By: Harris, Chris S.B. No. 122
73R2577 JMM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the appraisal of certain property listed as security in
1-3 an application for a bail bondsman license.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 6(a) and (f), Chapter 550, Acts of the
1-6 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's
1-7 Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) Any person desiring to act as a bondsman in any court of
1-9 the county shall file with the County Bail Bond Board a sworn
1-10 application for a license. The application shall be in such form
1-11 and shall contain such information as the board may prescribe
1-12 including the following:
1-13 (1) The name, age, and address of the applicant, and
1-14 if the applicant is a surety corporation, and whether chartered or
1-15 admitted to do business in this state and qualified to write
1-16 fidelity, guaranty, and surety bonds under the Texas Insurance
1-17 Code, as amended;
1-18 (2) The name under which the business shall be
1-19 conducted;
1-20 (3) The name of the place or places, including street
1-21 address and city, wherein the business is to be conducted;
1-22 (4) A statement listing any nonexempt real estate
1-23 owned by the applicant that the applicant intends to convey in
1-24 trust to the board to secure payment of any obligations incurred by
2-1 the applicant in the bonding business if the license is granted.
2-2 The following shall be included for each parcel listed:
2-3 (A) a legal description equivalent to the
2-4 description required to convey the property by general warranty
2-5 deed;
2-6 (B) current statements from each taxing unit
2-7 with power to assess or collect taxes against the property
2-8 indicating that there are no outstanding tax liens against the
2-9 property and indicating the net value of the property according to
2-10 the current appraisal made by a real estate appraiser who is
2-11 licensed or certified under the Texas Appraiser Licensing and
2-12 Certification Act (Article 6573a.2, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)
2-13 <a member in good standing of a nationally recognized professional
2-14 appraiser society or trade organization that has an established
2-15 code of ethics, educational program, and professional certification
2-16 program>, accompanied by a statement from the applicant agreeing to
2-17 keep all taxes paid on the property while it remains in trust;
2-18 (C) a statement of the applicant that he will
2-19 not further encumber the property after conveying it in trust to
2-20 the County Bail Bond Board, without notifying and obtaining the
2-21 permission of the board;
2-22 (D) an agreement to insure and keep current the
2-23 insurance on any improvements on the property against any damage or
2-24 destruction while the property remains in trust, in the full amount
2-25 of the value claimed for the improvements;
2-26 (E) a statement indicating whether the applicant
2-27 is married and, if so, a sworn statement from the spouse agreeing
3-1 to transfer to the board, as a part of the trust, any right, title,
3-2 or interest that the spouse may have in the property; and the
3-3 spouse must execute the deeds of trust to any community property
3-4 placed in the security deposit required under this section;
3-5 (5) A statement indicating the amount of cash or cash
3-6 value of any certificate of deposit or cashier's checks which the
3-7 applicant intends to place on deposit with the county treasurer to
3-8 secure payment of any obligations incurred by the applicant in the
3-9 bonding business if the license is granted;
3-10 (6) A complete, sworn financial statement;
3-11 (7) A declaration by the applicant that he will comply
3-12 with this Act and the rules prescribed by the board.
3-13 (f) Upon notice from the board that the application has been
3-14 tentatively approved, the applicant shall then:
3-15 (1) deposit with the county treasurer of the county in
3-16 which the license is to be issued a cashier's check, certificate of
3-17 deposit, cash, or cash equivalent in the amount indicated by the
3-18 applicant under Subdivision (5) of Subsection (a) of Section 6 of
3-19 this Act but in no event less than $50,000 except in counties with
3-20 populations of less than 250,000 persons by the most recent federal
3-21 census, the amount for applicants in said counties shall be $10,000
3-22 to be held in a special fund to be called the bail security fund;
3-23 or
3-24 (2) execute in trust to the board deeds to the
3-25 property listed by the applicant under Subdivision (4) of
3-26 Subsection (a) of Section 6 of this Act, which property shall be
3-27 valued in the amount indicated on an appraisal by a real estate
4-1 appraiser who is licensed or certified under the Texas Appraiser
4-2 Licensing and Certification Act (Article 6573a.2, Vernon's Texas
4-3 Civil Statutes) <a member in good standing of a nationally
4-4 recognized professional appraiser society or trade organization
4-5 that has an established code of ethics, educational program, and
4-6 professional certification program>, but in no event less than
4-7 $50,000 valuation, except in counties with populations of less than
4-8 250,000 persons by the most recent federal census, the amount for
4-9 applicants in said counties shall be $10,000, the condition of the
4-10 trust being that the property may be sold to satisfy any final
4-11 judgment forfeitures that may be made in bonds on which the
4-12 licensee is surety after such notice and upon such conditions as
4-13 are required by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1965, as amended,
4-14 in bond forfeiture cases; the board shall file the deeds of trust
4-15 in the records of each county in which the property is located, and
4-16 the applicant shall pay the filing fees.
4-17 (3) If the licensee is a corporation, it shall furnish
4-18 to the sheriff an irrevocable letter of credit as a cash equivalent
4-19 to satisfy any final judgment of forfeiture that may be made on any
4-20 bonds on which the corporate licensee is surety.
4-21 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-22 applies only to a license issued or renewed by a county bail bond
4-23 board after that date.
4-24 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.