Bail bondsman & bounty hunters

[toasterlocker]

Just out of curiosity, I'm wondering if any of you can explain how this works in MN. My google-searching has been pretty weak, and the statutes really don't explain the actual process all that well.

Just wondering because this is something I know NOTHING about. Anyone want give me a crash course?

[Medici]

Watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and he'll show you the COOL way of doing it.

[DPS55]

Watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and he'll show you the COOL way of doing it.

That show just seems so phoney in my opinion. To me he's no better than the scum that he takes back into custody. In Maryland you need a property and casualty license that you have to take classes for. They usually give them at like every community college.

[WPM]

As far as I recall, when a court sets bail, a Defendant can pay the full bail in cash, with the promise that if he appears, he gets it all back. Alternatively, the defendant can pay 10% or more in fee to the bail bondsman (and often collateral covering the rest of the bond), who in turn pays a bond to the court. This bond allows the defendant to be released pre-trial. There are conditions attached to the bail by the court and by the bondsman. I think both the court and the bondsman can independently revoke the bond on the defendant and require him to return to custody. If the defendant skips bond, he loses the 10% fee and the collateral he posted for the remainder amount of the bond.

Legally, I think that the defendant loses essentially all rights to the bondsman--the bondsman takes custody of the defendant, and assures his return to court. The bounty hunter acts as the agent (in the place of) the bondsman, and has the obligation to return the defendant to custody if he violates his bail/bond.

Minnesota does not have any special laws for bounty hunters, so far as I can recall. They must generally follow all laws that apply to citizens. However, in order to get bonded, the defendant must sign an agreement that allows the bondsman/bounty hunter total access to the defendant, including agreeing that the bondsman can enter the defendant's house at any time for any reason, etc. This allows the bounty hunter/bond agent to go alot further than cops in trying to catch the defendant once the defendant has skipped, such as kicking in doors and entering the defendants home without a warrant, etc (correct me if I'm wrong--It's been a while since I've researched this). Hope this helps.

[DPS55]

thats true from my understanding. i dont beleive that they set limits on Bounty hunters or fugitive recovery agents. From what i hear they have the authority to cross state lines to catch skips. The only thing is they dont have too many resources to find skips as like per se a police department so its basically you win some and you lose some. With Dog the Bounty Hunter I think they just show mostly episodes where they catch the skips and they dont put up too much of a fight, Im pretty sure that he runs across a couple that digs into his a#$ but they just dont show it on TV. He dosnt even carry a gun which I think is crazy in that line of work. Well he cant carry a firearm anyway considering hes an ex felon.

[squad51]

don't even get me started on these knuckle heads....a bunch of them have been downtown lately...grrrrrrr

[jaybird33081]

i seen a special on cable about bounty hunters and every one of the bounty hunters they interviewed said that dog was a joke. lol

[Wilkinotti]

When bail is set, the defendant can either pay the full amount to the Court, or they can post a bond, which means paying 10% of bail amount to the bondsman, plus his fee. Two contracts are entered into-first, the bondsman is responsible to the Court if the defendant absconds. Second, the defendant makes an agreement with the bondsman that the defendant will appear, and if he doesn't, the bondsman may take him into custody, transport him across state lines, etc. MN statute provides that a bail bondsman may direct "the sheriff or another person" to arrest the defendant.

In the eyes of the law, the bondsman is an insurance provider. Minnesota doesn't have laws directly relating to bounty hunters, but there is case law such as a bounty hunter may not make forcible entry into the residence of a third party to make an arrest. I can sign a bond, the terms of which include permission for the bondsman to break into my house to get me, but they can't break into my girlfriend's house, for example.

These folks would show up occasionally when I worked in the jail. It struck me as a tough business--a lot of work for little return, since folks that abscond after posting large bonds are rare. They're after a lot of people that paid $300 to get out on their $2000 bail (10% plus fee, just for sake of demonstration). Bigger fish are being chased by the cops anyway, who generally have many more resources.

[DPS55]

When bail is set, the defendant can either pay the full amount to the Court, or they can post a bond, which means paying 10% of bail amount to the bondsman, plus his fee. Two contracts are entered into-first, the bondsman is responsible to the Court if the defendant absconds. Second, the defendant makes an agreement with the bondsman that the defendant will appear, and if he doesn't, the bondsman may take him into custody, transport him across state lines, etc. MN statute provides that a bail bondsman may direct "the sheriff or another person" to arrest the defendant.

In the eyes of the law, the bondsman is an insurance provider. Minnesota doesn't have laws directly relating to bounty hunters, but there is case law such as a bounty hunter may not make forcible entry into the residence of a third party to make an arrest. I can sign a bond, the terms of which include permission for the bondsman to break into my house to get me, but they can't break into my girlfriend's house, for example.

These folks would show up occasionally when I worked in the jail. It struck me as a tough business--a lot of work for little return, since folks that abscond after posting large bonds are rare. They're after a lot of people that paid $300 to get out on their $2000 bail (10% plus fee, just for sake of demonstration). Bigger fish are being chased by the cops anyway, who generally have many more resources.

ok thanks for the info