1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the renewal of certain bail bondsman licenses.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 8, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
 1-5     Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
 1-6     Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding
 1-7     Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 1-8           (a)  A license [issued] under this Act that has been issued
 1-9     for less than eight consecutive years or that has been suspended
1-10     expires 24 months after the date of its issuance and may not be
1-11     renewed unless an application for renewal is filed with the board
1-12     at least 30 days before expiration.  The application for renewal
1-13     shall have the same form and content as an application for an
1-14     original license under this Act.  The application for renewal shall
1-15     be accompanied by a renewal fee of $500.  Except as provided by
1-16     Subsection (d) of this section, if [If] the applicant's current
1-17     license has not been suspended or revoked, if the renewal
1-18     application complies with the requirements of this Act, and if the
1-19     board knows no legal reason why the application should not be
1-20     renewed, the license may then be renewed for a period of 24 months
1-21     from the date of expiration and may be renewed subsequently each 24
1-22     months in like manner.
1-23           (d)  A person who applies for renewal of a license that has
1-24     been held by the person for at least eight consecutive years
 2-1     without having been suspended or revoked under this Act and who
 2-2     complies with the requirements of this Act may renew the license
 2-3     for a period of 36 months from the date of expiration if the board
 2-4     knows of no legal reason why the application should not be renewed
 2-5     and if the board determines that the applicant has submitted an
 2-6     annual financial report to each county bail bond board before the
 2-7     anniversary date of the issuance of the applicant's license.  A
 2-8     license renewed under this subsection may be renewed subsequently
 2-9     each 36 months in a similar manner.
2-10           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-11     applies only to a license renewal application filed on or after
2-12     that date.  A renewal application filed before the effective date
2-13     of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the day the renewal
2-14     application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
2-15     for that purpose.
2-16           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-17     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-18     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-19     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-20     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
         _______________________________     _______________________________
             President of the Senate              Speaker of the House
               I certify that H.B. No. 3457 was passed by the House on May
         11, 1999, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
         Senate amendments to H.B. No. 3457 on May 27, 1999, and requested
         the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
         differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
         conference committee report on H.B. No. 3457 on May 30, 1999, by a
         non-record vote; and that the House adopted H.C.R. No. 316
         authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 3457 on May 30, 1999,
         by a non-record vote.
                                             _______________________________
                                                 Chief Clerk of the House
               I certify that H.B. No. 3457 was passed by the Senate, with
         amendments, on May 26, 1999, by a viva-voce vote; at the request of
         the House, the Senate appointed a conference committee to consider
         the differences between the two houses; and that the Senate adopted
         the conference committee report on H.B. No. 3457 on May 30, 1999,
         by a viva-voce vote; and that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 316
         authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 3457 on May 31, 1999,
         by a viva-voce vote.
                                             _______________________________
                                                 Secretary of the Senate
         APPROVED:  _____________________
                            Date
                    _____________________
                          Governor