News: 2012 Press Release

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that Governor Jerry Brown has signed AB 2029, authored by Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco). The bill re-establishes the "Bail Fugitive Recovery Persons Act" (Act) which requires that all bail fugitive recovery persons meet specified education, notice, and conduct requirements. The Act expired on January 1, 2010.

"I am very pleased that Governor Brown has signed this important legislation regarding the re-establishment of requirements for the bounty hunter profession," Commissioner Jones said. "This legislation will give necessary oversight of this narrowly regulated profession to the Department of Insurance in an effort to create important public safety mechanisms for law enforcement and protect consumers to the best of our ability."

Specifically, the Act will provide:  

• Specified age, background, training, education, and documentation requirements for persons acting as a bail fugitive recovery person;
• That a bail fugitive recovery person may apprehend, detain, or arrest a bail fugitive only if working under the expressed written authorization of a licensed bail agent;
• That no bail fugitive recovery person shall wear a uniform or carry a badge that could imply that person works for a governmental agency or public safety organization; and,
• That the bail fugitive recovery person is to provide a local police or sheriff's department with at least a six-hour advance notice of his or her intent to apprehend a bail fugitive, except under exigent circumstances, among other important public safety provisions.

Strongly supported by statewide and local law enforcement organizations, civil rights groups, and crime victims associations throughout the legislative process, AB 2029 is widely seen as a fair and balanced approach to bring much-needed reform to the bounty hunter profession.

"I would like to thank Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Tom Ammiano for authoring this legislation and Governor Jerry Brown for signing it," Commissioner Jones said.

The measure becomes effective on January 1, 2013.