88R406 MEW-D
By: A. Johnson of Harris H.B. No. 227
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of corporations to act as sureties on bail
bonds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 17.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 17.06. CORPORATION AS SURETY. (a) In [Wherever in]
this chapter [Chapter], if a [any] person is required or authorized
to give or execute a [any] bail bond, the [such] bail bond may be
given or executed by the [such] principal and a [any] corporation
authorized by law to act as surety, subject to all applicable [the]
provisions of this chapter [Chapter] regulating and governing the
giving of bail bonds by personal surety [insofar as the same is
applicable].
(b) A corporation may not act as a surety on a bail bond for
a defendant unless the corporation requires the defendant before
release to pay a fee to the corporation equal to not less than 10
percent of the total amount of the bail set for the defendant.
SECTION 2. Article 17.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a bail bond executed on or
after the effective date of this Act. A bail bond executed before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the bail bond was executed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.