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For the Jamaican dancehall artist, see Bounty Killer.
For the Star Wars video game, see Bounty Hunter.

A bounty hunter is an individual who seeks out fugitives ("hunting") for a monetary reward ("bounty"), for apprehending by law, if such laws exist.

Laws regarding bounty hunters in the U.S.

In the United States legal system, the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case (Taylor v. Taintor, 16 Wall (83 U.S.) 366, 21 L.Ed. 287) established that the person into whose custody a person accused of a crime is remanded as part of the accused's bail has sweeping rights to recover that person. For this reason, most bounty hunters are employed by a bail bondsman: the bounty hunter is paid a portion of the bail the fugitive initially paid, since if the fugitive successfully eludes bail, the bondsman is responsible for the remainder of their bail, not the bounty hunter.

Thus the bounty hunter is the bail bondsman's way of ensuring his clients arrive at trial. In the United States, bounty hunters catch an estimated 30,000 bail jumpers per year. Bounty hunters are also sometimes known as Bail Enforcement Agents or Fugitive Recovery Agents, which are the preferred industry and polite terms, but in common speech, they are still called "Bounty Hunters".

In the United States of America bounty hunters have nearly limitless authority in their duties with regard to their targets. Unlike a police officer, a bounty hunter can enter the fugitive's private property without a warrant. Normally, bounty hunters do not undergo any formal training, and are generally unlicensed, only requiring sanction from a bail bondsman to operate. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

Several states have placed additional restrictions on bounty hunters. In California, bounty hunters must undergo a background check and two weeks of training, and in Texas, they are prohibited from carrying firearms. Other states require bounty hunters to wear clothing identifying them as such. In Kentucky, bounty hunting is generally not allowed because the state does not have a system of bail bondsmen, and releases bailed suspects on their own recognizance, thus there is no bondsman with the right to apprehend the fugitive. Generally, only fugitives from other states who have fled bail on Federal charges from another state where bounty hunting is legal are allowed to be hunted in Kentucky. There is always a possibility for a fugitive to make life hard for a bounty hunter by fleeing to states which restrict certain or all parts of the bounty hunter's service.

International laws, legal protection and bounty hunters in culture

Bounty hunters can also run into problems if a fugitive enters another country. Laws in other nations can be quite different, and taking a fugitive may be considered kidnapping. Noted bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (star of the TV series, Dog the Bounty Hunter) was arrested after crossing into Mexico, apprehending Andrew Luster, and not turning Luster over to Mexican authorities. He was later declared a fugitive by a Mexican prosecutor. Daniel Kear pursued and apprehended Sidney Jaffe at a residence in Canada. Kear was extradited to Canada, and convicted of kidnapping. While the United States Government generally allows the activities of bounty hunters in the United States since they help the justice system, the government is not as tolerant of these activities when they cause problems with other sovereign nations.

Several bounty hunters have also been arrested for killing a fugitive or apprehending the wrong person, mistaking them for a fugitive. Unlike police officers, they have no legal protections against injuries to non-fugitives and few legal protections against injuries to their targets.

In Westerns, bounty hunters are commonly depicted as romantic figures, such as the so-called Man with No Name played by Clint Eastwood. This tradition has been adopted by several action-oriented vehicles of sci-fi (when and if inspired by Westerns), with fictional characters like Boba Fett, Rally Vincent, Spike Spiegel or Samus Aran. In fact, in the Star Wars universe, there are numerous bounty hunters, though they are sometimes more like mercenaries than bounty hunters.

See also

Real life bounty hunters

Fictional bounty hunters

External links

Training

Miscellaneous

Bounty hunters | Legal occupations

Kopfgeldjäger | Cazarrecompensas | Cacciatore di taglie | Premiejager | Caçador de recompensas | Prisjägare

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Bounty hunter".

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