Out On Bail And Thinking About Skipping Town? 3 Things You Should Know About Bounty Hunters
If you're out on bail awaiting trial, you probably worked through a bail bondsman to obtain your release. If you did, the bail bondsman now has a vested interest in you. They need to make sure that you attend all of your court hearings and that you don't skip town. If you fail to appear or you skip town, the bail bondsman will lose all the money that they paid to secure your release. If that happens, they're going to call in a bounty hunter to come find you and bring you in. Once you've been brought back, your bail bondsman will receive the money that they lost. Before you decide to skip bail, here are three things you need to know about bounty hunters.
What They Do
Bounty hunters work closely with bail bondsmen to ensure that people who skip bail are apprehended and brought back. If you've skipped bail, your bail bondsman will pay a bounty hunter to find you. It's important to note that once a bounty hunter is looking for you, they will not stop until they've found you.
In addition to working with specific bail bondsmen, bounty hunters will also follow reward posters. When someone is wanted for a serious offense, a reward is often offered for their apprehension. Bounty hunters will go out and search for those people in an attempt to collect the reward money.
How They Find You
When you posted bail, the bondsman collected a lot of vital information about you. Whether it was you, or a close friend or family member who posted bail for you, the bondsman collected information such as your full name, date of birth, social security number, place of employment and current address. That information will be provided to the bounty hunter, who will utilize it to find your current location.
What They Do When They Find You
When you signed the bail agreement, you effectively waived your constitutional rights to due process. That means, that the bounty hunter will have the legal right to arrest you and return you to the jurisdiction that you fled from. The only requirement is that the bounty hunter must have the bail piece – the form that states that you're a fugitive from the law. Once the bounty hunter has you in their custody, you will be returned to jail and they will receive their bounty.
If you've been released on bail, you need to think twice before you skip town. The information above will help you understand what will happen if your bail bondsman hires a bounty hunter to find you.
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