SSB 3024 (LSB 5344XD (4) 90)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to insurance companies acting as surety for bail bonds, including licensure requirements to act as a bail enforcement agent or business.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 80A.2, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  A person employed full or part-time by one employer in connection with the affairs of the employer, except for a person employed by a surety licensed pursuant to chapter 811 who is acting as a bail enforcement agent.
    Sec. 2.  Section 811.3, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  Insurance companies doing business in this state under the provisions of section 515.48, subsection 2, may act as surety. Resident owners of property which that is located within the state and which that is worth the amount specified in the undertaking, may act as surety, and must in all cases justify by an affidavit taken before an officer authorized to administer oaths that such surety possesses such qualifications.
   b.  A company acting as surety shall not engage in conduct or activities substantially similar to those of a bail enforcement agent or bail enforcement business, as those terms are defined in section 80A.1, without receiving a license from the department of public safety as specified in chapter 80A.
    Sec. 3.  Section 811.8, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  At any time before the forfeiture of the undertaking, the surety may surrender the defendant, or the defendant may surrender, to the officer to whose custody the defendant was committed at the time of giving bail, and such officer shall detain the defendant as upon a commitment and must, upon such surrender and the receipt of a certified copy of the undertaking of bail, acknowledge the surrender by a certificate in writing.  A company acting as surety shall not engage in conduct or activities substantially similar to those of a bail enforcement agent or bail enforcement business, as those terms are defined in section 80A.1, without receiving a license from the department of public safety as specified in chapter 80A.
    Sec. 4.  Section 811.12, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code 2024, is amended by striking the paragraph.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to insurance companies acting as surety for bail bonds, including licensure requirements to act as a bail enforcement agent or business.
   The bill provides that the requirements of Code chapter 80A (private investigative agencies and security agencies) do not apply to a person employed full or part-time by one employer in connection with the affairs of the employer, except for a person employed by a surety licensed pursuant to Code chapter 811 who is acting as a bail enforcement agent.
   Current law provides that insurance companies doing business in Iowa under the provisions of Code section 515.48(2) may act as surety to insure the fidelity of bail bonds in criminal cases.
   The bill provides that a company acting as surety shall not engage in conduct or activities substantially similar to those of a bail enforcement agent or bail enforcement business, as those terms are defined in Code section 80A.1, without receiving a license from the department of public safety as specified in Code chapter 80A. Bail enforcement agent is defined as a person engaged in the bail enforcement business, including licensees and persons engaged in the bail enforcement business whose principal place of business is in a state other than Iowa. “Bail enforcement business” means the business of taking or attempting to take into custody the principal on a bail bond issued or a deposit filed in relation to a criminal proceeding to assure the presence of the defendant at trial, but does not include such actions that are undertaken by a peace officer or a law enforcement officer in the course of the officer’s official duties.
   Current law allows the surety to surrender the defendant at any time before the forfeiture of the undertaking. However, the bill provides that a company acting as surety shall not engage in conduct or activities substantially similar to those of a bail enforcement agent or bail enforcement business, as those terms are defined in Code section 80A.1, without receiving a license from the department of public safety as specified in Code chapter 80A.
   The bill strikes Code section 811.12(2)(d), which currently provides that a bail enforcement agent exempt from licensing requirements is authorized to apprehend, detain, or arrest a principal on a bail bond, wherever issued. The bill provides that a person is not authorized to detain, apprehend, or arrest a principal on a bail bond without being licensed or registered.