You may understandably feel a little nervous helping someone you know secure bail to get out of jail after an arrest. If this is the first time that you're going through this process, the bail bonds agency will work patiently with you to help you feel informed and empowered. Ideally, the arrestee will show appreciation for your help and stay on the straight and narrow until his or her court date — however, there's also a chance that this person will fail to appear and leave you on the hook financially. Your next priority is to hire a fugitive recovery agent, also known as a bounty hunter, to apprehend the person. Here are some tips for getting the right agent on your side.

Get A Referral From Your Bail Bonds Agency

At a time that you're likely already upset, it can be daunting to begin to browse the internet for fugitive recovery agents to hire. The simplest option is to speak to someone at the bail bonds agency and ask for a referral. You'll commonly find that these agencies repeatedly work with the same fugitive recovery agents, so you can often get a couple of names of people to call. The bail bonds agency wants you to get satisfaction in this unfortunate situation and will give the names of highly skilled and experienced agents.

Assess Each Agent's Scope

There are many things that you'll want to discuss with a fugitive recovery agent before hiring him or her to track down the person who failed to appear after you got him or her out of custody. One important detail is the agent's scope — in other words, how far does the agent usually travel to apprehend bail jumpers, and how confident is he or she is different areas? For example, does an agent routinely travel around the state, or mainly stay in the city? If you have an idea where the target may be, you want to feel confident that the agent can find him or her there.

Ask About Focus On Your Case

Successful fugitive recovery agents often handle multiple cases at a time. You want to hire someone who has a high success rate, but you also want to be sure that he or she isn't dealing with so many cases that yours gets shuffled to the back burner. Don't be afraid to ask the agent how many cases he or she is currently handling and where yours will fall in the queue. Getting an assessment of how much time the agent will put into tracking down your contact can help you know whether he or she is the right one to hire.

Contact a company like ASAP Bail Bonds for more information and assistance.