Bounty Hunters?

Question

I want to know about being a Bounty Hunter, anyone have any info to share?

yea, i don't want to be one. and i know the 'pc' term is recovery agent. blah blah blah. my boyfriend is a bounty hunter, and i want to know if everything he's telling me is true. thats all, no need to get all over my back for asking about information.

Answer 1

I think a prequalification is that you can't get a regular job.

Answer 2

Despite what you see on TV, they aren't called "bounty hunters" anymore, at least not the legal ones. I mean, if you want to be a killer for hire, you can theoretically do that, but I assume that isn't what you're talking about.

Most "bounties" today arise from people who are involved in legal proceedings who have posted bail or a bond to allow them to be released on their own recognizance and then break the terms under which the money was posted. The way these things work is you've got some punk that gets arrested, with a court date in a few months. The judge really doesn't want to have to put the guy in jail until then, so unless he thinks that the defendant is likely to skip town or hurt someone, he'll set a price for a bail bond.

Most defendants can't afford to pay this price, at least not right away, which is why courts enter into arrangements with bail bondsmen. These businessmen agree to post bail for defendants in exchange for two things: 1) a fee, usually 10%, charged to the defendant as compensation for getting them out of jail, and 2) the ability to hunt down, detain, and bring into court any defendants that break the terms of their bail.

If the defendant has the bondsman post bail, and then plays nice and shows up in court on time, the bondsman gets his money back from the court and the defendant owes the bondsman money, which can be collected by collections agencies like any other debt.

But if the defendant violates the terms of the bond, not only can the bondsman forcibly bring them back to court, but they can go after the defendant for the whole bond, as the court keeps the money. Some bondsmen do the hunting themselves, others employ "bail enforcement agents" or "fugitive recovery agents", as the industry calls them, but they're basically bounty hunters.

Various states impose restrictions on the ability of bounty hunters to recover fugitives. Detaining fugitives internationally can be a *major* headache.

Answer 3

the last guy summed it up pretty well, though as far as i know there are no criteria to meet when becoming a bounty hunter (at least not in the southwest). you just find a bail bondsman who will hire you. like anything else, experience helps and this is a job where size and shrewdness are especially helpful.
this is only hearsay, which could be from bad bounty hunters for all i know, but i hear the money's not so good these days. for example, that guy on tv gets paid a lot more for being on tv than for the bounties.

Answer 4

I am a bonding agent in the state of Tennessee....bounty hunting laws differ from state to state...you can go to the web site fugitiverecovery.com to find what each state requires of a "bounty hunter"...usually most bonding agencies use their own agencies to find trace down their "skips"...finding a fugitive usually doesn't pay that much considering all the expenses you have to pay out to locate where they are....hope this helps some :)

Answer 5

Not sure what you're asking. Are you asking what a bounty hunter does or how to become one?

As far as what a bounty hunter (yes, that's an appropriate title) does, he/she generally acts as an agent for the surety (the bondsman, surety company or indemnitor), locating, apprehending and returning (within a time period specified by statute) to the jurisdiction of the court those who have failed to appear in court under the terms of their bail.

As for becoming a bounty hunter, for a general overview, see my answer here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ak7AF2yC8Z63F7m40srhJ7Lsy6IX?qid=20061025015306AAWSn5E

If you have specific questions, feel free to email me.

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Answer 6

Don't kill me!
I'll pay you double!