(a)A professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent commencing business in any judicial circuit in this state on and after June 1, 2020, shall attend a 16-hour instructional course conducted by an educational provider approved by the board and pass an examination approved by the board and administered by an educational provider approved by the board. Upon completion of the course and passage of the examination, the individual shall be awarded a pre-licensure examination certificate by the board, copies of which may be submitted to the presiding circuit judge, or other judicial authority, along with the other requirements set forth in Section 15-13-159 or Section 15-13-160. Those professional bondsmen, professional surety bondsmen, and recovery agents doing business
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(a) A professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent commencing business in any judicial circuit in this state on and after June 1, 2020, shall attend a 16-hour instructional course conducted by an educational provider approved by the board and pass an examination approved by the board and administered by an educational provider approved by the board. Upon completion of the course and passage of the examination, the individual shall be awarded a pre-licensure examination certificate by the board, copies of which may be submitted to the presiding circuit judge, or other judicial authority, along with the other requirements set forth in Section 15-13-159 or Section 15-13-160. Those professional bondsmen, professional surety bondsmen, and recovery agents doing business immediately prior to June 1, 2020, are exempt from the initial instructional course and examination.
(b) Unless exempted pursuant to subsection (i), a professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent making an annual filing in any circuit in this state pursuant to Section 15-13-159 or Section 15-13-160 on and after March 1, 2020, shall first complete eight hours of continuing education conducted by an educational provider approved by the board. A professional bail company owner, who is at least 55 years of age and has five years of experience in the profession, shall only be required to complete four hours of continuing education. The educational provider approved by the board shall provide the board with the name of all professional bondsmen, professional surety bondsmen, or recovery agents completing eight hours of continuing education. Upon completion of the eight hours of continuing education, the individual shall request issuance of an annual continuing education certificate from the board, copies of which may be submitted to the presiding circuit judge along with the other requirements set forth in Section 15-13-159 or Section 15-13-160.
(c) The instructional course, examination, or continuing education courses shall be taught or sponsored by an educational provider approved by the board, which must apply annually for authority to offer such examination or courses.
(d) A list of approved course providers shall be published on the website of the board.
(e) The cost of the instructional course shall be set by the approved course provider but shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per course. Upon completion of the instructional course, the approved course provider shall issue an instructional course completion certificate in a form approved by the board. This completion certificate, along with the application fee, must be presented to the board in order to take the pre-licensure examination. An instructional course completion certificate shall be valid for a period of 12 months.
(f) The cost of continuing education courses shall be set by the approved course provider but shall not exceed seventy-five dollars ($75) per hour. Any fee required to be paid by a course provider for reporting continuing education course completion to the board may be added to the maximum charges provided in this subsection.
(g) Each professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, and recovery agent must renew his or her certification with the board by completing eight hours of approved continuing education prior to September 30 each year. Late renewal within the next 12 months may be had by completing the eight hours of continuing education and paying a renewal license fee of twice the amount otherwise required. If a professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent fails to renew a certification for a 12-month period, the professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent will be required to take the instructional course and examination to again become certified.
(h) The board, by rule, shall set the fees to be paid to the board in the administration of this section, not to exceed the maximum amounts set forth below:
(1)a. Application fee for a professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or a recovery agent, a nonrefundable fee to be paid to take the examination and for the issuance of the pre-licensure examination certificate, per examination attempt: Up to five hundred dollars ($500).
b. Application fee for a professional bail company or a professional surety company, a nonrefundable fee to be paid for the issuance of an initial license: Up to five hundred dollars ($500). Payment of this fee does not alleviate the requirement that each individual professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, and recovery agent be licensed under this chapter.
(2)a. Annual license renewal fee for a professional bondsman, professional surety bondsman, or recovery agent, to be paid to receive the annual continuing education certificate: From fifty dollars ($50) up to five hundred dollars ($500).
b. Annual license renewal fee for a professional bail company or a professional surety company, to be paid to receive the renewal license: Up to one hundred dollars ($100).
(i) Any professional bondsman or professional bail company owner who, on August 1, 2021, is at least 65 years of age and has 15 years of experience in the profession, shall be exempt from the continuing education requirements of this article.
(j) The board shall adopt rules necessary to carry out this section.