Charles,
For convenience (read that laziness) I am combining both of your
messages into this one.
CH>EN>PI's have no special arrest powers or standing under Texas law, Shawn.
CH>  >Who is Gary Lockman?
CH>EN>The Ole Sarge
CH>What he is referring to is an incident where a bounty hunter was
CH>arrested in Texas for apprehending a bail jumper.  Apparantly some
CH>Texas law requires the bounty hunter to be a P.I. or a bondsman.
Since writing this I have found out who Gary Lockman is (actually, I
think it is Lachman).  He is a deputy with Dallas S.O. CID.  Saw him on
TV one morning after issuing a warrant for the two bounty hunters that
he had arrested in one case previously.  I haven't had time to fully
research the question but in the past there was no law requiring that a
bounty hunter be a P.I. and when I was a supervisor in the jail many of
them were simply crooks who were working down their own bond with a
bonding company.  At any rate, being a P.I. doesn't give one any
standing beyond that of any other citizen in most cases.  There is a
Texas law in the Code of Criminal Procedure which limits arrests where
an affidavit to go off bond has been granted to a peace officer,
security officer or P.I. licensed in Texas. In cases where there is a
failure to appear and a warrant is issued any person should be able to
take the offender into custody.
CH>EN>There is no such law.  There are, and have been, restrictions on
CH>  >misdemeanor arrests for years and they are using them in some cases
CH>  >against bounty hunters from what I have been reading lately.
CH>Could you elaborate on that, Earl?
What I was referring to in this message was what most people refer to as
"Citizens Arrest".  In Texas arrest powers are closely controlled by
statute.  In most cases (there are a couple of exceptions, the most
notable being to prevent the consequences of theft) only a peace
officer may make an arrest for a misdemeanor offense (without a warrant)
and then under limited conditions.
The little I know of the two cases these two people are involved in seem
to show that one who is a former Ft. Worth police officer, who was fired
or resigned under a cloud involving, I believe, family violence, took a
person into custody before the affidavit to go off bond was even filed.
In the second case this same ex-officer and a P.I. broke down a door
while saying they were police officers and waving pistols around to
arrest a person whose bond had been revoked.  Seems neither was licensed
to carry a pistol and saying they were police officers is a felony.
Should be an interesting case as it develops.
The Ole Sarge
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