Dog the Bounty Hunter has been spotted in Alabama recently, but the reality TV star wasn’t on the trail of a fugitive.

Duane Chapman — who earned fame for an A&E series that chronicled his life as a bounty hunter and bail bondsman — paid a visit to Howard’s Restaurant in Northeast Alabama, according to an Aug. 12 Facebook post by the eatery in DeKalb County.

“Dog the Bounty Hunter and Chief Malone in the house!!!” the restaurant said on Facebook, referring to Chief Stephen Malone of the Ider Police Department. The accompanying photo shows Chapman, 70, posing with Malone and about a dozen staffers at Howard’s, a buffet restaurant in Ider. It’s a small town about 23 miles north of Fort Payne, near the Alabama-Georgia state line.

The Ider Police Department shared the photo on Aug. 13 on its own Facebook page, with a message that said, “We had a special visitor this week, enjoying some of Ider’s best food! You can always count on Howard’s for great people, service and food!! Thanks for having us!”

Dog the Bounty Hunter might relish the cuisine at Howard’s, but Chapman, who lives in Florida, has at least two other reasons to be in Alabama right now, according to his posts on social media. One involves family, the other involves a festival.

First: Chapman’s son, Garry Chapman, graduated Aug. 10 from the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy. He’s a patrol officer at the Ider Police Department, according a post on the police department’s Facebook page.

Duane Chapman posted photos on Facebook and Instagram on the day of his son’s graduation, showing Garry posing in uniform with his father and other family members. Garry is Dog’s son with his late wife Beth Chapman, who co-starred on the “Dog the Bounty Hunter” TV series. She died in 2019 after a battle with cancer.

“It all started when he was this little, now fast forward, his dreams came true,” Chapman said on Aug. 11, in another social media post.

Next up: Duane Chapman is set to appear on Saturday, Aug. 19, at the Dog the Bounty Hunter Festival at Guntersville Civitan Park, 1130 Sunset Drive. The event, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., features a meet-and-greet with Chapman, live music, food trucks, crafts vendors and more. The music lineup includes former “Voice” contestants Worth the Wait and country singer-songwriter Jeff Anderson.

Tickets are $20 via Ticketleap. The festival will raise money for Rescue Hearts of Alabama/Marshall County Humane Society and Chapman’s charity organization, The D.O.G. Foundation, according to organizer TruX-TV.

A Facebook post by TruX-TV says “Dog Chapman will be meeting & greeting throughout the day.” TruX-TV, based in Northeast Alabama, has a YouTube channel with videos on fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities.

Chapman has touted his appearance at the festival on Facebook and Instagram, saying “the angels will be with us” in a promo video with Micah McCreary of TruX-TV. Chapman also joked that “even if you have a warrant, we will not take you to jail.”