Bounty Hunter Salary

Ever imagined making a career in law enforcement that is strictly not official or under the governance of some law enforcing body? If yes, then being a bounty hunter can invariably be a good choice for you. They are not some officers of police forces or any governmental agency, however they often play a crucial role in tracking criminals who have fled from legal proceedings breaking the court ultimatum or warnings. Bounty hunter is, basically, an archaic term and is still used for professionals who are courageous and smart enough to track and catch criminals who misguide the court and flee away without paying the due amount in exchange of bail. Definitely a risky profession, it involves dealing with threats and dangers to life and hence this profession demands bravery and skills in self defense. Generally, these professionals are muscular, strong and with good physical endurance ability.

Job
Bounty hunters chiefly work in capturing criminals and surrendering them to respective police departments. They are also known by various other names like bail enforcement agent, bail fugitive investigator, and fugitive recovery agent. They generally, are hired by bail bondsman to catch the criminals on which the bail bondsmen have invested their money. Their job duties includes the following tasks:

• Perform surveillance just like an undercover agent or a detective agent.
• Read, understand, research and interpret state laws. Be aware of various criminal laws.
• Carry out tasks like criminal background checks, tracing license plates, obtaining phone records, taking fingerprints, collecting proofs, etc.
• Make arrests and transport the prisoner to respective law enforcing bodies.

Average Salary
The salary like various other salary ranges for jobs depends on various factors, chief among them being training and education. Here education and training doesn't mean that you must have some specific degrees in bounty hunting. Basically, as such, there is no specific degree requirement for becoming a bounty hunter. Most of the people working as bounty hunters have worked in police, military and private investigation departments however, a graduation degree in some business or science subjects is expected by employers. Many police officers after some work experience and other people in military services after retirement switch to this profession, just for a career change. Nevertheless, since this profession has gained recognition and importance, federal courts prefer candidates who have some sort of training in Karate or other physical combat techniques besides good reasoning and verbal skills.

In the recent years, some private bounty hunting schools have been established that grant degrees and training related to such subjects. Besides that, there are various online degree courses pertaining to bounty hunting. The salary fluctuates depending on the bail bonds amount, that can be anywhere between US$500 - US$100,000. General, they are paid 10% commission of the bail bond amount and this is what constitutes the salary. So if they get many cases in a year at the standard 10% commission rate, the salary can sum up to cross six figures in a year. Nevertheless, salary in the initial years is not very high. Hence, candidates must be ready to work and gain good experience to command better salaries.

In this business of fugitive recovery, the better experienced you are, more will be the salary. Inexperienced bounty hunters are paid less and assigned criminals with lower bail bond amount. The salary in initial years is around US$25,000 and after 5 years of work experience, it can shoot up to US$100,000! It all depends on your contacts and performance. Being successful in this field demands some consistent years of hard work however, the job satisfaction derived from working on your own and as per your own plans is very rewarding. In this profession, you are the sole leader deciding how to complete the task assigned to you, that is often not the case in many professions.