At the end of 2005 it was estimated that there were just less than three hundred million people living in the United States . During the year, more than twenty-three million crimes were reported, of these, sixteen and a half thousand were murders, almost ninety-four thousand rapes and eight hundred and sixty thousand aggravated assaults. The United states Department of labor predicts that in order to maintain even this level of homeland security, by the year 2010 we will need twenty-nine percent more FBI agents, police officers, Bail-bonds agents, customs officials and other public servants.

A bail-bonds agent plays an important part in the criminal justice system. A Bail bonds agent is any individual or corporation who puts up either money or property as surety that an incarcerated individual will appear in court on an appointed date. This is often important to allow the incarcerated individual to find proper representation and make arrangements for his or her court date. This also allows for the ideal that all citizens shall be found innocent until proven guilty and therefore should be allowed to continue with their life in the interim between their apprehension and the date of their court appearance. Although Banks and insurance companies are usually the people who would put up the collateral for a surety in any other type of contract, they do not have the specialized resources of the Bail Bonds Agent, and are reluctant to put the funds of depositors and policy holders at risk.

Bail Bonds Agents are licensed practitioners within the United States . They operate almost solely in America as in other countries bail amounts are often more modest and bounty hunters, an important tool of the effective Bail Bonds Agent, are illegal. The first Bail Bonds Agent was set up by Tom and Peter McDonough in San Francisco in 1898. Bail Bonds Agents often have an agreement with local banks to be able to withdraw large amounts from their accounts at any hour, even at night, to affect a swift bail transaction. Bail Bonds Agents charge a standard, non-returnable fee of ten percent of the bail bond total. This is used to compensate the Bail Bonds Agent for any cost and the service provided.

As mentioned before Bounty Hunters or Skip Tracers are an important tool of the Bail Bonds Agent. There is of course the risk of the incarcerated individual released by the bail bond will attempt to flee from justice, and US legislation states that “ the person into whose custody an accused is remanded as part of the accused's bail has sweeping rights to recover that person” . In this case a bounty hunter is employed by the Bail Bonds Agent to track down the fugitive and bring to justice. Bounty Hunters catch an estimated total of thirty one and a half thousand fugitives a year, an impressive ninety percent of the total amount of people who skip bail. Hunters, officially termed “ Bail Enforcement Agents” or “ Fugitive Recovery Agents” are licensed to enter a fugitive's residence, detain a suspect or conduct searches without a warrant, in the interest of re-capturing a fugitive within the United States , but can be charged with kidnapping in several other countries if caught forcibly returning a criminal to the United States .

Bail Bonds Agent and modern Bounty hunters ensure a large aspect of the effectiveness of the American Criminal Justice System. Even so, they are outlawed in a few states, including Illinois , Kentucky , Oregon and Wisconsin .