By Hinojosa                                           H.B. No. 3457
         76R8413 GJH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 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 six 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 six consecutive years without
 2-1     having been suspended or revoked under this Act and who complies
 2-2     with the requirements of this Act may renew the license for a
 2-3     period of 48 months from the date of expiration if the board knows
 2-4     of no legal reason why the application should not be renewed.  A
 2-5     license renewed under this subsection may be renewed subsequently
 2-6     each 48 months in a similar manner.
 2-7           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
 2-8     applies only to a license renewal application filed on or after
 2-9     that date.  A renewal application filed before the effective date
2-10     of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the day the renewal
2-11     application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
2-12     for that purpose.
2-13           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.