NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/CLARKSVILLENOW) – The case of seven bounty hunters charged with murder is raising questions about how much power they have and who regulates them.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says that at least 21 states require that bounty hunters be licensed. Tennessee, however, is not one of them.
The seven bondsmen and bounty hunters are facing multiple charges for the violence that left a 24-year-old Jalen Johnson dead and another wounded, including first-degree murder and kidnapping.
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Court documents say they were looking for someone else when the bounty hunters surrounded a Nissan sedan parked in the WalMart Neighborhood Market parking lot and blocked it in with their vehicles. They say the bounty hunters opened fire on four men in the car and then chased their vehicle for nearly seven miles.
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