II

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

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) bail enforcement officers, also known as

9 bounty hunters or recovery agents, provide law en-
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1 forcement officers with valuable assistance in recov2 ering fugitives from justice;

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

4 skills, and responsibilities, the public has had dif5 ficulty in discerning the difference between law en6 forcement officers and bail enforcement officers;

7 (3) the American public demands the employ8 ment of qualified, well-trained bail enforcement offi9 cers as an adjunct, but not a replacement for, law

10 enforcement officers; and

11 (4) in the course of their duties, bail enforce12 ment officers often move in and affect interstate

13 commerce.

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this Act—

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

17 means any person that—

18 (A) employs 1 or more bail enforcement of19 ficers; or

20 (B) provides, as an independent contrac21 tor, for consideration, the services of 1 or more

22 bail enforcement officers (which may include

23 the services of that person);

24 (2) the term ‘‘bail enforcement officer’’—
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1 (A) means any person employed to obtain

2 the recovery of any fugitive from justice who

3 has been released on bail; and

4 (B) does not include any—

5 (i) law enforcement officer;

6 (ii) attorney, accountant, or other pro7 fessional licensed under applicable State

8 law;

9 (iii) employee whose duties are pri10 marily internal audit or credit functions; or

11 (iv) member of the Armed Forces on

12 active duty; and

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

14 a public servant authorized under applicable State

15 law to conduct or engage in the prevention, inves16 tigation, prosecution, or adjudication of criminal of17 fenses, including any public servant engaged in cor18 rections, parole, or probation functions.

19 SEC. 4. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—

21 (1) SUBMISSION.—An association of bail en22 forcement employers, which shall be designated for

23 the purposes of this section by the Attorney General,

24 may submit to the Attorney General fingerprints or

25 other methods of positive identification approved by
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1 the Attorney General, on behalf of any applicant for

2 a State license or certificate of registration as a bail

3 enforcement officer or a bail enforcement employer.

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

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

6 the extent provided by State law conforming to the

7 requirements of the second paragraph under the

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

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

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

11 licensing and employment purposes, identification

12 and criminal history records with the State govern13 mental agencies to which the applicant has applied.

14 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pro15 mulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

16 this section, including measures relating to the security,

17 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor18 mation submitted or exchanged under subsection (a) and

19 to audits and recordkeeping requirements relating to that

20 information.

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

22 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub23 mit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and

24 the House of Representatives a report on the number of

25 submissions made by the association of bail enforcement
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1 employers under subsection (a)(1), and the disposition of

2 each application to which those submissions related.

3 (d) STATE PARTICIPATION.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that each State should participate, to the maximum

5 extent practicable, in any exchange with the Attorney Gen6 eral under subsection (a)(2).

7 SEC. 5. MODEL GUIDELINES.

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

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

10 publish in the Federal Register model guidelines for the

11 State control and regulation of persons employed or apply12 ing for employment as bail enforcement officers.

13 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The guidelines published

14 under subsection (a) shall include recommendations of the

15 Attorney General regarding whether a person seeking em16 ployment as a bail enforcement officer should be—

17 (1) allowed to obtain such employment if that

18 person has been convicted of a felony offense under

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

20 would be a felony if charged under Federal law;

21 (2) required to obtain adequate liability insur22 ance for actions taken in the course of performing

23 duties pursuant to employment as a bail enforce24 ment officer; or
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1 (3) prohibited, if acting in the capacity of that

2 person as a bail enforcement officer, from entering

3 any private dwelling, unless that person first knocks

4 on the front door and announces the presence of 1

5 or more bail enforcement officers.

6 (c) BYRNE GRANT PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN

7 STATES.—

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

9 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

10 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755) is amended by adding at the

11 end the following:

12 ‘‘(e) PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN STATES.—Notwith13 standing any other provision of this part, in making grants

14 to States under this subpart, the Director shall give prior15 ity to States that have adopted the model guidelines pub16 lished under section 5(a) of the Bounty Hunter Account17 ability and Quality Assistance Act of 1998.’’.

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

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

20 date of enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 6. JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY FOR ACTIVITIES OF

22 BAIL ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

23 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a bail en24 forcement officer, whether acting as an independent con25 tractor or as an employee of a bail enforcement employer
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1 on a bail bond, shall be considered to be the agent of that

2 bail enforcement employer for the purposes of that liabil3 ity.

Æ