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Becoming a bail bondsman requires training, insurance, legal knowledge, and an understanding of the job’s unpredictable schedule. They act as an agent for arrested individuals, charging a percentage of bail and may request additional guarantees. The job is risky and demanding, and bail bondsmen often work irregular hours. Professional organizations can provide more information.
To become a bail bondsman, a person requires training, insurance, basic knowledge of the legal system, an understanding that the job does not follow a set schedule, and an awareness that employment in the bail bonds industry does not allow for many opportunities for growth.
A bail bondsman acts as an agent for a person who has been arrested, appeared in front of a judge and had bail set. The detained party calls a surety, tells the surety their bail amount, and the surety tells the arrested party how much they will have to pay them so that they can be released until their next court appearance. The guarantor usually charges a percentage (10-15%) of the total bail amount set by the judge and may request additional guarantees to reduce the risk of the potential client fleeing the area and not appearing at the next court hearing. The percentage charged to the customer is income for the guarantor and is not returned to the customer. Additional guarantees provided to the guarantor are returned to the client, provided he appears at the scheduled hearing.
As the bail bondsman does business with people accused and accused of criminal activities, adequate training is required so that he is familiar with the characteristics of a variety of crimes: armed robbery vs. theft or selling drugs vs. possession of drugs, for example. Furthermore, recognition of the potential physical danger of dealing with criminals and the financial risks associated with being liable to your clients must be carefully weighed before a person invests significant time and money in licensing programs to become a guarantor.
The guarantor, once licensed, must obtain insurance to protect himself financially from clients who fail to show up on their designated court date, called jumpers. If the client does not appear in court, the guarantor is obliged to pay the full amount of the offender’s bail, originally ordered by the judge within a certain period of time. Bond values can range from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the nature of the crime, the background of the offender, and other variables such as contributions from prosecution and defense attorneys. As the nature of a criminal personality lends itself to less than stellar moral values, the bail bondsman faces a high probability that a considerable number of his clients will not show up for court dates. Bail bailers enlist the help of bounty hunters to track down bailed criminals, arrest them, and return them to the prison from which they were released.
The working day of a successful guarantor does not follow the traditional nine-to-five schedule. The guarantor is often contacted in the early hours of the morning and is on call seven days a week. Although the careers of a bail bondsman and bounty hunter have been glamorized on reality television, the job is dangerous and unpredictable, physically and psychologically demanding, and is not a suitable career starter for many people.
There are professional guarantor organizations that can be contacted for more information on becoming a guarantor.
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