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"...does
every licensed bail bondsman have the power of arrest?"
The
succinct answer to your question is "no," however it is the
norm that the surety upon the bail be afforded the power to
apprehend their insured defendant. Texas is one such state where
it is expressly illegal for a bail bondsman to pick up a defendant
without a state issued private investigator's license or help from law
enforcement there are others as well.
Each
state regulates the commercial bail bond industry differently and
Taylor v. Taintor is no longer a reliable benchmark for how each state
handles the apprehension of bail-secured defendants (and hasn't been
for almost 10 years).
It should
also be noted that cross-state-border operations are also further
affected by State laws, both from which they are apprehended
as well as transported to- most state subscribe to the Uniform
Criminal Extradition Act; I laughed out loud when I read that a high
profile bounty hunter had his defendant sign a waiver of extradition
(and I know that A LOT of bail enforcement agent's out there
do this as well)- he is in jail and has been denied bail because he
has been charged with kidnapping in Oklahoma. I had a Federal judge
explain to me personally that a person's extradition rights can only
be waived in front of a judge or other magistrate (okay, some state
may have different terms for these people as well) who in turn, can
make sure that the defendant understands his rights before giving them
up. If the defendant has to sign a waiver I would imagine
that would constitute prima facia evidence, at the very
least intent, that his or her movement has been restricted
(defined- ARRESTED or KIDNAPPED depending on your legal
authority in the situation). This bounty hunter lost his legal
authority over the defendant when he broke the law- hence the
kidnapping charge.
"...they
only allow bailbondsman in during business hours and not on weekends!"
In
most states, counties are allowed to create and administer their own
procedures and rules concerning how they handle bail and other forms
of pre-trial release, including the dates and times of release.
Judges, Magistrates and other administrators who handle bail the
related process or paperwork do not have to be on call 24 hours a
day or 7 days a week to review each arrested person's case or to set
bail if the county cannot or will not afford it.
Ultimately
bail (pre-trial release) is not a right, it is a privilege.
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