All About A Bounty Hunter And What They Do
With all of the popular shows hitting the TV these days regarding bounty hunters, you may be curious about what exactly a bounty hunter is. Or, perhaps you or someone you care about is out on a bail bond. If this is the case, then you should really learn about a bounty hunter, so you and/or your loved one knows how to best prevent ending up being chased by one in the future. Here is a lot of information on what bounty hunters are:
An explanation of what bail is
When someone is arrested, they will go to a bail hearing that is held before a judge. If the judge feels they aren't a flight risk, nor do they pose an immediate threat to the community, then the judge will set a bail amount. Someone can post that bail by paying the bail which is usually done through the use of a bail bondsman who puts up the money in exchange for collateral and an agreement that the arrested party will make it to all of their court dates. If the arrested party doesn't make it to a court date, then the bail bondsman will be out their money. They can turn in that party or they can collect on the collateral. In order to find and capture the party who skipped out on court, they may make use of a bail enforcement agent, who is also known as a bounty hunter.
What a bounty hunter does
When a bounty hunter is hired by a bail bondsman, they will use all available resources to locate the person who skipped out on their court date. Once they find that person, they will take them into custody and turn them in to the jail, so they can then be taken before the judge. Some of the resources that a bounty hunter may use include resources such as:
- The information from the application filled out when the person applied for the bail money
- Information they can gather from people listed as referrals on the application
- Information off from the person's social media accounts
- Information gathered through public records
- Information from previous arrest records
- Information from friends and family
- Information from employers
- Information from their own investigative work
Once the bounty hunter locates the person that they are looking for, they can take them into physical custody and transport them directly to the jail where they will turn them over to a law enforcement officer who will book them. They will then be held in the jail until they see the judge. Since a bounty hunter is not a sworn-in law enforcement officer, they have a whole other set of rules and a lack of rules that can make it easier for them to take someone into custody. In many cases, they have more freedoms than a regular officer would have and this makes the person running more at risk of being caught when a bounty hunter is after them. A bounty hunter can carry a gun, although many choose not to.
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