By: Armbrister S.B. No. 739
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the regulation of bail bondsmen; providing a criminal
1-2 penalty.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subdivision (2), Section 2, Chapter 550, Acts of
1-5 the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3,
1-6 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (2) "Bondsman" means any person who:
1-8 (A) for hire or for any compensation deposits
1-9 any cash or bonds or other securities to ensure the appearance in
1-10 court of a person accused of a crime;[,] or
1-11 (B) executes as surety or cosurety for any
1-12 consideration:
1-13 (i) any bond for other persons; or
1-14 (ii) a written undertaking to ensure the
1-15 appearance in court of a person accused of a crime.
1-16 SECTION 2. Subsections (b) and (e), Section 3, Chapter 550,
1-17 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article
1-18 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as
1-19 follows:
1-20 (b) No individual is eligible to be licensed as a bondsman
1-21 or act as an agent for a corporate surety [license] under this Act
1-22 unless the individual:
1-23 (1) is a resident of this state and a citizen of the
1-24 United States;
2-1 (2) is at least 18 years of age;
2-2 (3) possesses sufficient financial resources to
2-3 provide indemnity against loss on such bonds [obligations] as the
2-4 individual [he] may undertake as bondsman as required by Section 6
2-5 of this Article;
2-6 (4) has been continuously employed in all phases of
2-7 the bonding business by a person licensed under this Act for a
2-8 period of at least 24 months on the date that the individual
2-9 applies for the license or applies to act as an agent for a
2-10 corporate surety, provided, however, that this subdivision shall
2-11 not apply during the first 24 months after a county creates a bail
2-12 bond board; and
2-13 (5) has no unpaid final judgment in any county arising
2-14 out of a bail bond forfeiture.
2-15 (e) Persons licensed to practice law in this state may
2-16 execute bail bonds or act as sureties for persons they actually
2-17 represent in criminal cases without being licensed under this Act
2-18 provided the aggregate total of all outstanding bail bonds executed
2-19 by such person in the county does not exceed $250,000. If the
2-20 person wishes to execute bonds that in the aggregate exceed this
2-21 total, such person must apply for and be granted a license by the
2-22 board. All persons executing bail bonds under the exception
2-23 provided by this subsection[, but they] are prohibited from
2-24 engaging in the practices made the basis for revocation of license
2-25 under this Act and if found by the board [sheriff] to have violated
2-26 any term of this Act, may not qualify thereafter under the
3-1 exception provided in this subsection unless and until they come
3-2 into compliance with those practices made the basis of revocation
3-3 under this Act. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
3-4 subsection, no person licensed to practice law shall be relieved of
3-5 liability on a bail bond he has executed for the sole reason that
3-6 he has not been employed to represent the principal on the merits
3-7 of the case if he has been paid a fee for the execution of the bail
3-8 bond.
3-9 SECTION 3. Section 4, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd
3-10 Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas
3-11 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 4. RECORDS AND COLLATERAL ACCOUNT REQUIRED OF LICENSE
3-13 HOLDER [LICENSEES]. (a) A bondsman licensed under this Act shall
3-14 maintain a record of each bond on which the bondsman appears as
3-15 surety and shall maintain a separate set of records for each county
3-16 in which the bondsman is licensed. The records shall include the
3-17 following information for each bond executed and enforced:
3-18 (1) the style and number of the cause in which the
3-19 bond is given and the court in which it is executed;
3-20 (2) the name of the defendant released on bond;
3-21 (3) the amount of the bail set in the case; and
3-22 (4) the amount and type of security held by the
3-23 bondsman, together with a statement as to whether the security was
3-24 taken for payment of a bail bond fee or for assurance of the
3-25 principal's appearance in court and the conditions under which the
3-26 security will be returned. [No security shall be held for both the
4-1 payment of a bail bond fee and assurance of the principal's
4-2 appearance in court that is in excess of the particular risk
4-3 involved.]
4-4 (b) A license holder shall produce a record required to be
4-5 maintained by this section [The records shall be submitted to the
4-6 board or a person designated by the board for inspection prior to
4-7 each renewal of the bondsman's license and shall be available] for
4-8 inspection on demand by the applicable board on the written request
4-9 of [demand by] the board or its authorized representative.
4-10 (c) A license holder shall maintain a record required by
4-11 this section for four years after final disposition of the case.
4-12 (d) A bondsman licensed under this Act must execute a
4-13 written agreement that describes the conditions under which
4-14 collateral will be refunded or retained. Collateral may not be
4-15 refunded or retained except in accordance with the written
4-16 agreement. The bondsman shall maintain as trustee a cash
4-17 collateral account separate from other bank accounts used by that
4-18 bondsman for the operation of a bonding business. The bondsman
4-19 shall deposit cash collateral into the cash collateral account not
4-20 later than the fifth banking day after the date of receipt of the
4-21 cash.
4-22 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 6, Chapter 550, Acts of
4-23 the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3,
4-24 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
4-25 (b) The application of an individual for a license under
4-26 this Act shall be accompanied by a letter [letters] of
5-1 recommendation from each of three reputable persons who have known
5-2 the applicant for a period of at least three years recommending the
5-3 applicant as having a reputation of honesty, truthfulness, fair
5-4 dealing, and competency. If the applicant is a corporation, the
5-5 letters shall be required for the agent named by the corporation in
5-6 that application [person to be in charge of its business in the
5-7 county]. For each county in which the applicant has been licensed
5-8 under this Act the applicant shall include a sworn statement by the
5-9 applicant that:
5-10 (1) states the date of each license; and
5-11 (2) states that as of the date of the license
5-12 application the applicant has no unpaid final judgments of
5-13 forfeiture in each of those counties. [Each letter shall recommend
5-14 the applicant or person who will be in charge of its business as
5-15 having a reputation of honesty, truthfulness, fair dealing, and
5-16 competency and shall recommend that the license be granted. If the
5-17 applicant or the person to be in charge of its business has been
5-18 licensed under this Act in another county, the application shall be
5-19 accompanied by a letter from each appropriate board stating whether
5-20 or not the applicant is in good standing in the county where he is
5-21 licensed.]
5-22 SECTION 5. Subsections (a), (g), and (j), Section 15,
5-23 Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973
5-24 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to
5-25 read as follows:
5-26 (a) In a county with a board, no [No] person [required to be
6-1 licensed under this Act] may act as [execute] a bail bondsman or
6-2 advertise that the person may post a bail bond within that county
6-3 [bond] without holding a license issued by that board.
6-4 (g) No person may place in a detention facility an
6-5 advertisement for a bail bondsman or a device that charges a fee to
6-6 dispense a bail bond. For purposes of this subsection, a detention
6-7 facility includes a police station, jail, prison, or other place in
6-8 which a person in the custody of a law enforcement official is
6-9 detained [advertise as a bondsman who does not hold a valid license
6-10 under this Act].
6-11 (j) A person who violates [Subsection (a) or (g) of] this
6-12 section shall be guilty of a Class A [C] misdemeanor.
6-13 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 14A, Chapter 550, Acts of
6-14 the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3,
6-15 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
6-16 (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a
6-17 corporation [that] is in default on two [five] or more bail bonds
6-18 in a county on bonds executed by any single agent for that
6-19 corporation, that agent may not execute any further bail bonds for
6-20 that corporation while those defaults continue [act as a bail
6-21 bondsman in that county].
6-22 SECTION 7. Subsections (k) and (l), Section 15, Chapter 550,
6-23 Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article
6-24 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
6-25 SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act to Section
6-26 15, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session,
7-1 1973 (Article 2372p-3, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), apply only
7-2 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
7-3 For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
7-4 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
7-5 before that date. An offense committed before the effective date
7-6 of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was
7-7 committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
7-8 purpose.
7-9 SECTION 9. The importance of this legislation and the
7-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.