By Puente                                             H.B. No. 3500
         76R8807 GJH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a licensed bail bondsman's authority to act as a
 1-3     bondsman in a county in which the bondsman is not licensed.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 4(a), 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           (a)  A bondsman licensed under this Act shall maintain a
 1-9     record of each bond on which the bondsman appears as surety and
1-10     shall maintain a separate set of records for each county in which
1-11     the bondsman executes bonds [is licensed].  The records shall
1-12     include the following information for each bond executed and
1-13     enforced:
1-14                 (1)  the style and number of the cause in which the
1-15     bond is given and the court in which it is executed;
1-16                 (2)  the name of the defendant released on bond;
1-17                 (3)  the amount of the bail set in the case; and
1-18                 (4)  the amount and type of security held by the
1-19     bondsman, together with a statement as to whether the security was
1-20     taken for payment of a bail bond fee or for assurance of the
1-21     principal's appearance in court and the conditions under which the
1-22     security will be returned.  No security shall be held for both the
1-23     payment of a bail bond fee and assurance of the principal's
1-24     appearance in court that is in excess of the particular risk
 2-1     involved.
 2-2           SECTION 2.  Section 6, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
 2-3     Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
 2-4     Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as
 2-5     follows:
 2-6           (i)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a)  of this section, a
 2-7     person  who holds a license issued by a County Bail Bond Board may
 2-8     act as a bondsman in any court in a county in which the person is
 2-9     not licensed if the sheriff of a county in which the person is
2-10     licensed issues a notarized certificate stating that the person
2-11     meets the requirements of this Act for any bond executed by the
2-12     bondsman outside of that county.  A bond issued under this
2-13     subsection is subject to the property held as security on deposit
2-14     or in trust under Subsection (f) of this section in the county for
2-15     which the sheriff has issued the certificate and shall be included
2-16     in the total amount of potential liability recorded for that county
2-17     under Subsection (g) of this section.
2-18           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-19     applies only to a bail bond executed on or after that date.  A bail
2-20     bond executed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
2-21     the law in effect on the date the bond was executed, and the former
2-22     law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-23           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-24     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-26     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-27     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.