By Nelson S.B. No. 186
74R1404 JMM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the payment of certain expenses by a bail bondsman.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Article 17.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Art. 17.08. REQUISITES OF A BAIL BOND. A bail bond shall be
1-7 sufficient if it contain the following requisites:
1-8 1. That it be made payable to "The State of Texas";
1-9 2. That the defendant and his sureties, if any, bind
1-10 themselves that the defendant will appear before the proper court
1-11 or magistrate to answer the accusation against him;
1-12 3. If the defendant is charged with a felony, that it
1-13 state that he is charged with a felony. If the defendant is
1-14 charged with a misdemeanor, that it state that he is charged with a
1-15 misdemeanor;
1-16 4. That the bond be signed by name or mark by the
1-17 principal and sureties, if any, each of whom shall write thereon
1-18 his mailing address;
1-19 5. That the bond state the time and place, when and
1-20 where the accused binds himself to appear, and the court or
1-21 magistrate before whom he is to appear. The bond shall also bind
1-22 the defendant to appear before any court or magistrate before whom
1-23 the cause may thereafter be pending at any time when, and place
1-24 where, his presence may be required under this Code or by any court
2-1 or magistrate;
2-2 6. The bond shall also be conditioned that the
2-3 principal and sureties, if any, will pay all necessary and
2-4 reasonable expenses incurred by any and all sheriffs or other peace
2-5 officers in rearresting the principal in the event he fails to
2-6 appear before the court or magistrate named in the bond at the time
2-7 stated therein. The expenses must be paid not later than the 30th
2-8 day after the date the expenses are incurred. The amount of such
2-9 expense shall be in addition to the principal amount specified in
2-10 the bond. The failure of any bail bond to contain the conditions
2-11 specified in this paragraph shall in no manner affect the legality
2-12 of any such bond, but it is intended that the sheriff or other
2-13 peace officer shall look to the defendant and his sureties, if any,
2-14 for expenses incurred by him, and not to the State for any fees
2-15 earned by him in connection with the rearresting of an accused who
2-16 has violated the conditions of his bond.
2-17 SECTION 2. Article 17.11, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
2-18 amended by adding Section 3 to read as follows:
2-19 Sec. 3. A person who signs as surety on a bail bond and who
2-20 fails to pay the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by a
2-21 peace officer under Subdivision 6, Article 17.08, in rearresting a
2-22 person for whom the bondsman issued the bond shall be considered to
2-23 be in default on the bond for the purposes of Section 2 until
2-24 payment of the expenses owed by the bondsman.
2-25 SECTION 3. Section 9, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
2-26 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
2-27 Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as
3-1 follows:
3-2 (c) The board shall, after notice and hearing, suspend the
3-3 license of a bondsman who fails to pay the necessary and reasonable
3-4 expenses incurred by a peace officer under Subdivision 6, Article
3-5 17.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, in rearresting a person for whom
3-6 the bondsman issued a bond. The board may reinstate a license
3-7 suspended under this subsection on payment of the expenses owed by
3-8 the bondsman.
3-9 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
3-10 applies only to a bail bond executed on or after that date. A bail
3-11 bond executed before that date is governed by the law in effect at
3-12 the time the bond was executed, and the former law is continued in
3-13 effect for that purpose.
3-14 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.