CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville) has filed legislation with the the 110th Tennessee General Assembly to address bounty hunter regulations in the state.
The legislation is a response to the shooting death of an innocent man by bounty hunters in Clarksville. The bounty hunters and bail bondsmen were allegedly engaged in a high speed chase that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Jalen Johnson (Milan).
“Thank you to Montgomery County Sheriff John Fuson, Clarksville City Police Chief Al Ansley, representatives of the Tennessee Professional Bail Bondsman Association, TN Sheriffs’ Association, Tennessee Chief of Police Association and others for their major contributions to this legislation,” Pitts said. “This will be a total rewrite of the current bounty hunters rules and regulations. I am hopeful this legislation, when passed, will reduce the likelihood of more tragedies like the incident in our community.”
Some of the changes are as follows:
• The clothing a bounty hunter will be allowed to wear must not bear any badges, shields, emblems, etc, that would indicate the bounty hunter is an employee, officer, or agent of any government agency.
• They must be properly trained to use an animal in the course of their business in case of situations and environments the animal could become aggressive and methods by which the handler can control or alter these situations in order to best protect the handler and other people.
• No bounty hunter can operate a motor vehicle to pursue another person in any manner that constitutes a violation of the rules of the road, including speeding, running traffic lights and/or stop signs, etc.