HBA-EDN C.S.H.B. 2856 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2856 By: Martinez Fischer Criminal Jurisprudence 4/23/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the licensure of bail bond sureties (surety) is conferred by each individual county's bail bond board to ensure that licensees abide by local court rules and procedures and to verify that licensees have sufficient assets against which to pledge their bonds. A county bail bond board has the authority to supervise and regulate each phase of the bonding business in the county. This ensures that licensed sureties are in compliance with and aware of local practices. There is some ambiguity regarding whether a surety may advertise in a county in which the surety is not licensed. C.S.H.B. 2856 clarifies that a bail bond surety may not advertise as a surety without holding a bail bond surety license and listing in the advertisement the county or counties in which the license is held and increases the penalty for failure to do so. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2856 amends the Occupations Code to prohibit a person from advertising as a bail bond surety unless the person holds a bail bond surety license (license) and lists in the advertisement the county or counties in which the person holds a license. The bill increases the penalty from a Class C to a Class B misdemeanor for a person who executes a bail bond without a license or advertises as a bail bond surety in violation of these provisions. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2856 modifies the original by prohibiting a person from advertising as a bail bond surety unless the person holds a bail bond surety license and lists in the advertisement the county or counties in which the person holds a license, whereas the original prohibited a person from advertising as a surety in a county unless the person held a license issued by a bail bond board in that county.