HBA-JRA, KMH C.S.H.B. 3456 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3456 By: Hinojosa Criminal Jurisprudence 4/26/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires bail bondsmen to be licensed and regulated by bail bond boards, but only in counties with a population of at least 110,000 people. Bail bondsmen are otherwise largely unregulated in the 240 counties with a population under 110,000 people. C.S.H.B. 3456 provides regulations for a bail bondsman based on a bondsman's years of service in the field. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 6, Article 2372p-3 (Licensing and Regulation of Bail Bondsmen), V.T.C.S., by amending Subsections (g) and (h) and adding Subsections (i)-(k), as follows: (g) Prohibits a bondsman who holds a license originally issued before September 1, 1999, from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of the property held as security on deposit or in trust under Subsection (f) of this section, rather than prohibiting all bondsmen from executing such bail bonds. (h) Prohibits a bondsman who holds a license originally issued on or after September 1, 1999 and who: (1) has been licensed for fewer than two years or has had a license under this Act suspended or revoked from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of property held as security under Subsection (f)(1) of this section plus five times the value of property held in trust under Subsection (f)(2) of this section; (2) has been licensed for between two and four years from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of property held as security under Subsection (f)(1) of this section plus six times the value of property held in trust under Subsection (f)(2) of this section; (3) has been licensed for between four and six years from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of property held as security under Subsection (f)(1) of this section plus eight times the value of property held in trust under Subsection (f)(2) of this section; (4) has been licensed for at least six years from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of property held as security under Subsection (f)(1) of this section plus ten times the value of property held in trust under Subsection (f)(2) of this section. (i) Provides that, if a bondsman is covered by Subsection (h)(1) because the bondsman has had a license under this Act suspended or revoked and is also covered by Subsection (h)(2), (3), or (4), the prohibition imposed by Subsection (h)(1) controls. (j) Redesignated from existing Subsection (g). Makes a conforming change. (k) Redesignated from existing Subsection (h). SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1 to provide that the limits on the value of bail bonds certain bondsmen are authorized to execute set forth in this Act apply only to bondsmen who hold a license originally issued on or after September 1, 1999. The substitute also prohibits a bondsman whose license has been suspended or revoked from executing bail bonds that in the aggregate exceed ten times the value of property held as security under Subsection (f)(1) of this section plus five times the value of property held in trust under Subsection (f)(2) of this section, regardless of how many years the bondsman has been licensed. The original did not make a distinction between a bondsman whose license had never been suspended or revoked and a bondsman whose license had been suspended or revoked if the bondsman had been licensed for fewer than four years. The substitute restructures Subsection (h), making proposed Subsections (i)(k) Subdivisions of Subsection (h). The substitute makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes.