HBA-GUM, KMH H.B. 3457 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3457
By: Hinojosa
Criminal Jurisprudence
7/27/1999
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 76th Texas Legislature, state law required 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 were otherwise largely
unregulated in the 240 counties with a population under 110,000 people.
H.B. 3457 provides regulations for the licensing of bail bondsmen based on
the number of years the license has been retained. 

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 8, Chapter 550, Acts of the 63rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1973 (Article 2372p-3, V.T.C.S.)  by amending Subsection
(a) and adding Subsection (d), as follows: 

(a) Limits application of this section to licenses under the Act which have
been issued for less than eight consecutive years or that have been
suspended, except as provided by Subsection (d) of this section. 

(d) Authorizes a person who applies for renewal of a license that has been
held by the person for at least eight consecutive years without having been
suspended or revoked under this Act and who complies with the requirements
of this Act to renew the license for a period of 36 months from the date of
expiration.  Allows renewal under this subsection only if the county bail
bond board (board) knows of no legal reason why the application should not
be renewed and if the board determines that the applicant has submitted an
annual financial report to each board before the anniversary date of the
issuance of the applicant's license.  Authorizes a license renewed under
this subsection to be renewed subsequently each 36 months in a similar
manner. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
                       Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.