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By Root 1083 0

’t good enough for me. The Supreme Court had ordered my license to be reinstated because the state should never have suspended it in the first place. I could have sued for eight years of lost wages because I wasn’t able to work, but I didn’t. My hands were tied because I also couldn’t go to another state to apply for a license since the first question they would ask would be if I’d ever had a license suspended or revoked in another state. I would be forced to tell the truth. This was exactly the same kind of situation I had found myself in numerous times since I was released from Huntsville, when asked if I had ever been convicted of a felony. My answer was always “Will discuss.” I was conflicted for years by that question. In fact, it wasn’t until most states started regulating bounty hunters all over the country that this common question became something of a problem for me. I had to fight hard to get states to make exclusions in their laws about bounty hunting so that I was not inadvertently put out of the business with the proposed laws.

In 2008, I finally got my official license reinstated, which gave me permission to write bail anywhere and everywhere across the country. For the first time in eleven years, I was legitimately licensed by the state of Hawaii. I already had credibility as a bounty hunter, but receiving my license back gave me the respect from my peers, the state, and the legislative system that had finally righted the legal wrong that had been committed against me.

I know the United States government will never admit that they made a mistake in my extradition case with Mexico, because they never do. I’ve reconciled that fact in my mind because even though I’ve lost many a battle along the way, in the long run, I won the war. I wasn’t extradited—I was allowed to stay in America, my home, my country that I love with all of my heart and soul, plus Luster is still in jail.

Having worked in and around the judicial system for most of my career, I’m used to the government being less than perfect. It’s just a fact of life. I don’t expect much from the lower courts because over the years I’ve learned that real decisions aren’t made until you get to the higher courts. I’ve learned to expect the bureaucratic flimflam. I believe judges in the lower courts are prejudiced. They use their decisions to work their way up the judicial ladder. Judges in the higher courts have already been there, done that. They don’t need to lie or impress people like Andrew Luster’s mother or her high-priced lawyers. Like it or not, justice is political. The system doesn’t like guys like me who are out there fighting for both truth and justice.

There’s always been a little rift between local police and bounty hunters, especially this bounty hunter. Even though bounty hunting has been around for centuries, it has never really been considered a job. I can’t stomach picking up a newspaper or hearing a story on the news about inexperienced vigilante wannabes breaking into someone’s home and accidentally shooting or, worse, killing them. These unqualified amateurs are the guys that give bounty hunters a bad name. It takes years of experience to learn the business—not guns or guerrilla tactics. We are officers of the court, but that in no way makes us police officers. It’s hard for many bounty hunters who are just starting out to grasp the difference.

Bounty hunters generally have more authority to arrest than local police, because defendants waive all of their constitutional rights when they sign their bail bond contract. They essentially agree to be arrested by the bail bond agent if they break the terms of that agreement. A bounty hunter can nab a fugitive in any state except Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, and Oregon, because bounty hunting is illegal there. Me? I don’t care about the state law in those four states. As far as I’m concerned, if I know one of my jumps is hiding out in any of those states, I’m going to get him.

When I was a young boy, there was a local police officer my family knew and who I really looked up to. He was