Bail companies take hit from state Supreme Court

BY Chris Sullivan  on December 21, 2012 @ 6:13 am (Updated: 6:30 am - 12/21/12 )

The State Supreme Court has ruled that bail bond companies can be sued and held liable for the actions of bounty hunters working to bring people in.

Usually Washington law protects companies from the actions of contractors or subcontractors, but The News Tribune reports a ruling issued yesterday by the high court leaves bail companies liable should people they hire do something negligent that ends in injury.

It comes from a 2002 case where a bail company was looking for Larry Stout, who had skipped out on two court hearings. The company hired a bounty hunter to bring him in. That bounty hunter ran Stout off the road. Stout lost his leg in the accident.

Stout sued, but the company was not held responsible.

The 6-3 ruling by the state supreme court send the case back to trial in Pierce County.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (2)


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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Of course.
    December 21, 2012 5:50 am
    Hold criminals accountable? In Say WA? Nope. Not gonna happen....God, this place is screwed up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • I AM SPARTACUS wrote...
    Bail companies
    December 21, 2012 10:09 am
    It's about time these loose cannon bounty hunters were held to to some standard of responsibility. They will kick down the wrong door and roust people and then go on their merry way knowing nothing will happen to them. Once in a while the State Supreme court gets one right.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }