Anytime you’re the one to bail someone out of jail, you have to sign a contract where you identify yourself as the indemnitor. Once you’ve done that, you have some very serious responsibilities on your hands.
When you agree to be the indemnitor for someone, your job is to make certain they get to court for all of their appearances. If you ever think that you may not be able to get a person to court or you think they may flee while waiting for a court appearance, it’s important that you don’t agree to be indemnitor for them. While you’ll never be on the hook criminally, you could owe thousands to the bail bond company, leaving you in a really tough spot. 
Keep in mind that if a problem situation occurs, such as an accident, illness, or traffic issue on the way to court, it’s okay to contact your bail bond company and let them know what’s going on. They’ll be able to talk to the court and get the hearing rescheduled. In fact, if anything goes wrong, your bail bond company should be the first call you make.
If the defendant can’t be found, it will be your responsibility to help track them down. In some cases, a fugitive recovery team may actually be sent out to help. In most cases, several steps will be taken to make sure nothing serious has happened. The team will make sure the defendant isn’t in custody in another location somewhere, and many people will be interviewed in the process. Once they’ve verified nothing has happened, they could employ a ruse if necessary, and they’ll use any information necessary to track the fugitive down. Good recovery teams only use legal methods to find the fugitive.
If you have any questions about your responsibilities, ask your bail bonds company before you sign any paperwork. After all, you could be left with no defendant and still be responsible for ensuring he or she appears in court.