The system works like this: If someone is accused of a crime and awaits trial, they are given two options: to stay at jail until trial, or pay a certain amount of money (called “bond”) and is allowed to not be in jail before the trial. If the accused attended the trial, the bond money is returned. However, if the accused fails to show up on the day of the trial, the bond money is forfeited by the government and the accused will be hunted down by law enforcement.
Oftentimes the ones who pay the bonds are families of the accused person. So hiring a bail recovery agent (which is paid for around 10-15% of the bond fee) eliminates the risk of them losing the bond money entirely if the bail recovery agent succeeds in his work.
What Does A Fugitive Recovery Agent Do?
Fugitive recovery agents (also known as bounty hunters) locate and retrieve fugitives who have fled to avoid court appearances. Many of them have law enforcement backgrounds, giving them experience and knowledge that puts them a step ahead of bail jumpers. Studies have shown that the nation’s bounty hunters boast a success rate of between 88% and 91%.
Many bounty hunters are trained in self-defense, but they typically use research, persuasion and trickery to capture fugitives instead of resorting to physical force. Their methods for locating and capturing defendants can include:
– Background checks
– Criminal record checks
– Surveillance
– Contacting friends and relatives to persuade them to disclose the defendant’s location or get them to convince the person to surrender
– Tricks such as telling the defendant he or she has won a contest and needs to collect the prize
– Entering the fugitive’s property without a warrant to make the re-arrest
Who Hires Fugitive Recovery Agents?
Bail agents are the largest employer of fugitive recovery agents, but they aren’t the only ones who hire them. People who have paid the full bail amount for their friend or family member only to have the person skip town also occasionally hire bounty hunters to return the person for their court date.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire A Fugitive Recovery Agent?
Costs to hire fugitive recovery agents vary from business to business. Many agencies will charge flat fees for individual services such as skip tracing. For locate-and-apprehend jobs, they will often base their fees on a percentage of the total bond amount, plus money for costs such as travel expenses. Most fugitive recovery agents work on a contingency basis, so they will not charge the client if they aren’t able to capture the fugitive.
What Else Should I Know About Fugitive Recovery Agents
Different states have different laws governing fugitive recovery agents. Some states, such as Kentucky, Illinois and Oregon, don’t allow bounty hunters to make arrests. Other states place restrictions as to what a bounty hunter can and can’t do while in pursuit of a fugitive. In addition, many states require the bounty hunter to be licensed, while others don’t.