Bounty Hunters and Bail Bondsmen: Stephanie Plum vs. Reality
April 7, 2009
Upon hearing that I am a female bail bondsman, the first thing I’m usually asked about is Dog The Bounty Hunter. However, several people have excitedly talked to me about Stephanie Plum. Honestly, however, I had never heard of her before someone asked me about two years ago. When the first person who told me about her wacky adventures, I could easily confirm that Ms. Plum was purely fiction.
Recently, I was on vacation and there were three Janet Evanovich books on the bookshelf where we stayed. I thought that the perfect opportunity to find out what Stephanie Plum is all about. It only took me to page 3 of Three to Get Deadly to see how far fetched the story line would be; but entertaining just the same.
My first suprise was that Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter, rather than a bail bondsman. Not sure why this was such a surprise, people are constantly confusing me for a bounty hunter. I also found it interesting that although I was reading the third in the series, Stephanie had only been a bounty hunter for five months.
I think it was the background information about the bail industry that primarily ran counter to my experience. For example, Stephanie tells us that bondsmen “loaned people money to post the bond.” As bondsmen, we don’t lend money at all. We charge a fee and put up a paper bond, which is a guarantee to the court that the defendant will show up for all required court dates. A bail bond is a “surety bond”.
The other part of the background that struck me is that Stephanie indicates that the bondsman charged 15% of the full bond amount as a fee to the client; as a bounty hunter she would make 10% of the bond amount if she brought back the “Failure to Appear” (known to me as a “skip“). This would indicate that the bondsman is still making money when the defendant doesn’t show up for court. Again, completely contrary to my experience. When some doesn’t show up for court and we hire a bounty hunter, we are loosing money. That’s why we bail out people we believe will show up for court.
Although I didn’t finish the book, it is always interesting to me to read something related to our industry. There are so many misconceptions about bail and bondsmen. I assume that fiction has to be the source. Of course, the reality is probably pretty boring by comparison. Plum fans, enjoy!
Photo credit: Lynn Holly
April 8th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Very well put…I also don’t think the average person understands that if we can’t bring a “skip” back into custody, we’re on the hook for the entire face amount of the bail! That would probably make them more sympathetic when we are forced to hire bail enforcement agents (instead of viewing those tactics as intimidating or selfish).
July 31st, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Thanks, Tonya. I never expected Stephanie Plum character to be real and the fictional novel to be accurate and reflective of a true bail bond or bounty hunter professionals. That is probably why I like the book so much because it is light hearted, fun and amusing to the extent that I laugh out loud.
Btw, I am not sure bail bond agent and/or bounty hunter are that common in Australia. Or, at least I have never come across them.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Victor: true, most countries do not have bail bondsmen or bounty hunters. That surprises most Americans. This article might give you a little more insight Bail Bonds Outside the US.