Bill Text: MI HB5537 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Criminal procedure; bail; certain requirements for bail bond agents and bail bond runners; provide for. Amends sec. 167b of 1931 PA 328 (MCL 750.167b). TIE BAR WITH: HB 5536'09
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-10-27 - Printed Bill Filed 10/23/2009 [HB5537 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB5537-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5537
October 22, 2009, Introduced by Rep. Johnson and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
A bill to amend 1931 PA 328, entitled
"The Michigan penal code,"
by amending section 167b (MCL 750.167b).
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
167b. (1) No A person engaged, either as principal or as
the clerk, agent, or representative of another, in the business of
becoming
surety upon bonds for compensation in any a criminal case,
either directly or indirectly, shall not give, donate, lend, or
contribute,
or promise to give, donate, lend, or contribute, any
money
or property to any an attorney-at-law, police office officer,
sheriff, jailer, probation officer, clerk or other attache of any
criminal court, or public official or employee, for procuring, or
assisting
in procuring, any a person to employ the bondsman a bail
bond
agent to execute as surety any a bond
for compensation in any
a
criminal case. No An attorney-at-law,
police officer, sheriff,
jailer, probation officer, clerk or other attache of any criminal
court,
or public official or employee of any character , shall not
accept
or receive from any a person or
entity engaged in the
bonding
bail bond business any money, or
property, services, or
other
thing of value for procuring, or
assisting in procuring, any
a
person to employ any bondsman bail bond agent to execute as
surety
any a bail bond for compensation in any a criminal
case.
(2)
No A person engaged, either as principal or as the clerk,
agent, or representative of another, in the business of becoming
surety
upon bonds for compensation in any a criminal case, either
directly or indirectly, shall not procure, suggest, aid in the
procurement
of, or cause in any way whatsoever the obtaining or
employing
of any an attorney-at-law for any a person in a criminal
case.
(3) It shall be is lawful
to charge for executing any bond in
a
criminal case, but no person for
a surety engaged in the bonding
bail
bond business, either as principal
or clerk, agent or
representative
of another, either directly or indirectly, shall
through
its bail bond agents, to charge, accept, or
receive any sum
of
money, or property, other
than the regular prevailing fee for
bonding,
which services, or other
thing of value for executing a
bail bond in a criminal case. The amount charged, accepted, or
received by a bail bond agent for executing a bail bond shall not
exceed
10% of the face value penal
amount of the bond for a 12-
month
period, or any part thereof, from any person for whom he
has
executed
bond, for any other service whatever performed in
connection
with any indictment, information or charge upon which
the
person is bailed or held. No of
that period, plus reasonable
costs. A person engaged, either as principal or as the clerk,
agent, or
representative of another, a
surety or bail bond agent,
in the bonding business shall not settle or attempt to settle, or
shall
procure or attempt to procure, the
dismissal of any an
indictment,
information, or charge against any a person
in custody
or
held upon bond with any a court or with the prosecuting attorney
in
any a court.
(4)
A current typewritten or printed list ,
alphabetically
arranged,
of all persons engaged bail bond agents licensed to
engage
in the bail bond business of
becoming surety upon bonds for
compensation
in criminal cases within the county and appointed by a
surety to execute bail bonds in criminal cases, as prepared and
distributed by the state court administrative office under section
8 of the bail bond personnel licensure act, shall be posted in a
conspicuous place in each police precinct, jail, prisoner's dock,
and
house of detention, court facility accessible to the public,
juvenile
detention facility, and in every
other place in which
persons in custody of the law are detained other than a state
correctional
facility, and 1 or more copies thereof
of that list
shall
be kept on hand. The list shall be compiled annually by the
judges
of the circuit court of each circuit, and the names of
persons
engaged in the business of becoming surety upon bonds for
compensation
shall be added to the list by the judges upon proper
application.
The list also shall be posted
on the state court
administrative office's public website. The list, or any updated
version of the list, shall be posted not later than 7 days after
being updated by the state court administrative office. Bail bonds
for all jurisdictions shall be accepted from every bail bond agent
on the list at each court; each state, county, city, municipal,
township, or village police department; each jail or other place of
detention; and any other place at which the list is required to be
posted. Any person who accepts a bail bond delivered by a bail bond
runner shall require that the bail bond runner display a valid
identification card issued by the office of financial and insurance
regulation under section 10(3) of the bail bond personnel licensure
act and shall verify that the bail bond runner is included in the
list created under section 10(7) of the bail bond personnel
licensure act and that the bail bond runner's sponsoring bail bond
agent is on the list created under section 8 of the bail bond
personnel
licensure act. When any a person
who is detained in
custody
in any such a place of detention described in this
subsection
requests any a person
in charge thereof of the
place of
detention
to furnish him or her the
name of a bondsman, bail
bond
agent
or to put him or her in
communication with a bondsman bail
bond
agent, the list shall be furnished to
the person so
requesting,
without recommendation , and the person in charge of
the
place of detention within a reasonable time shall put the
person
detained in communication with the bondsman bail bond agent
selected
and, contemporaneously with the transaction, make in the
blotter
or book of record kept in any place of detention a record
showing
the name of the person requesting the bondsman , the
offense
with which the person is charged, the time at which the
request
was made, the bondsman requested, and the person by whom
the
bondsman was called, and preserve the same as a permanent
record
in the book or blotter in which entered within a reasonable
time and without toll to the bail bond agent or the person
detained.
(5) A bail bond runner shall not be an individual licensed as
a bail bond agent and shall only deliver bail bonds to courts and
jails or other places of confinement. A bail bond runner shall not
do any of the following:
(a) Engage in the business of bail bond agent.
(b) Perform the duties of fugitive recovery person unless he
or she is licensed as a fugitive recovery person.
(c) Countersign bail bond powers of attorney.
(d) Have in his or her possession any power of attorney or
similar document unless it contains the bail bond agent's seal and
has been fully completed by the bail agent, including the name of
the defendant for whom the bond is to be posted, the bond amount,
and the court to which the bond is given.
(e) Collect money.
(f) Take applications for bail bonds.
(g) Execute bail bonds.
(h) Solicit bail bond business in any manner.
(6) (5)
Any A person violating any provision of this section
shall
be punished who violates
subsection (1), (2), (3), or (5) is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as provided in section 168.
(7) As used in this section, "bail bond agent", "bail bond
runner", and "surety" mean those terms as defined in the bail bond
personnel licensure act.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5536(request no.
03057'09) of the 95th Legislature is enacted into law.
