When his father passed away recently, Lonnie Keefer decided it was time to take on a childhood passion.

“I learned life is short,” he said. “That was the last thing my dad told me, ‘Life is short, do what you want to do.’”

When he was a child, Keefer watched  “The Fall Guy,” a television show starring Lee Majors as a stunt man who also doubled as a bounty hunter.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to do that,” he said.

Keefer opened Keefer’s Bail Bonds two weeks after he started his recovery agency, Hide and Seek. The two businesses run in conjunction with each other.

His primary focus is on the bail bond business, however, because it keeps him busier.

“Bruce Harris took me under his wing,” he said. “He’s shown me how to do things. He’s my mentor.”

While Keefer has signed a contract to work under Harris, his business is a separate entity.

According to Harris, who has been in the bail bond business for 53 years, he has 40 agents in 40 counties. Harris is known as a state supervising general agent and his agents work for Harris Bonding Companies.

Harris said he needed another agent locally.

“He covers if I need to send another agent somewhere else,” Harris said.

Harris explained the agents are independently licensed, but must have a company to work under.

In order to run the bail bond service, Keefer had to become state licensed.

“You can’t just jump into it,” he said.

A person can’t learn all the required information overnight, Harris explained.

“I have to teach him,” he said. “He must pass a state exam and in order for him to be successful, he must know the bail laws. It’s a set of laws he has to comply with. He is in the process of learning and will never quit learning.”

Keefer bailed out his first person June 23 and has been busy since, focusing primarily on Cass and White counties. Since starting, Keefer has written close to 30 bonds in just the two counties. He coverage are is 12 surrounding counties, but can travel around the entire state.

The bail bonds business started after he went to Chicago with his Hide and Seek recovery agency. He helped Harris capture a man who had skipped bail.

His recovery agency can only be used when someone skips a court appearance and is out on a bond through a bondsman. Once the person skips the court date and a warrant is issued for that person, Keefer can be used as a recovery agent.

The only thing a recovery agent can do is seek out the person. The bondsman can also write out the bond for a person to get them out of jail.

According to Keefer, Harris told him he needed more bondsmen and asked him if he would be interested.

To get started, Keefer had to take several classes, have his fingerprints taken by locally, on a state level, and by the federal government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation also required a background check, he said.

Harris said in order to receive the license, 12 hours of education is required. Continuing education classes must be taken each year to renew the license.

Keefer is available 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

“I haven’t had a lot of sleep lately,” he said.

When a person needs bonds out of jail, they pay 10 percent of the bond, Keefer said. For example, if a bond is $1,000, that person would pay him $100.

“Basically, when it boils down to it, I’m an insurance company,” he added. “If someone skips though, I’m on the hook.”

In addition to running his businesses, Keefer is attending Trine University to earn s degree in criminal justice.

His previous experience with running Mom’s Taxi is also helpful with running his new business. His wife, Tina, has now taken over the cab business.

“I’ve owned the cab company for five years,” he said. “I’m burned out. It’s still here because I know people need it, but I needed to do what I wanted to do.”

As for the future, Keefer said he plans on sticking with his new career choice for many years. He can only hope that he will remain in the industry as long as Harris, if not longer.

He feels his business is a service to the community in several ways.

First, he feels it helps with overcrowding in the area jails, as well as costs savings from having to feed and house inmates. He also feels it is necessary to have a bondsman to maintain a proper check and balance system.

The biggest challenge for Keefer, so far, is dealing with all the necessary paperwork.

Keefer is happy with the choices he has made and the decision to become involved with bail bonds.

“I love this job,” he said. “I feel this is what I’m suppose to do.”

• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com

New business

Name: Keefer’s Bail Bonds

Address: 723 W. Market St.

Phone: 574-516-1644

Hours: 24/7