FIRST REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE BEHNEN.
Read 1st time March 1, 2005 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 374.710, 374.730, 374.783, and 374.786, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof four new sections relating to statewide professional association membership.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 374.710, 374.730, 374.783, and 374.786, RSMo, are repealed and four new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 374.710, 374.730, 374.783, and 374.786, to read as follows:
374.710. 1. Except as otherwise provided in sections 374.695 to 374.775, no person or other entity shall practice as a bail bond agent or general bail bond agent, as defined in section 374.700, in Missouri unless and until the department has issued to him or her a license, to be renewed every two years as hereinafter provided, to practice as a bail bond agent or general bail bond agent.
2. An applicant for a bail bond and general bail bond agent license shall submit with the application proof that he or she has received twenty-four hours of initial basic training in areas of instruction in subjects determined by the director deemed appropriate to professionals in the bail bond profession and that he or she is a member of a statewide professional association established to represent the interest of such bail bond and general bail bond agents. The director of the department shall establish the requirements that an association must meet in order for it to be a recognized statewide professional association of which an applicant may be a member in order to be licensed as a bail bond or general bail bond agent. Bail bond agents and general bail bond agents who are licensed at the date which this act becomes law shall be exempt from such twenty-four hours of initial basic training.
3. In addition to the twenty-four hours of initial basic training to become a bail bond agent or general bail bond agent, there shall be eight hours of biennial continuing education for all bail bond agents and general bail bond agents to maintain their state license. The director shall determine said appropriate areas of instruction for said biennial continuing education. The director shall determine which institutions, organizations, associations, and individuals shall be eligible to provide the initial basic training and the biennial continuing education instruction. The department may allow state institutions, organizations, associations, or individuals to provide courses for the initial basic training and the biennial continuing education training. The cost shall not exceed two hundred dollars for the initial basic training and one hundred fifty dollars for biennial continuing education.
4. Upon completion of said basic training or biennial continuing education and the licensee meeting the other requirements as provided under sections 374.695 to 374.789, the director shall issue a two-year license for the bail bond agent or general bail bond agent for a fee not to exceed one hundred fifty dollars.
5. Nothing in sections 374.695 to 374.775 shall be construed to prohibit any person from posting or otherwise providing a bail bond in connection with any legal proceeding, provided that such person receives no fee, remuneration or consideration therefor.
6. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2005, shall be invalid and void.
374.730. All licenses issued to bail bond agents and general bail bond agents under the provisions of sections 374.700 to 374.775 shall be renewed biennially, which renewal shall be in the form and manner prescribed by the department and shall be accompanied by the renewal fee set by the department and proof of continuing membership in a statewide professional association recognized by the department as provided for in section 374.710.
374.783. 1. No person shall hold himself or herself out as being a surety recovery agent in this state, unless such person is licensed in accordance with the provisions of sections 374.783 to 374.789. Licensed bail bond agents and general bail bond agents may perform fugitive recovery without being licensed as a surety recovery agent.
2. The director shall have authority to license all surety recovery agents in this state. The director shall have control and supervision over the licensing of such agents and the enforcement of the terms and provisions of sections 374.783 to 374.789.
3. Any applicant for a surety recovery agent license must show proof of membership in a statewide professional association established to represent the interest of such surety recovery agents. The director of the department shall establish the requirements that an association must meet in order for it to be a recognized statewide professional association of which an applicant may be a member in order to be licensed as a surety recovery agent. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2005, shall be invalid and void.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary, the director shall have the power to:
(1) Set and determine the amount of the fees authorized and required pursuant to sections 374.783 to 374.789. The fees shall be set at a level sufficient to produce revenue which shall not substantially exceed the cost and expense of administering sections 374.783 to 374.789. However, such fees shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars for a two-year license; and
(2) Determine the sufficient qualifications of applicants for a license.
[4.] 5. The director shall license for a period of two years all surety recovery agents in this state who meet the requirements of sections 374.783 to 374.789.
374.786. 1. Every person licensed pursuant to sections 374.783 to 374.789 shall, before the license renewal date, apply to the director for renewal for the ensuing licensing period. The application shall be made on a form furnished to the applicant and shall state the applicant's full name, the applicant's business address, the address at which the applicant resides, the date the applicant first received a license, and the applicant's surety recovery agent identification number, if any. The application must be accompanied by written proof of continuing membership in a statewide professional association recognized by the department as provided for in section 374.783.
2. A renewal form shall be mailed to each person licensed in this state at the person's last known address. The failure to mail the renewal form or the failure of a person to receive it does not relieve any person of the duty to be licensed and to pay the license fee required nor exempt such person from the penalties provided for failure to be licensed.
3. Each applicant for renewal shall accompany such application with a renewal fee to be paid to the department for the licensing period for which renewal is sought.
4. The director may refuse to renew any license required pursuant to sections 374.783 to 374.789 for any one or any combination of causes stated in section 374.787. The director shall notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for refusal to renew and shall advise the applicant of his or her right to file a complaint with the administrative hearing commission as provided by chapter 621, RSMo.