A bail bondsman or a bail bonds dealer is a person, usually working within an agency or a corporation, that bails a defendant in a court. This is the person who guarantees and pledges money or property. This usually leads to the defendant, in this case, customer, being released very quickly.
While this might sound pretty straight-forward, it’s not as easy as you’d think. You can’t just show up in court out of nowhere and give the judge cash to set someone free. It’s not even close to how this works.
Becoming the best bail bondsman you can be is a hard task and it will take you some time to get there. Still, we all have to start somewhere.
Meeting the requirements
Naturally, like with any other occupation, you have to meet certain requirements before you can call yourself a bail bonds agent, or a bail bondsman, whichever you prefer. These demands vary depending on where you reside and where you will operate.
For example, in the state of Florida, you must be 18 before you can handle Florida bail bonds like a professional, while in North Carolina, you’d have to wait for at least three more years.
It’s best to investigate and do proper research on these by yourself, based on the specific location where you will work.
On the other hand, there are universal requirements. These apply no matter where you are planning to work and they include, but aren’t limited to:
- not having any felony convictions
- having a high school diploma or its equivalent
- living (at least for a certain period) in the area where you operate
- not being employed in any police department or law enforcement agency
Applying for the license
After you meet all the requirements for your area of practice, it’s time to get licensed. To get the license, you’ll first have to go through a series of bureaucratic procedures that include having a pre-licensing course and having a fingerprint background check.
If this goes well, you will be able to apply for the license. This isn’t such an easy process, but luckily you will already have a mandatory supervising bail bonds agent, who will help you with this.
The only thing left for you to do now is to take the exam for bail bandsman… that is if your application has been approved. When you get the approval, the hard part actually begins – passing the bail bondsman test.
About Author: The author of this blog is a full-time writer and blogger specializing in education, real estate industry, law, and entrepreneurship. A writer by day and a reader by night, he loathes discussing himself in the third person but can be persuaded to do so from time to time.
