Topeka ? A bill to tighten regulations on bail bondsmen and bounty hunters was put on hold today.

State Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, suspended committee work on the legislation after state Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, introduced several amendments to the proposal.

“These are very significant changes to the bill,” Vratil said. “We’ll put it on hold at this point.”

Haley’s amendments would have placed tighter restrictions on surety agents, also known as bounty hunters, in the bill that was before the committee.

Vratil said the committee would probably hold another hearing later in the legislative session on Haley’s amendments.

Law enforcement officials have called for a measure to regulate bounty hunters, citing instances where the agents have used heavy-handed tactics to catch bond jumpers.

State aims to ‘de-thug’ bonding (1-22-04) Legislature urged to update bounty hunter regulations (9-23-02) Bounty hunters will be tried (6-20-02) Kansas Bureau of Investigations