Keep Bailing

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 Read more »

A Bounty Hunter and a Bail Agent Are the Same, Right?

You may have heard the term Bail Agent, or have seen the bright neon signs across the street from any city jail. Perhaps you’ve heard of a Fugitive Recovery Person like “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on television? Before I explain what they do, it’s important to know that these two job titles encompass very different duties.

Pictured: Bondsman Tonya Rynerson with Bounty Hunter Zeke Unger

Although Bail Agents, more commonly called a Bondsmen, and Fugitive Recovery Agents work very closely together at times, and are often confused as being one and the same. But by definition, they are very different indeed. In California, you must be licensed and trained specifically for the job of Bail Agent and as such, you can pick up your own “skips” or those who fail to appear in court. So let’s talk a about their big differences in their jobs: Read more »

Top 5 Questions About Bail Bonds

Last week I was at a seminar unrelated to bail bonds and I really took notice of how many questions people ask about the business when they find out that I’m a bondsman. Sometimes I think people are just making small talk. Certainly, “what do you do?” is a common cocktail party or first introduction question. Perhaps people ask me questions about “bail bonding” because most everyone is at least vaguely familiar with the Dale Carnegie principles about taking a genuine interest in others. Plus, we all know that if we ask about the next guy, we won’t have to carry the conversation.

For whatever reason, I do think people tend to ask more questions when they hear that I’m in bail bonds. So, I compiled a top five list of most asked bail bond questions from this recent seminar… Read more »

If it’s not the first question people ask, it’s the second; “You’re a bail bondsman - like Dog the Bounty Hunter?” No, actually, my job is nothing like what Beth and Duane Chapman (aka “The Dog”) do on television. A day in the life for me entails talking with mostly nice people who know someone who has made a mistake or who the authorities think has broken the law.

Quite honestly, I had never seen the Dog the Bounty Hunter show start to finish. I’d probably caught 5 or 10 minutes here or there while surfing. Still, when I cruised by A&E the other night, the show was just starting; I thought I’d give it a shot and watch the whole episode.

Dog was in Colorado (possibly why I decided to watch; I have a long-standing love affair with the Rocky Mountain State, dating back to John Denver, but I digress…). As I watched, I was a lot more interested in the “how” of The Dog’s operation than the two fugitives they were chasing down. Read more »