Calendar No. 582

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1637

A BILL

To expedite State review of criminal records of apand for other purposes. plicants for bail enforcement officer employment,

SEPTEMBER 17, 1998

Reported with an amendment in the nature of a

substitute
II

★(Star Print)

Calendar No. 582

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1637

To expedite State review of criminal records of applicants for bail enforcement

officer employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 12, 1998

Mr. TORRICELLI (for himself and Mr. KOHL) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

SEPTEMBER 17, 1998

Reported by Mr. HATCH, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To expedite State review of criminal records of applicants

for bail enforcement officer employment, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bounty Hunter Ac5 countability and Quality Assistance Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) bail enforcement officers, also known as

4 bounty hunters or recovery agents, provide law en5 forcement officers with valuable assistance in recov6 ering fugitives from justice;

7 (2) regardless of the differences in their duties,

8 skills, and responsibilities, the public has had dif9 ficulty in discerning the difference between law en10 forcement officers and bail enforcement officers;

11 (3) the American public demands the employ12 ment of qualified, well-trained bail enforcement offi13 cers as an adjunct, but not a replacement for, law

14 enforcement officers; and

15 (4) in the course of their duties, bail enforce16 ment officers often move in and affect interstate

17 commerce.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act—

20 (1) the term ‘‘bail enforcement employer’’

21 means any person that—

22 (A) employs 1 or more bail enforcement of23 ficers; or

24 (B) provides, as an independent contrac25 tor, for consideration, the services of 1 or more
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1 bail enforcement officers (which may include

2 the services of that person);

3 (2) the term ‘‘bail enforcement officer’’—

4 (A) means any person employed to obtain

5 the recovery of any fugitive from justice who

6 has been released on bail; and

7 (B) does not include any—

8 (i) law enforcement officer;

9 (ii) attorney, accountant, or other pro10 fessional licensed under applicable State

11 law;

12 (iii) employee whose duties are pri13 marily internal audit or credit functions; or

14 (iv) member of the Armed Forces on

15 active duty; and

16 (3) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means

17 a public servant authorized under applicable State

18 law to conduct or engage in the prevention, inves19 tigation, prosecution, or adjudication of criminal of20 fenses, including any public servant engaged in cor21 rections, parole, or probation functions.

22 SEC. 4. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—

24 (1) SUBMISSION.—An association of bail en25 forcement employers, which shall be designated for
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1 the purposes of this section by the Attorney General,

2 may submit to the Attorney General fingerprints or

3 other methods of positive identification approved by

4 the Attorney General, on behalf of any applicant for

5 a State license or certificate of registration as a bail

6 enforcement officer or a bail enforcement employer.

7 (2) EXCHANGE.—In response to a submission

8 under paragraph (1), the Attorney General may, to

9 the extent provided by State law conforming to the

10 requirements of the second paragraph under the

11 heading ‘‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’’ and the

12 subheading ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of

13 Public Law 92–544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for

14 licensing and employment purposes, identification

15 and criminal history records with the State govern16 mental agencies to which the applicant has applied.

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro18 mulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

19 this section, including measures relating to the security,

20 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor21 mation submitted or exchanged under subsection (a) and

22 to audits and recordkeeping requirements relating to that

23 information.

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date

25 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub-
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1 mit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and

2 the House of Representatives a report on the number of

3 submissions made by the association of bail enforcement

4 employers under subsection (a)(1), and the disposition of

5 each application to which those submissions related.

6 (d) STATE PARTICIPATION.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that each State should participate, to the maximum

8 extent practicable, in any exchange with the Attorney Gen9 eral under subsection (a)(2).

10 SEC. 5. MODEL GUIDELINES.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall

13 publish in the Federal Register model guidelines for the

14 State control and regulation of persons employed or apply15 ing for employment as bail enforcement officers.

16 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The guidelines published

17 under subsection (a) shall include recommendations of the

18 Attorney General regarding whether a person seeking em19 ployment as a bail enforcement officer should be—

20 (1) allowed to obtain such employment if that

21 person has been convicted of a felony offense under

22 Federal law, or of any offense under State law that

23 would be a felony if charged under Federal law;

24 (2) required to obtain adequate liability insur25 ance for actions taken in the course of performing
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1 duties pursuant to employment as a bail enforce2 ment officer; or

3 (3) prohibited, if acting in the capacity of that

4 person as a bail enforcement officer, from entering

5 any private dwelling, unless that person first knocks

6 on the front door and announces the presence of 1

7 or more bail enforcement officers.

8 (c) BYRNE GRANT PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN

9 STATES.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 505 of title I of the

11 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

12 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) is amended by adding at the

13 end the following:

14 ‘‘(e) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN STATES.—Notwith15 standing any other provision of this part, in making grants

16 to States under this subpart, the Director shall give prior17 ity to States that have adopted the model guidelines pub18 lished under section 5(a) of the Bounty Hunter Account19 ability and Quality Assistance Act of 1998.’’.

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

21 by paragraph (1) shall take effect 2 years after the

22 date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 6. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR ACTIVITIES OF

2 BAIL ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a bail en4 forcement officer, whether acting as an independent con5 tractor or as an employee of a bail enforcement employer

6 on a bail bond, shall be considered to be the agent of that

7 bail enforcement employer for the purposes of that liabil8 ity.

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bounty Hunter Account11 ability and Quality Assistance Act of 1998’’.

12 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

13 Congress finds that—

14 (1) bounty hunters, also known as bail enforce15 ment officers or recovery agents, provide law enforce16 ment officers and the courts with valuable assistance

17 in recovering fugitives from justice;

18 (2) regardless of the differences in their duties,

19 skills, and responsibilities, the public has had dif20 ficulty in discerning the difference between law en21 forcement officers and bounty hunters;

22 (3) the availability of bail as an alternative to

23 the pretrial detention or unsecured release of criminal

24 defendants is important to the effective functioning of

25 the criminal justice system;
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1 (4) the safe and timely return to custody of fugi2 tives who violate bail contracts is an important mat3 ter of public safety, as is the return of any other fugi4 tive from justice;

5 (5) bail bond agents are widely regulated by the

6 States, whereas bounty hunters are largely unregu7 lated;

8 (6) the public safety requires the employment of

9 qualified, well-trained bounty hunters; and

10 (7) in the course of their duties, bounty hunters

11 often move in and affect interstate commerce.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act—

14 (1) the term ‘‘bail bond agent’’ means any retail

15 seller of a bond to secure the release of a criminal de16 fendant pending judicial proceedings, unless such per17 son also is self-employed to obtain the recovery of any

18 fugitive from justice who has been released on bail;

19 (2) the term ‘‘bounty hunter’’—

20 (A) means any person whose services are

21 engaged, either as an independent contractor or

22 as an employee of a bounty hunter employer, to

23 obtain the recovery of any fugitive from justice

24 who has been released on bail; and

25 (B) does not include any—
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1 (i) law enforcement officer acting

2 under color of law;

3 (ii) attorney, accountant, or other pro4 fessional licensed under applicable State

5 law;

6 (iii) employee whose duties are pri7 marily internal audit or credit functions;

8 (iv) person while engaged in the per9 formance of official duties as a member of

10 the Armed Forces on active duty (as defined

11 in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, United

12 States Code); or

13 (v) bail bond agent;

14 (3) the term ‘‘bounty hunter employer’’—

15 (A) means any person that—

16 (i) employs 1 or more bounty hunters;

17 or

18 (ii) provides, as an independent con19 tractor, for consideration, the services of 1

20 or more bounty hunters (which may include

21 the services of that person); and

22 (B) does not include any bail bond agent;

23 and

24 (4) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means a

25 public officer or employee authorized under applicable
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1 Federal or State law to conduct or engage in the pre2 vention, investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of

3 criminal offenses, including any public officer or em4 ployee engaged in corrections, parole, or probation

5 functions, or the recovery of any fugitive from justice.

6 SEC. 4. MODEL GUIDELINES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall

9 develop model guidelines for the State control and regula10 tion of persons employed or applying for employment as

11 bounty hunters. In developing such guidelines, the Attorney

12 General shall consult with organizations representing—

13 (1) State and local law enforcement officers;

14 (2) State and local prosecutors;

15 (3) the criminal defense bar;

16 (4) bail bond agents;

17 (5) bounty hunters; and

18 (6) corporate sureties.

19 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The guidelines developed

20 under subsection (a) shall include recommendations of the

21 Attorney General regarding whether—

22 (1) a person seeking employment as a bounty

23 hunter should—

24 (A) be required to submit to a fingerprint25 based criminal background check prior to enter-
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1 ing into the performance of duties pursuant to

2 employment as a bounty hunter; or

3 (B) not be allowed to obtain such employ4 ment if that person has been convicted of a fel5 ony offense under Federal or State law;

6 (2) bounty hunters and bounty hunter employers

7 should be required to obtain adequate liability insur8 ance for actions taken in the course of performing du9 ties pursuant to employment as a bounty hunter; and

10 (3) State laws should provide—

11 (A) for the prohibition on bounty hunters

12 entering any private dwelling, unless the bounty

13 hunter first knocks on the front door and an14 nounces the presence of 1 or more bounty hunt15 ers; and

16 (B) the official recognition of bounty hunt17 ers from other States.

18 (c) EFFECT ON BAIL.—The guidelines published under

19 subsection (a) shall include an analysis of the estimated ef20 fect, if any, of the adoption of the guidelines by the States

21 on—

22 (1) the cost and availability of bail; and

23 (2) the bail bond agent industry.

24 (d) NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this

25 section may be construed to authorize the promulgation of
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1 any Federal regulation relating to bounty hunters, bounty

2 hunter employers, or bail bond agents.

3 (e) PUBLICATION OF GUIDELINES.—The Attorney

4 General shall publish model guidelines developed pursuant

5 to subsection (a) in the Federal Register.