Bail companies take hit from state Supreme Court
Dec 21, 2012, 6:13 AM | Updated: 6:30 am
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.
