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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 575
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 5377
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CREATING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY TH E REGULATION
OF PROFESSIONAL BONDSMEN, BAIL ENFOR CEMENT AGENTS
AND SURETY BAIL BOND AGENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force 1
to study the regulation of professional bondsmen licensed under 2
chapter 533 of the general statutes, bail enforcement agents licensed 3
under chapter 533a of the general statutes and surety bail bond agents 4
licensed under chapter 700f of the general statutes. Such study shall 5
include, but need not be limited to, (1) an examination of the ways other 6
states regulate bondsmen, bail enforcement agents or surety bail bond 7
agents, and (2) recommendations to achieve greater accountability and 8
oversight of such bondsmen, bail enforcement agents and surety bail 9
bond agents. 10
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 11
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 12
one of whom represents a trade association of national bail insurance 13
companies and one of whom represents professional bondsmen, bail 14
enforcement agents or surety bail bond agents; 15
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(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of 16
whom is a municipal police chief; 17
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 18
Representatives, who is a member of the joint standing committee of the 19
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety 20
and security; 21
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, who is a 22
member of the Criminal Justice Policy Advisory Commissio n 23
established under section 18-87j of the general statutes; 24
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 25
Representatives, who is a member of the Criminal Justice Commission 26
established under section 51-275a of the general statutes; 27
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 28
(7) The Commissioner of Correction, or the commissioner's designee; 29
(8) The Chief State's Attorney, or the Chief State's Attorney's 30
designee; and 31
(9) The Chief Public Defender, or the Chief Public Defender's 32
designee. 33
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 34
(2), (3) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member of the 35
General Assembly. 36
(d) All initial appointments to the task force shall be made not later 37
than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall 38
be filled by the appointing authority. 39
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 40
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 41
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 42
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 43
days after the effective date of this section. 44
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(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 45
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety 46
and security shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 47
(g) Not later than January 1, 2022, the task force shall submit a report 48
on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of 49
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 50
safety and security, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 51
of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it 52
submits such report or January 1, 2022, whichever is later. 53
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a task force to study the regulation of professional
bondsmen, bail enforcement agents and surety bail bond agents.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. OSTEN, 19th Dist.; REP. SMITH, 48th Dist.
S.B. 575