How to Become a Bail Bondsman in Virginia

Someone who wants to have a career in writing bail bonds has a lot to learn, though, as it is not as easy as just earning a degree and finding someone to hire you. People who write bail bonds generally work for themselves or go into business with a partner. While the schooling is not overly difficult, there is a big financial barrier that a lot of people cannot make it past. For those that are determined to help people with their bail, there is always going to be a way to make it into the field. Once you begin working as a bail bondsman you will find that it can be a very rewarding career.

The person who writes bail bonds for people will sometimes work strictly as a bail bondsman and nothing more. Other times, the person can also act as a bounty hunter with the proper licensing. Either way, there are strict requirements that must be met in order to start writing bail bonds for people. You must be at least eighteen years of age and have a high school diploma or at least a GED. There is also a bail bondsman exam that will have to be passed in order to be allowed to write bail bonds for people.

While it is not required in order to become a bail bondsman, it can be helpful in training if the person has a military or law enforcement background. Once you have gone through all of the requirements and see that you meet them all, you can take the exam by contacting the Virginia Department of Insurance. After the classes and the passing of the exam, you can then apply for your license. All of these steps are going to require money and the amount needed is going to vary from county to county.

Once everything is said and done you could actually decide to go to work for someone else and work as a bail bondsman that way. Of course that means that you will not be making as much money as you would if you owned the bail business for yourself. You can write bail bonds in one county or in several. The choice is yours. When you first start out you may want to start with one county until you get the hang of writing bail bonds and how the entire process works. Once you feel that you have everything under control you can then expand your bail bonds business and gain more clients.

The bigger the area that you serve the more money you will be able to make as a bail bondsman. Of course, the larger the area is that you serve, the more likely you are going to run into a little trouble tracking down the people that skip out on their bail. You will have to take into consideration the amount of money that you will also need down for collateral. Generally speaking, a bail bondsman is allowed to write bail bonds in amounts higher by a certain percentage than the collateral. The more collateral you have, the more bail bonds you will be able to write, which means the more money you will make in the end.

While this may not be the career for everyone, writing bail bonds is certainly a choice that makes a lot of people happy. You can work the hours you decide, in most cases, and get to meet a lot of people. You are also helping people and the law at the same time when you write bail bonds. If you find that this is not the career for you, you can always move on to something else. But the experience that you gain from working as a bail bondsman or a bounty hunter will live with you forever.