If you’ve ever seen one of the bounty hunter movies or television shows, you might believe that it is an exciting and financially rewarding business. Sometimes it can be, but most of the time it is one of worst jobs around. It’s amazing how they fail to depict all the long hours of surveillance, how low the pay can be, or even how agents don’t get paid if they don’t find the person who skipped town. Before you can become a Las Vegas bail bond recovery agent, there are many hurdles to overcome such as background checks, education classes and licensing. Being a Las Vegas bail bonds recovery agent will put you in some very dangerous situations in law enforcement.

Hollywood might have you think that there is a ton of money to be made as a bounty hunter. As a matter of fact, most of the skips that recovery agents look for range from one thousand to five thousand dollars and agents expenses are not reimbursed. Because of this, there are very few full time recovery agents in the whole country who are able to make a decent living so most of the agents only work at it as a sideline business. There is probably more money made in schools that teach aspiring bounty hunters than there is in making all the recoveries. The reason why it’s difficult to make much money being a recovery agent is that most defendants can’t afford to miss their court appearance, so if the defendant goes to court there is no one to recover.

If you are not yet discouraged about becoming a recovery agent, you have a lot of work ahead of you. The sad reality is that no one is going to hire you without experience and you can’t get experience if you can’t work. Therefore, the first thing you have to do is find an existing recovery agent for whom you can work, most likely for free, and get some experience. And forget about trying to look like the tough guys in the movies because you need to look like a professional who can get the job done, not like a convicted felon or gang member. The reality is you will probably have to work without pay for a year or two. Once you get some experience under your belt, the only way you’re going to get hired is through referrals.

Many states require licensing and that you attend a state specific school, so it’s important that you check into your state’s laws and fulfill all the requirements. Before you decide which school to attend, be aware that there are many schools that aren’t reputable but will take your money anyway. Ask many specific questions, get references, and actually call the references.

Some states do not recognize recovery agents, so if you try to bring back someone from one of those states, you’ll wind up getting arrested for kidnapping. And then there’s other states where you have to hold a license from that state, so don’t cross those state lines if you want to stay out of jail.

Connor R. Sullivan has a son in law school who works closely with a Las Vegas bail bond firm as part of his training. His son used the services of a bail bonds Las Vegas firm to get out of jail quickly.