What Rights do Bounty Hunters Have?

A job made famous by the man named "Dog," and a job given a bad wrap by mistakes like the one Wednesday morning on Wichita's west side. A group of bounty hunters chased a man, at speeds up to 120 miles per hour, only to discover they had the wrong guy.

"That's not what most of the reputable bail bondsmen do in Wichita, that's not how we run our business," explains Chris Fisher, a licensed bail bondsman.

He says he's well aware of the misconceptions people have about what he does - many of which are caused by the work of a few reckless bounty hunters.

Just last month in Kansas City, a home was ransacked because bounty hunters were looking for someone who used to live there.

Bail bondsman and bounty hunters are very different. Bondsmen are licensed by the city, county and state where bounty hunters are not.

Bail bondsmen can enter your home without a warrant, if they believe you're inside and have a legal right to handcuff and arrest a fugitive.

Bounty hunters, on the other hand, must have permission to enter your home and are supposed to notify police before they try and pick someone up.

The men arrested for Wednesday morning's chase were bounty hunters, hired by a Wichita bondsman, reinforcing Fisher's personal rule of only allowing his staff to do his company's bounty hunting.

"I just hesitate to use anybody that's not within my own company. I just don't want to assume the liability for some guy off the street that I say can go arrest somebody for me when I don't really know that person that well."

He would just assume the drama be left to "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and away from his office.

I am a married, 58 year-old semi-retired grandmother of seven. My biggest brush with the law was traffic ticket 15 years ago. I attend church regularly and do not travel in crowds who have pony tails, tattoos or piercings. I simply have nothing in common with individuals who have these leanings. I am not familiar to the ways of bounty hunters or bails men .. at least until yesterday.
Because I have a common name and due to my height and weight I have been associated with a criminal that bounty hunters are searching for. It does not matter that this woman is at least 30 years younger than me. It does not matter that I have lived in this same home for over 6 years. She uses part of my name as one of her many aliases, it is enough to link me with her.
For the last month I have been receiving suspicious calls and out of fear of identity thief I would give no information and hang up. On Thursday of last week I reported these calls to my local PD. Yesterday, my husband had just left and I was home alone when there was a knock at my office door. I opened the door and two very rough looking men brushed passed me and into my office.
One took a photo out of a folder and held it up next to my head and accused me of being this person. I was in total shock and we spent 15 minutes in a heated discussion over whether it was me or not. When he realized he would get nowhere with the divers license photo blown up to 9 by 11 inch size. He demanded to search my home. I refused him access and then then screaming really began.
He threatened me with a call to the police which I welcomed. But when he attempted to call the police, my office phone rang from his cell phone. I helped him by dialing 911 myself. While I was reporting these two men, who out and out refused my request to leave my home and property to the dispatcher, the man was screaming behind me to give him my phone, he was threatening me and yelling that he wanted to talk to the police. He was going to arrest me and take me in. I was simply terrified and began to cry as I spoke to the dispatcher. The man could be heard by the dispatcher in the background.
I had ordered these two men out of my home over and over but they refused and they began to accuse me of harboring this criminal. I had a big house and they were certain I was hiding someone because I refused to let them search my home. I knew if they got beyond my office door they would know I was alone, but I was so shaken it hadn't occur ed to me the man's yelling would have brought anyone into the room had they been in the house. I have never been so terrified in my life. I then called my husband and alerted him as to what was going on. Our car was on a lift in a garage with all the tires off but he would get home asap.
After a second call to the police my husband got home and finally the police came and they also assumed I was this bail jumping woman. It took my drivers license, social security card, my business license and a whole lot of talking to make him understand I was not the woman in they were looking for. Once I convinced the police I was not this woman things began to calm down.
I was very shaken by this episode. I am even more frightened as I learn that these people can do anything they want ... they do not have to positively identify the individual they are hunting ... as in my case they can pick anyone and intrude into their private lives at will.
As I have read accounts of mistaken identities I am shocked as to how often it happens and I am surprised at how badly the out come can be. I have a loaded gun in my home ... had I been near it at one point, out of fear of my well being, I may have reached for it. I had no clue who these men were or if their IDs were authentic ... all I knew was I had two crazy men in my office screaming threats at me, demanding to search my home and they were refusing to leave. They had NO evidence I was this woman or knew this woman.
My greatest fear is that I am not off their radar. I am terrified they could come back. What are honest, law-abiding citizens to do????? If this has happened to me ... it could happen to anyone!!

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