The Bail Bond And The Bounty Hunter
- By Andy West
- Published 02/14/2009
- National, State, Local
- Unrated
If you have never had to deal with the problem of being arrested in the past then you may not have ever had to think about the topic of bail bonds before. Even if you have indeed been arrested and had to work with a bail bondsman, you may not have thought extensively about what it is all about. You probably posted your bail, with or without the assistance of a bondsman, and then dealt with the problem that got you arrested in the first place. It's too bad, though, that more people don't think about a bail bond because they actually have a really interesting history in the United States.
The fact that it is fairly unique to the United States is, in and of itself, a fairly interesting part of its history. Although there are other countries that do use a similar system, it is not a very common system to see outside of the United States. Within the United States, its use varies greatly between states. Some states make it really easy for people to become bondsmen and therefore there are a lot of places in those states where you can get services without any hassle. Other states have much stricter regulations which may make it considerably more difficult to get a bail bond in those states than in states where the rules are more lenient.
What is really interesting about it, however, isn't even about the bail bond itself. Instead, it is about the relationship between the surety bond and the bounty hunter.
A bounty hunter is someone who literally comes to hunt you down if you fail to show up at the court after someone has posted surety for you. Basically a bounty
hunter comes to find you to force you to appear in court. In many cases, the person who provides you with the surety has a standard system in place for working with a bounty hunter in the event that you do not show up to your court date after the transaction has occurred.
See, the way that it works is that you go to the bail bondsman and pay a percentage of the amount in exchange for being bonded. Typically you would pay about ten percent of the fee to the company providing you with their services and then the rest would be given to the court by the company. So if you were required to put up a surety bond of $10000 to get out of jail, you would pay the company you hire $1000 and their representatives would turn around and give the court $10000.
If you don't end up going to court when it is time for you to do so, the company may have the right to come find you to force you to pay the rest of the money that is owed. The person who issues the money wouldn't actually do this himself but would instead pay a bounty hunter to do this for you. Unless of course you are Dog the Bounty hunter, who services all of his own 'hunts'.
What is interesting is that the use of surety bonds and the use of bounty hunters to find people who skip out on their bail is something that doesn't happen very often in other countries but is common in the United States. There are some states that have banned the practice and other states have really strict limitations on what a representative can do in the course of his or her job. Many states give bail bond providers and bounty hunters pretty free reign to do as they please to get their money. Perhaps that's a remnant of the Old West days that defined this country.
The fact that it is fairly unique to the United States is, in and of itself, a fairly interesting part of its history. Although there are other countries that do use a similar system, it is not a very common system to see outside of the United States. Within the United States, its use varies greatly between states. Some states make it really easy for people to become bondsmen and therefore there are a lot of places in those states where you can get services without any hassle. Other states have much stricter regulations which may make it considerably more difficult to get a bail bond in those states than in states where the rules are more lenient.
What is really interesting about it, however, isn't even about the bail bond itself. Instead, it is about the relationship between the surety bond and the bounty hunter.
A bounty hunter is someone who literally comes to hunt you down if you fail to show up at the court after someone has posted surety for you. Basically a bounty
See, the way that it works is that you go to the bail bondsman and pay a percentage of the amount in exchange for being bonded. Typically you would pay about ten percent of the fee to the company providing you with their services and then the rest would be given to the court by the company. So if you were required to put up a surety bond of $10000 to get out of jail, you would pay the company you hire $1000 and their representatives would turn around and give the court $10000.
If you don't end up going to court when it is time for you to do so, the company may have the right to come find you to force you to pay the rest of the money that is owed. The person who issues the money wouldn't actually do this himself but would instead pay a bounty hunter to do this for you. Unless of course you are Dog the Bounty hunter, who services all of his own 'hunts'.
What is interesting is that the use of surety bonds and the use of bounty hunters to find people who skip out on their bail is something that doesn't happen very often in other countries but is common in the United States. There are some states that have banned the practice and other states have really strict limitations on what a representative can do in the course of his or her job. Many states give bail bond providers and bounty hunters pretty free reign to do as they please to get their money. Perhaps that's a remnant of the Old West days that defined this country.
Andy West
Andy West is a writer for Aladdin Bail Bonds, providing bail bond and financing for those in the unfortunate circumstances of being in jail or having a loved one stuck in jail. Learn more about their services at AladdinBailBonds.com.
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