Definition

• According to the Georgia Code, a bail recovery agent is one who performs services or takes action for the purposes of apprehending the principal on a bail bond or capturing a fugitive who has escaped from bail. Compensation, gratuity or other benefits are granted to the bail recovery agent as a result of the apprehension or capture.
  
  

Basic Qualifications and Firearms Licensing

• To initially qualify as a bail recovery agent, an individual must be 25 years of age or older and a citizen of the United States. A valid license must be held for the carrying and possession of firearms, which means the prospective bail recovery agent must have a clean record absent of felony convictions and possession or distribution of a controlled substance. Within the five years prior to the application for a firearms license, the individual also must not have been an in-patient at a mental hospital or drug or alcohol treatment center.
  
  

Registration with Bondsman

• Once the initial qualifications are met and a firearms license obtained, a bail recovery agent may register with a bonding company. The bail recovery agent applicant must provide copies of a driver's license, firearms license, a color picture and a completed Bail Recovery application detailing height, weight and address. A bail recovery identification card from the Georgia Association of Professional Bondsmen is renewed and paid for annually. The bonding company legally must report to the county sheriff the names of all registered bail recovery agents working in the county.
  
  

Duties

• When the accused individual fails to appear in court, a bail recovery agent pursues and returns him to face pending charges. The bond securing the bail becomes due at the end of the court day, once the individual fails to appear as scheduled. The bonding company should receive a minimum of 72 hours of notice in writing prior to the individual's scheduled time to appear or the bond may not be forfeited to the court. Once the bail becomes due, the recovery agent has the authority to arrest the accused individual and take him into custody.