BOUNTY HUNTERS

[EEllis]

So are you saying that the law referenced and quoted from the DPS site is wrong? That DPS referring to the law that requires them to be licensed and working for a licensed company is incorrect? That sure confuses me as I found several sites that specifically said that a bond holder who thinks that they can do anything in violation of that is breaking the law. And even one site that discusses that a bond holder cannot even conduct surveillance, much less do anything else.

I'm saying that the referenced law doesn't cover everything. It speaks of arrest on a bail warrant and that it's a crime to hire (for the bondsman) or contract (for the bounty hunter) of a non licensed person. Iit doesn't mention the bondsman's, the surety, actions at all. A Bondsman by statute can "(a) A surety may before forfeiture relieve himself of his undertaking by: (1) surrendering the accused into the custody of the sheriff of the county where the prosecution is pending; or ...." . Well that's a bit hard to do if it were as criminal as many will tell you. Case law says that it must be done willingly and without force but you can lie and or trick a person into surrendering. There is no law about dressing up as a bounty hunter that a bondsman would be violating. It's actions that would make it criminal and if they are careful there is a bit of wiggle room. As to the surveillance that is by regulation not penal code. While you may not be able to hire someone to surveil it's a bit much to be saying your not alowed to try and check up on someone you are legally and financially responsible for. I mean that is the whole purpose for have surety bonds, the financial incentive for a private party to help insure a bonded individuals presence.

Of course the whole thing is a bit hypothetical as anyone operating a bonding agency of any size is way to busy to do these type of activities. You will find tho that in small bonding companies in extreme rural areas it's not unheard of.

Oh and I'm sure being out of state adds a whole nother issue. I wouldn't want to even begin getting into that mess.

[Glockster]

So are you saying that the law referenced and quoted from the DPS site is wrong? That DPS referring to the law that requires them to be licensed and working for a licensed company is incorrect? That sure confuses me as I found several sites that specifically said that a bond holder who thinks that they can do anything in violation of that is breaking the law. And even one site that discusses that a bond holder cannot even conduct surveillance, much less do anything else.

I'm saying that the referenced law doesn't cover everything. It speaks of arrest on a bail warrant and that it's a crime to hire (for the bondsman) or contract (for the bounty hunter) of a non licensed person. Iit doesn't mention the bondsman's, the surety, actions at all. A Bondsman by statute can "(a) A surety may before forfeiture relieve himself of his undertaking by: (1) surrendering the accused into the custody of the sheriff of the county where the prosecution is pending; or ...." . Well that's a bit hard to do if it were as criminal as many will tell you. Case law says that it must be done willingly and without force but you can lie and or trick a person into surrendering. There is no law about dressing up as a bounty hunter that a bondsman would be violating. It's actions that would make it criminal and if they are careful there is a bit of wiggle room. As to the surveillance that is by regulation not penal code. While you may not be able to hire someone to surveil it's a bit much to be saying your not alowed to try and check up on someone you are legally and financially responsible for. I mean that is the whole purpose for have surety bonds, the financial incentive for a private party to help insure a bonded individuals presence.

Of course the whole thing is a bit hypothetical as anyone operating a bonding agency of any size is way to busy to do these type of activities. You will find tho that in small bonding companies in extreme rural areas it's not unheard of.

Oh and I'm sure being out of state adds a whole nother issue. I wouldn't want to even begin getting into that mess.

I think that you're putting way too much into the discussion as I was simply discussing BH from out of state, based on the OP saying that his friend said that he saw out of state plates. Every point that I made was referring to out of state. The actions that you discuss refer to in state bondsman. Out of state cannot, according to what I read of the code on the DPS site and other sites (legal and bondsman sites), do any of those things without proper license here. They simply cannot come into TX and act as if they somehow have any legal authority. From what we've read here, what they did to the OP's friend was not right. And that's all that I am addressing.