bounty hunters

She sends me blue valentines
All the way from Philadelphia
To mark the anniversary
Of someone that I used to be
And it feels just like theres
A warrant out for my arrest
Got me checkin in my rearview mirror
And I'm always on the run
Thats why I changed my name
And I didn't think you'd ever find me here

--Tom Waits, Blue Valentine

Bounty Hunters. They have a tough job, and at times it can be an ugly one. When someone is out on bail, and wanted by the law for failing to appear at court, there's a good chance that a bounty hunter will be the one to discover where they are at rather than a police officer.

The rules and laws regarding being a bounty hunter vary from state to state. They're an important part of the criminal justice system, but they can also be one of the most unregulated actors in that system.

Should there be a federal law, with a licensing and education program? That's what a family from Kansas is urging after the unfortunate loss of one of their family members. He died in a struggle with bounty hunters who were looking for his brother.

Most people who haven't had brushes with the criminal justice system probably know of how bail enforcement works from Hollywood, with characters like Josh Randall, from the old television chestnut Wanted Dead or Alive. Or, in more modern times, the potrayal of a bounty hunter by Robert DeNiro in Midnight Run or Lorenzo Lamas in the 90s television series, Renegade. There's also the popular character from Star Wars, Boba Fett.

Chances are good that if you walked past a bounty hunter in the hallways of a courthouse, you wouldn't connect him or her with that profession.

Laws in Delaware requiring registration are a recent addition. The Delaware Code was amended just last year by the legislature to add a chapter on the licensing of bounty hunters, or bail enforcement agents. The law requires the collection of information from applicants and a criminal history background check. It doesn't mention any form of training or education programs.

It also doesn't describe any programs to oversee the actions of a bounty hunter, but does require that the money collected as a licensing fee be deposited into a Bail Enforcement Regulatory Fund. The fund pays for the fingerprinting and background checks for bounty hunters, and for "investigation of any charge made against a licensee." The law doesn't provide any information regarding how charges would be brought against a licensee.

An earlier version of the bill, from 1999, had more requirements, including police notification of attempts to capture people who failed to show up for court, and are out on bail.

There are private companies that provide information and education, such as Bounty Hunters Online. The bail bond companies and the insurance companies that use these private enforcers probably have some incentive to provide training to help avoid civil liability.

Joshua Armstrong's group, called the Seekers have been around for 20 years and claim an 85 percent capture rate, as well as having never been sued, and having never captured the wrong person. They seem more organized than the police or the army. I'm not sure that they are typical of most operations.

Should there be federal regulation? The most up-to-date collection of state laws regarding bounty hunters that I've been able to locate is on the pages of the American Bail Coalition.

The last federal attempt to come up with a law appears to be the Bounty Hunter Responsibility Act of 1999. Delaware's 1999 bill that didn't pass through the legislature looks very similar to the federal bill. Here's the testimony that took place before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary for the House of Representatives.

Will the federal government return to this issue? I would prefer that states regulate the actions of bounty hunters within their jurisdictions. But, I'm not sure that many of them are taking steps to do that. Maybe this is something that could be addressed through the efforts of the National Governor's Association sharing best practices with other states, which could then get their legislatures and judiciary to work together. Maybe.