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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Balderas

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/10/06

HB 715

SHORT TITLE Bail Bondsman and Solicitor Requirements

SB

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the Attorney General (AGO)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)

NM Corrections Department (NMCD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 715 proposes the following requirements for qualifications and licensing of bail

bondsmen and solicitors:

Require licensed bail bondsmen or solicitor shall be at least 21 years of age and not have been

found to have violated professional ethical standards (Section 2).

Increase the educational requirements necessary to sit for the solicitor’s license examination, and

to increase the educational requirement prior to renewal of a bail bondsman’s or solicitor’s li-

cense (Section 3).

Require 30, rather than 10, clock hours of formal classroom education in subjects pertinent to the

duties and responsibilities of a solicitor including ethics and all laws and rules related to the bail

bond business (Section 3).

Require 120, rather than 30, hours of on-the-job training under the direct supervision of a spon-

soring bail bondsman (Section 3).

House Bill 715 – Page 2

Require two sets of fingerprints and a birth certificate or proof of citizenship accompany an ap-

plication for a solicitor’s license. Require the superintendent of insurance to arrange for national

and state criminal history background checks (Section 4).

Require a person applying for a bail bondsman or solicitor license to obtain, file and maintain a

commercial general liability certificate of insurance (Section 5).

Require the superintendent to act upon a license application within a reasonable period after the

application has been filed and the results of the national and state criminal background checks

have been received (Section 6).

Create and provide for the duties of the “Bail Bondsmen and Solicitors Advisory Committee

(Sections 7 and 8).

Prohibit the following practices of a bail bondsman or solicitor:

•

An attempt to take a defendant into custody without first providing notification to the local

law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction where the defendant is believed to be located.

•

Forcibly entering any vehicle, watercraft, dwelling or other structure without first providing

such notification.

•

Forcibly entering without consent of the occupants who are present at the time of entry.

•

Wearing, carrying or displaying a uniform, badge or shield, etc. that implies that the bonds-

man or solicitor is an employee, officer or agent of the state, municipality or federal gov-

ernment.

Require, immediately after apprehension, notification to the local law enforcement agency of the

jurisdiction where the defendant was apprehended of the identity of the defendant, identity of the

bondsman or solicitor and where the defendant is being taken to surrender into custody (Section

9).

Raise the amount of an administrative fee imposed in lieu of license suspension, revocation or

refusal, except on a second offense, from $100 to $1,000, or if the superintendent has found will-

ful misconduct or willful violation by the licensee, the administrative penalty is raised from $300

to $3,000 (Section 10).

Classify a violation of the Bail Bondsmen Licensing Law as a misdemeanor. Violators may re-

ceive a prison sentence of up to on year, or a fine of up to $1,000 or both (Section 11).

Provide that a bondsman or solicitor licensed prior to July 1, 2006 must apply for licensure pur-

suant to the amended law prior to October 31, 2006 to receive a license without meeting the ex-

amination or educational requirements of the 2006 amended Act (Section 12).

The Act has an effective date of July 1, 2006.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Fiscal implications would be minimal if this bill were enacted.

House Bill 715 – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The penalty for violations of the Bail Bondsman Licensing Law is imprisonment of up to 1 year,

or a fine of up to $1,000 or both – misdemeanor sentencing. The law previously provided for

only a fine of up to $1,000, upon conviction.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) points out that the portion of the law which makes it a

misdemeanor to violate the provisions of the Bail Bondsman licensing law raises an issue of spe-

cific vs. general statutes:

The criminal statutes of breaking and entering and burglary 30-14-8 and 30-16-3 are

felonies and deal with the same type of activity; unauthorized entry into someone’s home

or dwelling. The language in Section 59A-51-13 making it a misdemeanor if a bail

bondsman enters a home without authority could require the charging agency to charge a

misdemeanor instead of a felony because this would be the more specific statute.

A second issue raised by AGO, is that of a potential conflict with Section 31-3-3 (A) Surrender

of principal by surety:

This section allows the surety to arrest the accused whenever the surety desires to be dis-

charged from the obligation of its bail bond. This right to arrest has been upheld in cases

reviewing the issue. State v. United Bonding Ins. Co. 81 N.M. 154 (1970). A right to ar-

rest does not require that consent of the occupants and notification be given to appropri-

ate agencies as is contemplated under 59-51-13 (A) (8). It should be noted however that

even law enforcement must first obtain a search warrant before forcibly entering the

home of a defendant where they believe he is hiding. In this way it can be said that more

restrictions are placed on law enforcement than on a bail bondsman when arresting a de-

fendant. In any event the arrest language in Section 31-3-3 should be reconciled with the

new section under 59A-51-13 (A) (8).

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

Currently licensed bail bondsmen under the age of 21 would no longer qualify for licensure un-

der the proposed amendments.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The bill provides tighter regulation of the bail bondsman industry. The consequences of not en-

acting the bill would be less regulation of the industry.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

How many licensed bail bondsmen are under the age of 21.

EM/mt