Bill Text: NJ A2488 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires bail agencies to collect at least 10 percent of bail bond amount.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-01 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Judiciary Committee [A2488 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A2488-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires bail agencies to collect at least 10 percent of bail bond amount.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning bail bonds issued by a licensed surety and supplementing chapter 31 of Title 17 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No surety company or bail agent or agency shall knowingly execute a bail bond for the release of a defendant charged with a crime of the first through fourth degree from custody or incarceration without collecting at least 10 percent of the face amount of the bail bond as the fee for executing the bail bond, prior to or at the time of filing the bail bond. At the time the bond is posted, the bail agent or agency that executes the bail bond shall attest in writing to the appropriate court, or other agency authorized to accept bail bonds, that a fee of at least 10 percent of the face amount of the bail bond has been collected.
b. The commissioner, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, shall suspend the authority of a bail agent or agency found in violation of subsection a. of this section to negotiate, solicit or sell bail bonds, or be affiliated in any manner with the execution of bail bonds, for not less than 90 days for a first violation, 180 days for a second violation, and one year for a third violation. For any subsequent violation, the insurance producer license of the bail agent or agency shall be permanently revoked.
c. Nothing in this act shall interfere with the presumption in favor of the court designating the posting of full United States currency cash bail for defendants charged with a crime with bail restrictions pursuant to subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.1994, c.144 (C.2A:162-12).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a surety company or bail agent or agency to charge and collect a fee of at least 10 percent of the face amount of the bond from a defendant charged with a crime of the first through fourth degree. The Commissioner of Banking and Insurance may suspend or revoke the authority of any bail agent or agency to solicit or sell bail bonds in this State if the agent knowingly violates the bill's provisions. Under the bill, a period of license suspension is up to 90 days for a first violation, 180 days for a second violation, and one year for a third violation. For a fourth or subsequent violation, the insurance producer license of the bail agent or agency is to be permanently revoked.
According to recent news reports, repeat criminal offenders are being released on bail by paying fees to bail bondsmen which are far lower than the 10 percent option established by court rules.
