HBA-EDN H.B. 2856 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2856 By: Martinez Fischer Criminal Jurisprudence 3/23/2001 Introduced 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. House Bill 2856 clarifies that a bail bond surety may not advertise in a county without holding a license in that county 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 House Bill 2856 amends the Occupations Code to prohibit a person from advertising as a bail bond surety in a county unless the person holds a license issued by a bail bond board in that county (license) to act as a surety. The bill increases the penalty from a Class C to a Class B misdemeanor for a person who executes a bail bond or advertises as a bail bond surety without a license. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.