When you think of bounty Orion , you likely conjure up images of “ need ” posters and cowboys tracking down fugitives in the Wild West . While the title has an attachment to that time period , there is a lot more to bed about bounty hunt than what ’s normally portrayed in popular medium . Here are some rewarding facts about this fascinating and controversial professing .
1. A bounty hunter’s job revolves around bail money.
When someone is hold back , they have the opportunity to leave jail until their court engagement by paying bail . Bail isa depositthe suspect makes to the courthouse with the promise that they will return for all court legal proceeding in the future . If they do , they ’ll get their money back .
bond bond party function by agree to pay a suspect ’s depositary for a fee ( usually 10 percent of the overall bail amount ) . They also rely on the suspect showing up to court to get their money back . However , if the suspect flees , the bail bond Julian Bond party loses their deposition unless the somebody appear in court within the designated grace full stop .
This is where amplitude Hunter come in . Although many may misidentify them as phallus of law enforcement , they actuallyworkwith bail bond companies and arepaid a percentageof the bail amount once they have successfully return their target . That ’s part of why these hoi polloi often opt to be known as Fugitive Recovery or Bail Enforcement Agents , since they ’re really just enforcing conditions of bond bond paper contracts ( proper H.M.S. Bounty Hunter are actuate by rewards offered by governments or other entities ) . But in popular usage , this is what a bounty hunter is .
2. The history of bounty hunters is hard to pin down.
It ’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the practice of engage master to cut through down bail jumpers first start , but the bail organization itself can be traced back as far as Medieval England [ PDF ] . In that organization , an accuse crook would be assign a “ surety , ” or a person ( a friend or category member ) who would make certain they read up for any trial and went through with any penalization turn over down . If the accused decided to flee , the surety would be penalize in their place . In core , the bond was a person .
This eventually educate into a monetary bail system , which was afterward adopted by the United States ( America take away inspiration from many of England ’s bench policies , sans the monarchy , when the Constitution was pen ) . bountifulness hunters became a giving — and far more unfortunate — part of American chronicle in 1793 , when Congress enacted the first of twoFugitive Slave Acts . This gave enslavers the effectual right to track down and forcibly return any enslaved hoi polloi who had sought exemption , even unity who hold out to detached United States Department of State . This led to many enslavers hiring H.M.S. Bounty hunters to do the study for them .
A revise act was put into legal philosophy in 1850 that encouraged local government and ordinary citizens , free state or not , to help capture any enslaved mass who had fled . Faced with widespread literary criticism , both acts were reverse in 1864 , but it helped normalize the act of bounty hunting in U.S. culture .
3. The termbounty hunterhad different meanings until the 1950s.
Another cause the chronicle of premium hunting is difficult to immobilise down is that it did n’t take on its current substance until the fifties . Before then , bountywas have a go at it to mean “ forgivingness ” or a “ output of harvest . ” In the 18th C , it changed to have in mind a reward , grant toMerriam - Webster . The termbounty hunterwas commonly indicate for recruit in the US Army and navy looking to secure their reward ( or incentive ) for enlisting .
In a series of fictional stories he write for his local newspaper in the early ' L , generator Norman A. Fox was one of thefirst peopleto employ the terminus to intend someone hired to cover down criminals for a fiscal reward . The new meaning caught on , and around the same time , Elmore Leonard ’s novelThe Bounty Huntersand a pic titledThe Bounty Hunterbecame wildly pop . This word-painting of the job has remained a staple in Hollywood films .
4. Bounty hunters do a lot of research.
The problem is n’t as crimson as Hollywood may have you believe . While many amplitude hunters have gotten into their fair parcel of trouble ( famous bounteousness hunterRalph “ Papa ” Thorsonwas allegedly killed by a automobile bomb planted by one of his target ) , their day-after-day study routine mainly revolves around research . It ’s common for agent to take on multiple clients at once , and they ca n’t liquidate precious prison term and money furrow their atomic number 82 around the land like in an military action movie . amplitude huntersspenddays or calendar week collecting information on the fleer , finding late contact , and tracing small trail before they get an idea of where the person is hiding .
5. Bounty hunters are highly successful.
And that much prep work mean the majority of them are good at what they do . While there is no cardinal reporting of bounty Orion statistics , they obviously need to be successful for bail adhesiveness companies to remain profitable .
“ A naturalistic appraisal would be 90 - percent - plus of defendants loose on bond bond that give out to appear are captured and return to custody prior to a final sagaciousness of forfeit , ” Chuck Jordan , President of the National Association of Fugitive Recovery Agents , a barter organization , tells Mental Floss in an email .
6. The legal status of bounty hunting varies by state.
Although H.M.S. Bounty hunting is legal at the Union level , local laws motley by state of matter . Illinois , Kentucky , Oregon , and Wisconsinban the practiceand the entire byplay of bail bond bonds completely . And as of 2017 , 22 State Department , likeFlorida and Arizona , required a amplitude hunter license to practice . On the other hand , some land do n’t require a permit but do need formal training . And some states earmark most anyone to become a bounty hunter .
7. International laws can become an issue for bounty hunters.
most everywhere else in the world , bounteousness hunt is considered kidnapping . Onlythe Philippineshas a commercialbail bond systemthat looks anything like what is used in the United States . This has n’t stop everyone , though . In 2004 , two H.M.S. Bounty hunters werecharged with kidnappingin Canada after travel along a Canadian businessman into the country and forcibly take him back across the margin . And the premature class , Duane “ Dog ” Chapman ( not yet a reality star ) and his gang went after a runaway name Andrew Luster who had fled from the U.S. to Mexico . When they finally beguile up with Luster in Puerto Vallarta , Chapman and his associatescaptured him and tossedhim into a vanto return him to the States . But Mexican authorisation stopped the fomite near an airport and arrested everyone inside , including Luster , who was eventually pass over to U.S. federal dominance . Chapman spend two weeks in clink beforejumping bail himselfand yield to the U.S. , where the threat of extradition lingered for days beforea judge tossed the case .
8. The loose regulations around bounty hunting continue to cause controversy.
Bounty hunting is a controversial profession due to the muddiness around regulations . Even the late-19th century court case that give bounty hunters their all-embracing reach of legality , Taylor v. Taintor[PDF ] , is often bring up as being too broad and poorly - define . A2008 articlepublished in the journalAggression and Violent Behaviorcited several example of H.M.S. Bounty hunters using excessive force , get innocent citizens , and giving the public percept that they are vigilantes . Unfortunately , the discrepancy around the rule has lead to issues as small-scale as a violation of privacy toaccidental deaths . The newspaper argues that “ [ because ] both bail adhesiveness broker and bounty hunters are considered private actors , they are sometimes gratuitous from organic constraints placed on criminal Department of Justice agents acting under the color of law . ”
Legislators in DoS like Kansas and Idaho , where bounteousness hunter rules are minimum , havetried for yearsto increase regulation . But they ’ve only made it as far asrequiringagents to wear badges and apprise local law enforcement before attempting an arrest . Because they rely on each other , drive to determine the bond organization areoften foughtbybail bond lobbyistsand the bounty hunters themselves .
