A bail bond agency’s bail agreement includes becoming responsible for an individual, which includes ensuring that person appears in court on the proper date.
If that person misses their court date, two things happen:
- The individual becomes a fugitive from the law.
- The bond agency becomes responsible for paying back the full amount of bail.
At this point, the bail bond agency will employ a fugitive recovery agent to find and return the accused to the place of their trial.
A fugitive recovery agent can use several means to locate a person on the run.
Fugitive recovery agents are trained investigators. In many cases, they have a background in law enforcement, and are quite familiar with anticipating a fugitive’s likely next moves.
That includes talking to the fugitives friends, family, or coworkers and exploring where that person would likely find the means to leave the state. Checking with local businesses for video footage and other means of surveillance are also effective.
Recovery agents rarely resort to physical force when apprehending a fugitive and returning them to court, but the job always involves some degree of risk.
Consequences of missing court dates:
No one involved benefits from an accused person skipping town and missing mandated court dates.
The court will issue a warrant for failure to appear. That makes any subsequent defense in court more difficult, and any compromises with the assistant district attorney less likely.
The DMV will suspend an individual’s license for a failure to appear, and the court may assess additional fines and jail time.
After a failure to appear is issued, the court will eventually also issue a warrant for the fugitive’s arrest. Many states have extradition policies, meaning that if the individual managed to flee to another state and gets caught there, law enforcement can send them back to where the warrant was issued to face legal consequences.
Lastly, it’s important to note that bail bondsmen become less and less willing to write bonds for individuals who have failed to appear in court. After a first missed appearance, possibly with good reason. But after that, few if any bondsmen will continue to offer support.
The last thing someone in an already tough position wants is to be on their own and totally without bail options.