Question About Bounty Hunters

I was watching Dog, The Bounty Hunter on TLC the other nght and wondering what powers are granted to bounty hunters. I think that they might not require a warrant to enter a premises. I saw othat the Bounty Hunters had US Government badges. So are they US Government Agents or are they US Government Contractors like mercenaries are. Maybe we should set a few bounty hunters loose in Afghanistan to catch Osama.

[edit on 1-12-2004 by IBM]

Here's a site that answers some of your questions.

www.77investigators.com...

Actually there are quite a few american bountyhunters in Afghanistan going after the grand prize, a group of 3 of them was arrested by the afghan government because they ran an illegal prison and stepped on too many toes.

I know that in the past anyone could be a Bounty Hunter, you didn't need any type of license or training. I ought to Know because I used to be one.

Most Bounty hunter work consists of bringing Bail Jumpers back to the Bail Bondsman for which you get a percentage of the Bail that would have been lost, but you also can grab anyone that has a reward on them.

You are right that a bail bondsman does not need a warrant to go in a house after the jumper, but you had better be sure of what you are doing because unlike cops you don't have pretty much blanket immunity from a lawsuit if something goes wrong

In most states they have more powers then the Police. They can enter a persons house without a search warrant if they know a bounty is there. They can also cross state lines in hunting a bounty.

Most of the laws for bounty hunting have been unchanged on the books since the 1800s.

I have to say most bounty work closely with local law enforcement. They also preform a valuable service.

Thanks for the guys, I will look into the information you presented.