wrongdoing while serving as a bail magistrate and an Assistant Clerk Magistrate in Salem District Court.
According to the AGO, in May 2024, Lawrence District Court staff, while attempting to process a bail forfeiture, realized that the $25,000 in bail funds had never been received by the court and were missing. When the missing bail came to light, Bowman submitted a forged recognizance form to the court for the missing bail, altering dates to make it appear as though the bail was received more recently than it had been.
An audit performed by the Trial Court subsequently revealed that eight bails, which Bowman had taken, were missing and had never been turned over to the relevant courts. These eight bails totaled $71,000. The audit also revealed that Bowman held some bail funds for far longer than bail magistrate rules permitted, and in one instance, kept a $75,000 bail for more than six months before paying it to the relevant court.
