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.