Do Bounty Hunters Cost Extra? Bail Bonds Questions Answered
There are a lot of bail bonds agencies out there. Only a small percentage of these are both bond agents and bounty hunters. If you engage a bond agent who also happens to be a bounty hunter, you probably have a few of the following questions for the agent. The answers to these questions follow.
Is There an Extra Charge for Bounty Hunting Services?
Say that you put the required ten percent deposit down on your relative's bail. The bond agent/bounty hunter springs your relative from jail, at the personal cost of ninety percent of the bail amount and a complete risk to the loss of all of the money involved. Your relative decides to jump bail and not appear in court. The bond agent can become a bounty hunter in two shakes, but you may be wondering if he will charge you for tracking down your relative.
The answer is, it would be atypical for the bounty hunter to charge you for bounty hunting services. What is typical is that the courts and local law enforcement would engage your dual-role bond agent/bounty hunter for bounty hunting the bail jumper, not you. It is the courts that will pay for the return of the bail jumper. You are essentially off the hook for that expense, even though you benefit from your bond agent/bounty hunter finding and bringing your relative back to jail.
How Are Bounty Hunters Paid?
Being both a bounty hunter and a bond agent is an odd job. If an agent puts the bond forth to spring someone from jail, and then has to bounty hunt that person, the payment just ends up being the amount he would have gained as the bail agent. In short, he is not out any money to a separate bounty hunter to track down and arrest the bail jumper.
If the bond agent is not a bounty hunter engaged to track down and arrest the bail jumper, then a separate bounty hunter is hired. This bounty hunter actually gets a piece of the bond agent's profits, which would otherwise be a complete loss if the jumper was not found and brought back to jail. Ergo, a dual bond agent/bounty hunter only regains everything he would lose by bringing this person to justice. It is only when the dual agent/hunter works bounty hunting cases where he is not the bond agent on the case that he makes any additional profits.
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