By: Whitmire, Creighton S.B. No. 1151
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) Before executing a bail bond for the release of a
defendant, a corporation acting as surety, or the agent executing
the bail bond on behalf of the corporation acting as surety, shall:
(1) collect a premium of not less than 10 percent of
the total surety bond amount; and
(2) submit to the sheriff of the county in which the
prosecution is pending a sworn affidavit that confirms payment of
the premium and identifies:
(A) the amount paid for the premium;
(B) the method of payment for the premium,
including cash, a type of cash equivalent, a property transfer, a
property lien, or another method; and
(C) the person who paid the premium.
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.