GREENLEAF BOUNTY HUNTER BILL MOVES FORWARD
HARRISBURG—The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved Senate Bill 1075, a measure that provides for the licensing of bail bond enforcement agents.
Because bail bond enforcement agents enforce private contracts between bail bondsmen and suspects, they are not considered agents of the state and are not bound by the same constitutional restraints as police. Bounty hunters make an estimated 30,000 arrests each year across the country, but just a few states have regulations governing their conduct.
Under the Greenleaf proposal, an applicant for a bail bond enforcement agent license would be required to complete training under the Lethal Weapons Training Act and file an application with the court of common pleas in the county where the agent’s place of business is located. The Lethal Weapons Training Act requires that a candidate be at least 18 years old and be cleared through a criminal background check for crimes of violence.
Licenses would be valid for five years and subject to renewal. Conviction of a felony would preclude licensure. Out-of-state agents would be required to be licensed in their home states, as long as requirements are similar to those of Pennsylvania.
Under the bill, a bail bond enforcement agent who enters a municipality for the purpose of capturing a suspect must notify the chief of police or State Police, whichever has jurisdiction, on a form provided by the police. The registration form must identify the bail bond enforcement agent as licensed, and provide the name and location of the suspect in the municipality. Under certain circumstances, oral notification may replace written registration as long as a written report is submitted with 24 hours after any action takes place. Failure to register would be a misdemeanor of the first degree.
The measure, which now awaits action by the full Senate, states that a bail bond enforcement agent who wrongfully causes damage to any person or property will be liable for the damages and possibly for punitive damages as well.
"There have been instances in which bounty hunters, in their zeal to catch a fugitive, have entered the wrong dwellings, damaged property, and frightened or injured innocent people," Greenleaf said. "The goals of this bill are to ensure that citizens are not placed at risk and to make police aware of any action in their jurisdiction involving the capture of fugitives."
