Bill Text: MS HB698 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Bail agents; require to have a principal office and to revise certain licensing requirements and fees pertaining to.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2011-02-01 - Died In Committee [HB698 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2011-HB698-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B; Corrections
By: Representatives Compretta, Rogers (61st)
House Bill 698
AN ACT TO REQUIRE PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENTS TO MAINTAIN AT LEAST ONE OFFICE LOCATION TO SERVE AS THE PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS OPERATION AND TO REGISTER THAT OFFICE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE; TO REQUIRE THE PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENT TO REPORT ANY CHANGES IN LOCATION, REMOVAL FROM STATE OR CESSATION OF BUSINESS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE; TO AMEND SECTION 83-39-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY PROVISIONS PROHIBITING THE WRITING OF BONDS BY RELATIVES OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT OR JUDICIAL CAPACITIES; TO REQUIRE THAT PROOF OF PRELICENSING EDUCATION BE SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE; TO EXEMPT THOSE INDIVIDUALS OF SIXTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE WITH TWENTY YEARS OF CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENT EXPERIENCE FROM CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS; TO PROHIBIT THE LICENSING OF PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENTS EXCEPT THE PERSON WAS LICENSED BEFORE JULY 1, 2011, AND UNLESS THE PERSON APPLYING LICENSURE HAS THREE YEARS OF CONTINUOUS EXPERIENCE AS A SOLICITING BAIL AGENT IMMEDIATELY BEFORE APPLYING FOR LICENSURE AS A PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENT; TO AMEND SECTION 83-39-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE APPLICANTS FOR LICENSURE TO INCLUDE THE ADDRESS OF THE PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS TO BE USED AS THE PRIMARY OFFICE LOCATION ON THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION FORM FOR LICENSURE OR THE RENEWAL APPLICATION FORM; TO AMEND SECTION 83-39-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DISTINGUISH THE FEE CHARGED BY A PROFESSIONAL BAIL AGENT FOR CERTAIN ADDITIONAL SERVICES PROVIDED FROM THE PREMIUM RECEIVED BY THE BAIL AGENT; TO AMEND SECTION 83-39-27, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT THE PAYMENT OF A FEE OR PROMISE OF BENEFIT BY A BAIL AGENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROCURING A BAIL BOND; TO AMEND SECTION 99-5-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE PAROLE BOARD TO ORDER APPEARANCE BONDS AS A CONDITION OF PAROLE OR EARLY RELEASE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) (a) A professional bail agent licensed in the State of Mississippi shall maintain at least one (1) office location in any city or county of this state to serve as his principal place of business operations where records pertaining to business conducted in Mississippi are maintained, which office shall be registered with the Department of Insurance. A bail agent's office shall be allowed in any municipal or county zoning area where attorney's offices are allowed, but the bail office shall be subject to the same signage and appearance ordinance requirements at the attorney's office.
(b) Upon filing for an original license as a professional bail agent or renewing a license, the applying individual shall indicate on the original application or the renewal application the address of the office location to serve as his principal place of business operations, which address shall also be evidenced on the face of the licensing certificate issued to the licensee.
(2) If for any reason the professional bail agent changes the location of his principal place of business operations, removes to another state or no longer continues in the profession as a bail agent, then the bail agent shall register the new location with the department or the bail agent shall inform the department of his removal from the state or his cessation of business as a professional bail agent.
SECTION 2. Section 83-39-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-39-3. (1) No person shall act in the capacity of professional bail agent, soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent, as defined in Section 83-39-1, or perform any of the functions, duties or powers of the same unless that person shall be qualified and licensed as provided in this chapter. The terms of this chapter shall not apply to any automobile club or association, financial institution, insurance company or other organization or association or their employees who execute bail bonds on violations arising out of the use of a motor vehicle by their members, policyholders or borrowers when bail bond is not the principal benefit of membership, the policy of insurance or of a loan to such member, policyholder or borrower.
(2) (a) No license shall be issued except in compliance with this chapter, and none shall be issued except to an individual. No firm, partnership, association or corporation, as such, shall be so licensed. No professional bail agent shall operate under more than one (1) trade name. A soliciting bail agent and bail enforcement agent shall operate only under the professional bail agent's name. No person who has ever been convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude, or who has not been a resident of this state for at least one (1) year, unless presently licensed for bail bonds, or who is under twenty-one (21) years of age, shall be issued a license hereunder. No person engaged as a law enforcement or judicial official or attorney shall be licensed hereunder. A person who is employed in any capacity at any jail or corrections facility that houses state, county or municipal inmates who are bailable, whether the person is a public employee, independent contractor, or the employee of an independent contractor, may not be licensed under this section.
(b) (i) No person who is a spouse of a county or municipal law enforcement official, an employee of a county or municipal law enforcement official or an employee of a law enforcement entity shall write a bond for a person arrested by the spouse or the law enforcement entity which the person's spouse serves as a law enforcement official or employee; violation of this prohibition shall result in license revocation.
(ii) No person who is a relative of either a sworn state, county or municipal law enforcement official or judicial official or an employee, independent contractor or employee of any jail, police department, sheriff's department or corrections facility that houses state, county or municipal inmates who are bailable, shall write a bond in the county where the law enforcement entity or court in which the person's relative serves is located. "Relative" means a parent, grandparent, child, sister, brother, or a consanguineous aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. Violation of this prohibition shall result in license revocation.
(iii) No person licensed under this chapter shall act as a personal surety agent in the writing of bail during a period he or she is licensed as a limited surety agent, as defined herein.
(iv) No person licensed under this chapter shall give legal advice or a legal opinion in any form.
(3) The department is vested with the authority to enforce this chapter. The department may conduct investigations or request other state, county or local officials to conduct investigations and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement of this chapter. The department may establish monetary fines and collect such fines as necessary for the enforcement of such rules and regulations. All fines collected shall be deposited in the Special Insurance Department Fund for the operation of that agency.
(4) Each license issued hereunder shall expire biennially on the last day of September, unless revoked or suspended prior thereto by the department, or upon notice served upon the commissioner by the insurer that the authority of a limited surety agent to act for or in behalf of such insurer had been terminated, or upon notice served upon the commissioner by a professional bail agent that the employment of a soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent had been terminated by such professional bail agent. Every license, except for temporary licenses, issued between June 1, 2007, and September 30, 2007, shall expire on September 30, 2009. Each license issued after September 30, 2007, shall expire on the last day of September of each odd-numbered year.
(5) The department shall prepare and deliver to each licensee a certificate showing the name, address and classification of such licensee, and shall certify that the person is a licensed professional bail agent, being either a personal surety agent or a limited surety agent, a soliciting bail agent or a bail enforcement agent. In addition, the certificate, if for a soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent, shall show the name of the professional bail agent and any other information as the commissioner deems proper.
(6) The commissioner, after a hearing under Section 83-39-17, shall refuse to issue a privilege license for a soliciting bail agent to change from one (1) professional bail agent to another if he owes any premium or debt to the professional bail agent with whom he is currently licensed. The commissioner, after a hearing under Section 83-39-17, shall revoke the license of a soliciting bail agent who owes any premium or debt to any professional bail agent for whom he was previously licensed. The commissioner, after a hearing under Section 83-39-17, shall refuse to issue a license and shall revoke any current license for a limited surety agent if he owes any premium or debt to an insurer to which he has been appointed.
(7) (a) Before the issuance of any professional bail agent, soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent license, the applicant shall submit proof of successful completion of forty (40) classroom hours of prelicensing education approved by the Professional Bail Agents Association of Mississippi, Inc., and conducted by persons or entities approved by the Professional Bail Agents Association of Mississippi, Inc. The hours required by this subsection shall be classroom hours and may not be acquired through correspondence or over the Internet. Proof of the required prelicensing education may be submitted to the Department of Insurance at any time after successful completion of class hours. Hours successfully completed in prelicensing education shall not expire before submission to the department for issuance of any professional bail agent, soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent license.
(b) Beginning on July 1, 2011, in order to assist the department in determining an applicant's suitability for a license under this chapter, the applicant shall submit a set of fingerprints with the submission of an application for license. The department shall forward the fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of conducting a criminal history record check. If no disqualifying record is identified at the state level, the fingerprints shall be forwarded by the Department of Public Safety to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. Fees related to the criminal history record check shall be paid by the applicant to the commissioner and the monies from such fees shall be deposited in the special fund in the State Treasury designated as the "Insurance Department Fund."
(8) (a) Before the renewal of the license of any professional bail agent, soliciting bail agent or bail enforcement agent, the applicant shall submit proof of successful completion of continuing education hours as follows:
(i) There shall be no continuing education required for the first year of an original license;
(ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (i), eight (8) classroom hours of continuing education for each year or part of a year of the two-year license period, for a total of sixteen (16) hours per license period.
(b) If an applicant for renewal failed to obtain the required eight (8) hours for each year of the license period during the actual license year in which the education was required to be obtained, the applicant shall not be eligible for a renewal license but shall be required to obtain an original license and be subject to the education requirements set forth in subsection (7). The commissioner shall not be required to comply with Section 83-39-17 in denying an application for a renewal license under this paragraph (b).
(c) The education hours required under this subsection (8) shall consist of classroom hours approved by the Professional Bail Agents Association of Mississippi, Inc., and provided by persons or entities approved by the Professional Bail Agents Association of Mississippi, Inc. The hours required by this subsection shall be classroom hours and may not be acquired through correspondence or over the Internet.
(d) Upon proof of age of sixty-five (65) years and being licensed as a professional bail agent for a continuous period of twenty (20) years, continuing education shall not be required for renewal or issuance of a license under this section.
(9) No person shall be licensed as a professional bail agent who was not so licensed before July 1, 2011, unless that person has been actively licensed as a soliciting bail agent for at least three (3) continuous years immediately before being licensed as a professional bail agent. The requirements of this subsection shall not be applicable to any person licensed as a professional bail agent before July 1, 2011.
SECTION 3. Section 83-39-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-39-5. Any person desiring to engage in the business of professional bail agent, soliciting bail agent, or bail enforcement agent in this state shall apply to the department for a license on forms prepared and furnished by the department. The application for a license, or renewal thereof, shall set forth, under oath, the following information:
(a) Full name, age, date of birth, social security number, residence during the previous five (5) years, occupation, business address of the applicant and the address of the principal place of business operations to be used as the primary office location.
(b) Spouse's full name, occupation and business address.
(c) A photograph of the applicant and a full set of fingerprints for the initial application and, thereafter, as requested by the department.
(d) A statement that he is not licensed to practice law in the State of Mississippi or any other state and that no attorney or any convicted felon has any interest in his application, either directly or indirectly.
(e) Any other information as may be required by this chapter or by the department.
(f) In the case of a professional bail agent, a statement that he will actively engage in the bail bond business.
(g) In the case of a soliciting bail agent, a statement that he will be employed or used by only one (1) professional bail agent and that the professional bail agent will supervise his work and be responsible for his conduct in his work. A professional bail agent shall sign the application of each soliciting bail agent employed or used by him.
Each application or filing made under this section shall include the social security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 4. Section 83-39-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-39-25. (1) A professional bail agent or his agent shall charge and collect for his premium, commission, or fee an amount of ten percent (10%) of the amount of bail per bond posted by him, or One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), whichever is greater, except on a bond on a defendant who is charged with a capital offense, or on a defendant who resides outside the State of Mississippi, in which case the premium, commission or fee shall be fifteen percent (15%) of the amount of bail, per bond posted by him, or One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), whichever is greater.
(2) A professional bail agent or his agent shall also charge an additional Fifty Dollars ($50.00) processing fee on each bond issued by him.
(3) Nothing herein shall prohibit a professional bail agent or his agent from holding collateral or taking a security interest in collateral for the purpose of insuring the payment of the premium of the bond posted or indemnifying the professional bail agent for losses incurred due to a forfeiture of a bond or the costs of apprehension and surrender of the principal.
(4) A fee charged by a professional bail agent or his agent for electronic monitoring, drug testing or other related items shall not be considered part of the premium or fee charged under this section.
SECTION 5. Section 83-39-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
83-39-27. It is unlawful for a licensee to engage in any of the following activities:
(a) Specify, suggest or advise the employment of any particular attorney to represent his principal.
(b) Pay a fee or rebate or give or promise to give anything of value to a jailer, policeman, peace officer, clerk, deputy clerk, any other employee of any court, district attorney or any of his employees or any person who has power to arrest or to hold any person in custody.
(c) Pay a fee or rebate or give anything of value to an attorney in bail bond matters, except in defense of any act on a bond, or as counsel to represent such bail agent, his agent or employees.
(d) Pay a fee or rebate or give or promise to give anything of value to the person on whose bond he is surety.
(e) Pay a fee or rebate or give or promise to give anything of value to any person for the purpose of procuring a bail bond.
(f) Accept anything of value from a person on whose bond he is surety, or from others on behalf of such person, except the fee or premium on the bond, but the bail agent may accept collateral security or other indemnity.
(g) Coerce, suggest, aid and abet, offer promise of favor or threaten any person on whose bond he is surety or offers to become surety, to induce that person to commit any crime.
(h) Give legal advice or a legal opinion in any form.
SECTION 6. Section 99-5-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
99-5-39. (1) As a condition of any probation, community control, payment plan for any fine imposed or any other court ordered supervision, the court may order the posting of a bond to secure the appearance of the defendant at any later court proceeding or to otherwise enforce the orders of the court. As a condition of any parole or early release allowed by the Department of Corrections, the court or the parole board may order the posting of a bond to secure the appearance of the defendant at any later parole or court proceeding or to otherwise enforce the orders of the parole board or the court. The appearance bond shall be filed by a duly licensed professional bail agent with the parole board, the court or with the sheriff who shall provide a copy to the clerk of the court.
(2) The court or the parole board may issue an order sua sponte or upon notice by the clerk or the parole or probation officer that the person has violated the terms of early release, parole, probation, community control, court ordered supervision or other applicable court order to produce the defendant. The parole board, the court or the clerk of the court shall give the bail agent a minimum of a seventy-two-hour notice to have the defendant before the court. If the bail agent fails to produce the defendant in court or to the sheriff at the time noticed by the parole board, the court or the clerk of the court, the bond shall be forfeited according to the procedures set forth in Section 99-5-25. The defendant's failure to appear shall be the sole grounds for forfeiture of the appearance bond.
(3) The provisions of Sections 83-39-1 et seq. and 99-5-1 et seq. shall govern the relationship between the parties except where they are inconsistent with this section.
SECTION 7. Section 1 of this act shall be codified in Chapter 39, Title 83, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011.
