How Felons Become Bondsmen

There has been much talk recently in Jefferson City about how felons can get state issued bail bond licenses. The answer is not so easy to explain.

Before 1983, anyone could write bail in Missouri after filing the proper qualifications with the local court. The procedure was outlined in Supreme Court Rule 33. The qualifications for surety on a bail bond are further outlined in rule 33.17:

A person shall not be accepted as a surety on any bail bond unless the person:
(a) Is reputable and at least twenty-one years of age;
(b) Has net assets with a value in excess of exemptions at least equal to the amount of the bond that are subject to execution in the state of Missouri;
(c) Has not been convicted of any felony under the laws of any state or of the United States;
(d) Is not a lawyer, except that this disqualification shall not apply if the principal is the spouse, child or family member of the surety;
(e) Is not an elected or appointed official or employee of the State of Missouri or any county or other political subdivision thereof, except that this disqualification shall not apply if the principal is the spouse, child or family member of the surety; and
(f) Has no outstanding forfeiture or unsatisfied judgment thereon entered upon any bail bond in any court of this state or of the United States.

Rule 33.20 addresses corporations or insurance companies that write bail:

(a) Any corporation, association, or company formed under the provisions of section 379.010, RSMo, for the purpose of making surety insurance shall be qualified to act as a surety upon any bail bond taken under the provisions of these rules upon presenting evidence satisfactory to the court of its solvency. Any such bond shall be executed in the manner provided by law.(b) An agent acting on behalf of such a corporation shall be subject to the qualifications set forth in Rule 33.17(c), (d), and (e), and, in addition, shall be licensed as a bail bond agent as required by law.

In 1983, the Legislature passed the Bail Bond Licensing Act. The qualifications for licensure were:

374.715 ...Each application shall be accompanied by proof satisfactory to the department that the applicant is a citizen of the United States, is at least twenty-one years of age, and is of good moral character.

In 1997, the legislature tried to tighten the requirements by adding the words "and meets the qualifications for surety on bail bonds as provided by supreme court rule."

The devil was in the details. The word surety was never defined in the statutes but was later defined through administrative hearings, case law, and attorney general opinion. The word surety has been defined as the general bondsman or corporation licensed by the state, who pledges his assets as security to the court in order to write bail bonds. The "surety" is NOT any agent working under the supervision of a general agent or corporation. Thus, the Administrative Hearing Commission has ruled, in two separate opinions, that bail bond agents are not the "surety" as described in Supreme Court Rule and state statutes. Therefore, the Department of Insurance started granting licenses to bail bond agents who were convicted felons, but not general agents.

In 2004, the Missouri Professional Bail Bond Association backed legislation that changed the section dealing with the discipline of license holders. Previously, the law said that the department had the right to refuse to issue or renew any license for, "having entered a plea of guilty or having been found guilty of a felony." (A provision, in my opinion, which should have kept felons out of the business in the first place.) The association backed SB1122 (2004) changed the language so that the department could refuse to renew or issue licensing if the licensee had "final adjudication or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere within the past fifteen years in a criminal prosecution under any state or federal law for a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude whether or not a sentence is imposed, prior to issuance of license date." Bill sponsor, Rep. Bob Behnen (R-Kirksville), acknowledged that the 15-year provision seemed to have been crafted to help someone. "My guess is that it was probably drawn for a particular individual," he said in an article appearing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Virgil Lee Jackson contributed to Behnen's campaign and hired lobbyist Steve Carroll. One might presume this language helped him, since he was a convicted felon who had been denied a general bail bond license.

I have talked extensively in previous posts about the legislation in Jefferson City this year. The Department of Insurance is backing legislation (SB895) which strikes the 15-year provision and the "prior to issuance of license date." You can't be a felon, period. The bill also strengthens the DOI's ability to discipline license holders, instead of having to wait until the licensee renews his license. The Missouri Professional Bail Bond Association opposes this language.

The association is sponsoring their own bill, SB885, which allows felons to have a bail bond license as long as the licensee is not convicted of a "dangerous" felony. See post below.