1-1     By:  Hinojosa (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister)           H.B. No. 3457
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1999;
 1-3     May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
 1-4     Justice; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the renewal of certain bail bondsman licenses.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Section 8, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
1-11     Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
1-12     Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (a)  and adding
1-13     Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-14           (a)  A license [issued] under this Act that has been issued
1-15     for less than six consecutive years or that has been suspended
1-16     expires 24 months after the date of its issuance and may not be
1-17     renewed unless an application for renewal is filed with the board
1-18     at least 30 days before expiration.  The application for renewal
1-19     shall have the same form and content as an application for an
1-20     original license under this Act.  The application for renewal shall
1-21     be accompanied by a renewal fee of $500.  Except as provided by
1-22     Subsection (d) of this section, if [If] the applicant's current
1-23     license has not been suspended or revoked, if the renewal
1-24     application complies with the requirements of this Act, and if the
1-25     board knows no legal reason why the application should not be
1-26     renewed, the license may then be renewed for a period of 24 months
1-27     from the date of expiration and may be renewed subsequently each 24
1-28     months in like manner.
1-29           (d)  A person who applies for renewal of a license that has
1-30     been held by the person for at least six consecutive years without
1-31     having been suspended or revoked under this Act and who complies
1-32     with the requirements of this Act may renew the license for a
1-33     period of 48 months from the date of expiration if the board knows
1-34     of no legal reason why the application should not be renewed and if
1-35     the board determines that the applicant has submitted an annual
1-36     financial report to each county bail bond board before the
1-37     anniversary date of the issuance of the applicant's license.  A
1-38     license renewed under this subsection may be renewed subsequently
1-39     each 48 months in a similar manner.
1-40           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-41     applies only to a license renewal application filed on or after
1-42     that date.  A renewal application filed before the effective date
1-43     of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the day the renewal
1-44     application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect
1-45     for that purpose.
1-46           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-47     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-48     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-49     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-50     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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