By Harris                                             H.B. No. 1690
       74R4729 PB-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to certain application requirements for a bail bondsman
    1-3  license.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 6(f), Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
    1-6  Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
    1-7  Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
    1-8        (f)  Upon notice from the board that the application has been
    1-9  tentatively approved, the applicant shall then:
   1-10              (1)  deposit with the county treasurer of the county in
   1-11  which the license is to be issued a cashier's check, certificate of
   1-12  deposit, cash, or cash equivalent in the amount indicated by the
   1-13  applicant under Subsection (a)(5) <Subdivision (5) of Subsection
   1-14  (a) of Section 6> of this section <Act> but in no event less than
   1-15  $50,000 except in counties with populations of less than 110,000
   1-16  <250,000> persons by the most recent federal census, the amount for
   1-17  applicants in said counties shall be $10,000 to be held in a
   1-18  special fund to be called the bail security fund; or
   1-19              (2)  execute in trust to the board deeds to the
   1-20  property listed by the applicant under Subsection (a)(4)
   1-21  <Subdivision (4) of Subsection (a) of Section 6> of this section
   1-22  <Act>, which property shall be valued in the amount indicated on
   1-23  the statements filed from the taxing unit under Subsection
   1-24  (a)(4)(B) of this section <an appraisal by a real estate appraiser
    2-1  who is a member in good standing of a nationally recognized
    2-2  professional appraiser society or trade organization that has an
    2-3  established code of ethics, educational program, and professional
    2-4  certification program,> but in no event less than $50,000
    2-5  valuation, except in counties with populations of less than 110,000
    2-6  <250,000> persons by the most recent federal census, the amount for
    2-7  applicants in said counties shall be $10,000, the condition of the
    2-8  trust being that the property may be sold to satisfy any final
    2-9  judgment forfeitures that may be made in bonds on which the
   2-10  licensee is surety after such notice and upon such conditions as
   2-11  are required by the Code of Criminal Procedure<, 1965, as amended,>
   2-12  in bond forfeiture cases; the board shall file the deeds of trust
   2-13  in the records of each county in which the property is located, and
   2-14  the applicant shall pay the filing fees.
   2-15              (3)  If the licensee is a corporation, it shall furnish
   2-16  to the sheriff an irrevocable letter of credit as a cash equivalent
   2-17  to satisfy any final judgment of forfeiture that may be made on any
   2-18  bonds on which the corporate licensee is surety.
   2-19        SECTION 2.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act apply
   2-20  only to a bondsman license that is initially issued or renewed on
   2-21  or after the effective date of this Act.
   2-22        (b)  A bondsman license issued before the effective date of
   2-23  this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date that the
   2-24  license was issued, and the former law is continued in effect for
   2-25  that purpose, until the date of renewal of the license.
   2-26        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-27        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-1  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-2  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-3  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-4  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.