Published: June 25, 2009 12:59 am      

Agent wants bounty hunters regulated

EDMOND — Oklahoma law does not require bounty hunters to obtain a license, and a metro bail bondsman wants that changed.

Fugitives are present in every major city across the country, including Edmond. Regardless of their offense, they are fleeing from custody.

Cable television’s “Dog The Bounty Hunter,” which features heart-stopping fugitive pickups orchestrated by Duane “Dog” Chapman and his team, has increased interest in bounty hunting. The terms bounty hunter and bondsman are used interchangeably.

However, some metro bondsmen, who have made captures here, prefer to be called bail enforcement agents. They say there’s a difference between licensed professionals and the actions of some unlicensed bounty hunters who have harmed their profession’s reputation.

David Dunn, an investigator with Oklahoma City’s Abraham’s Bail Bonds, said in Oklahoma anyone of age can go to a bondsman, say they want to do pick ups and the bondsman can hire them.

“Then they can hunt,” Dunn said. “That doesn’t mean that they’ve had any training. They are not required to know anything about bail bond law, which tells you why you’re able to do what you can do.”

Dunn said the Oklahoma Association of Bail Enforcement Agents has interest in getting bounty hunter legislation passed and support from the Oklahoma Bondsman Association is growing. The OBA provides pre-licensing and continuing education courses.

Dunn said he would like to see bounty hunter licensure and specific training related to bail enforcement agent work, which includes investigative tasks, surveillance and orchestrating the “pick up” of fugitives, which can be dangerous.

One issue is finding a bounty hunter regulator, whether that be the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training or the Oklahoma Insurance Department, which currently regulates bondsmen, said Dudley Goolsby Jr., OBA president.

Goolsby said the OBA does not want to rush the process and he wants fair, even-handed legislation without harmful unintended consequences.

Dunn said persistence is needed to get legislation passed. Dunn said he has had discussions with several metro police departments who support licensure for bounty hunters, which would help them know they are dealing with a knowledgeable bondsman.

Bondsman Gary Duke said bail enforcement agents save taxpayers money because what they do doesn’t cost taxpayers any money and it gets fugitives off the streets. Without their help, more fugitive task force workers would be needed, he said.

“They can’t handle all of them,” said Duke, a bondsman for 10 years. “There’s just too many.”