1-1 By: Harris of Tarrant S.B. No. 122
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 15, 1993; January 19, 1993,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 April 6, 1993, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 6, 1993,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-8 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-9 Whitmire x
1-10 Brown x
1-11 Nelson x
1-12 Sibley x
1-13 Sims x
1-14 Turner x
1-15 West x
1-16 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 122 By: Brown
1-17 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-18 AN ACT
1-19 relating to the appraisal of certain property listed as security in
1-20 an application for a bail bondsman license.
1-21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-22 SECTION 1. Section 6, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
1-23 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
1-24 Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (f) and
1-25 adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
1-26 (a) Any person desiring to act as a bondsman in any court of
1-27 the county shall file with the County Bail Bond Board a sworn
1-28 application for a license. The application shall be in such form
1-29 and shall contain such information as the board may prescribe
1-30 including the following:
1-31 (1) The name, age, and address of the applicant, and
1-32 if the applicant is a surety corporation, and whether chartered or
1-33 admitted to do business in this state and qualified to write
1-34 fidelity, guaranty, and surety bonds under the Texas Insurance
1-35 Code, as amended;
1-36 (2) The name under which the business shall be
1-37 conducted;
1-38 (3) The name of the place or places, including street
1-39 address and city, wherein the business is to be conducted;
1-40 (4) A statement listing any nonexempt real estate
1-41 owned by the applicant that the applicant intends to convey in
1-42 trust to the board to secure payment of any obligations incurred by
1-43 the applicant in the bonding business if the license is granted.
1-44 The following shall be included for each parcel listed:
1-45 (A) a legal description equivalent to the
1-46 description required to convey the property by general warranty
1-47 deed;
1-48 (B) current statements from each taxing unit
1-49 with power to assess or collect taxes against the property
1-50 indicating that there are no outstanding tax liens against the
1-51 property and indicating the net value of the property according to
1-52 the current appraisal made by the local appraisal district <a real
1-53 estate appraiser who is a member in good standing of a nationally
1-54 recognized professional appraiser society or trade organization
1-55 that has an established code of ethics, educational program, and
1-56 professional certification program>, accompanied by a statement
1-57 from the applicant agreeing to keep all taxes paid on the property
1-58 while it remains in trust;
1-59 (C) a statement of the applicant that he will
1-60 not further encumber the property after conveying it in trust to
1-61 the County Bail Bond Board, without notifying and obtaining the
1-62 permission of the board;
1-63 (D) an agreement to insure and keep current the
1-64 insurance on any improvements on the property against any damage or
1-65 destruction while the property remains in trust, in the full amount
1-66 of the value claimed for the improvements;
1-67 (E) a statement indicating whether the applicant
1-68 is married and, if so, a sworn statement from the spouse agreeing
2-1 to transfer to the board, as a part of the trust, any right, title,
2-2 or interest that the spouse may have in the property; and the
2-3 spouse must execute the deeds of trust to any community property
2-4 placed in the security deposit required under this section;
2-5 (5) A statement indicating the amount of cash or cash
2-6 value of any certificate of deposit or cashier's checks which the
2-7 applicant intends to place on deposit with the county treasurer to
2-8 secure payment of any obligations incurred by the applicant in the
2-9 bonding business if the license is granted;
2-10 (6) A complete, sworn financial statement;
2-11 (7) A declaration by the applicant that he will comply
2-12 with this Act and the rules prescribed by the board.
2-13 (f) Upon notice from the board that the application has been
2-14 tentatively approved, the applicant shall then:
2-15 (1) deposit with the county treasurer of the county in
2-16 which the license is to be issued a cashier's check, certificate of
2-17 deposit, cash, or cash equivalent in the amount indicated by the
2-18 applicant under Subdivision (5) of Subsection (a) of Section 6 of
2-19 this Act but in no event less than $50,000 except in counties with
2-20 populations of less than 250,000 persons by the most recent federal
2-21 census, the amount for applicants in said counties shall be $10,000
2-22 to be held in a special fund to be called the bail security fund;
2-23 or
2-24 (2) execute in trust to the board deeds to the
2-25 property listed by the applicant under Subdivision (4) of
2-26 Subsection (a) of Section 6 of this Act, which property shall be
2-27 valued in the amount indicated on an appraisal by the local
2-28 appraisal district <a real estate appraiser who is a member in good
2-29 standing of a nationally recognized professional appraiser society
2-30 or trade organization that has an established code of ethics,
2-31 educational program, and professional certification program>, but
2-32 in no event less than $50,000 valuation, except in counties with
2-33 populations of less than 250,000 persons by the most recent federal
2-34 census, the amount for applicants in said counties shall be
2-35 $10,000, the condition of the trust being that the property may be
2-36 sold to satisfy any final judgment forfeitures that may be made in
2-37 bonds on which the licensee is surety after such notice and upon
2-38 such conditions as are required by the Code of Criminal Procedure,
2-39 1965, as amended, in bond forfeiture cases; the board shall file
2-40 the deeds of trust in the records of each county in which the
2-41 property is located, and the applicant shall pay the filing fees.
2-42 (3) If the licensee is a corporation, it shall furnish
2-43 to the sheriff an irrevocable letter of credit as a cash equivalent
2-44 to satisfy any final judgment of forfeiture that may be made on any
2-45 bonds on which the corporate licensee is surety.
2-46 (i) An applicant for a bail bondsman license may appeal the
2-47 net value of real property listed under Subdivision (4) of
2-48 Subsection (a) of this section by providing the board with a
2-49 current appraisal of the property made by a real estate appraiser
2-50 who is licensed or certified under the Texas Appraiser Licensing
2-51 and Certification Act (Article 6573a.2, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-52 Statutes) and its subsequent amendments.
2-53 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
2-54 applies only to a license issued or renewed by a county bail bond
2-55 board after that date.
2-56 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-57 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-58 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-59 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-60 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-61 * * * * *
2-62 Austin,
2-63 Texas
2-64 April 6, 1993
2-65 Hon. Bob Bullock
2-66 President of the Senate
2-67 Sir:
2-68 We, your Committee on Criminal Justice to which was referred S.B.
2-69 No. 122, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed
2-70 to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do
3-1 not pass, but that the Committee Substitute adopted in lieu thereof
3-2 do pass and be printed.
3-3 Whitmire,
3-4 Chairman
3-5 * * * * *
3-6 WITNESSES
3-7 No witnesses appeared on S.B. No. 122.