FILED SENATE
Apr 5, 2021
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
S.B. 550
SESSION 2021 PRINCIPAL CLERK
S D
SENATE BILL DRS35207-ND-113
Short Title: Modify Surety/Bail Bond/Bondsmen Provisions. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Britt, Craven, and Lazzara (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT TO MODIFY QUALIFICATIONS AND TESTING PROCEDURES FOR BAIL
3 BONDSMEN AND RUNNERS AND TO MODIFY VARIOUS PROVISIONS RELATED
4 TO BAIL BOND FORFEITURES AND BAIL BOND SURETIES.
5 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
6 SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 58-71-50(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
7 "(9) Be a documented citizen of the United States of America."
8 SECTION 1.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to
9 applications submitted on or after that date.
10 SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 58-71-70 reads as rewritten:
11 "§ 58-71-70. Examination; fees.
12 Each applicant for a license as a professional bondsman, surety bondsman, or runner shall
13 appear in person and take an examination prepared by the Commissioner testing the applicant's
14 ability and qualifications. Each applicant is eligible for examination 30 days after the date the
15 application is received by the Commissioner. If an applicant is unable to complete the
16 examination requirement within 30 days after notification from the Commissioner of the
17 applicant's eligibility to take the examination, the applicant shall again be subject to the criminal
18 history record check prescribed by G.S. 58-71-50(a) so that current information is available for
19 review with the application. Each examination shall be held at a time and place as designated by
20 the Commissioner. Each applicant shall be given notice of the designated time and place no
21 sooner than 15 days before the examination. The Commissioner may contract with a person to
22 process applications for the examination and administer and grade the examination in the same
23 manner as for agent examinations under Article 33 of this Chapter.
24 The fee for each examination is twenty-five dollars ($25.00) plus an amount that offsets the
25 cost of any contract for examination services. This examination fee is nonrefundable.
26 An applicant who fails an examination may take a subsequent examination, but at least one
27 year must intervene between examinations.
28 Any applicant who fails to pass the examination shall within 90 days be entitled to
29 reexamination upon the payment of an additional examination fee. If the applicant fails to pass
30 the reexamination, the applicant shall file a new application before the applicant can again be
31 examined. One year must intervene from the date of the reexamination before the applicant is
32 allowed to file a new application."
33 SECTION 2.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law.
34 SECTION 3.(a) G.S. 15A-544.3(b) reads as rewritten:
35 "(b) The forfeiture shall contain the following information:
36 …
*DRS35207-ND-113*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2021
1 (9) The following notice: "TO THE DEFENDANT AND EACH SURETY
2 NAMED ABOVE: The defendant named above has failed to appear as
3 required before the court in the case identified above. A forfeiture for the
4 amount of the bail bond shown above was entered in favor of the State against
5 the defendant and each surety named above on the date of forfeiture shown
6 above. This forfeiture will be set aside if, on or before the final judgment date
7 shown above, satisfactory evidence is presented to the court that one of the
8 following events has occurred: (i) the defendant's failure to appear has been
9 stricken by the court in which the defendant was required to appear and any
10 order for arrest that was issued for that failure to appear is recalled, (ii) all
11 charges for which the defendant was bonded to appear have been finally
12 disposed by the court other than by the State's taking a voluntary dismissal
13 with leave, (iii) the defendant has been surrendered by a surety or bail agent
14 to a sheriff of this State as provided by law, (iv) the defendant has been served
15 with an Order for Arrest for the Failure to Appear on the criminal charge in
16 the case in question as evidenced by a copy of an official court record,
17 including an electronic record, (v) the defendant died before or within the
18 period between the forfeiture and the final judgment as demonstrated by the
19 presentation of a death certificate, (vi) the defendant was incarcerated in a unit
20 of the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of
21 Public Safety and is serving a sentence or in a unit of the Federal Bureau of
22 Prisons located within the borders of the State at the time of the failure to
23 appear as evidenced by a copy of an official court record or a copy of a
24 document from the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the
25 Department of Public Safety or Federal Bureau of Prisons, or (vii) the
26 defendant was incarcerated in a local, state, or federal detention center, jail, or
27 prison located anywhere within the borders of the United States at the time of
28 the failure to appear, or between the failure to appear and the final judgment
29 date, and the district attorney for the county in which the charges are pending
30 was notified of the defendant's incarceration while the defendant was still
31 incarcerated and the defendant remains incarcerated for a period of 10 days
32 following the district attorney's receipt of notice, as evidenced by a copy of
33 the written notice served on the district attorney via hand delivery or certified
34 mail and written documentation of date upon which the defendant was
35 released from incarceration, if the defendant was released prior to the time the
36 motion to set aside was filed. filed, (viii) notice of forfeiture was not provided
37 pursuant to G.S. 15A-544.4(e), or (ix) the court refused to issue an order for
38 arrest for the defendant's failure to appear, as evidenced by a copy of an
39 official court record, including an electronic record. The forfeiture will not be
40 set aside for any other reason. If this forfeiture is not set aside on or before the
41 final judgment date shown above, and if no motion to set it aside is pending
42 on that date, the forfeiture will become a final judgment on that date. The final
43 judgment will be enforceable by execution against the defendant and any
44 accommodation bondsman and professional bondsman on the bond. The final
45 judgment will also be reported to the Department of Insurance. Further, no
46 surety will be allowed to execute any bail bond in the above county until the
47 final judgment is satisfied in full.""
48 SECTION 3.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to
49 forfeitures entered on or after that date.
50 SECTION 4.(a) G.S. 15A-544.5(b) reads as rewritten:
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1 "(b) Reasons for Set Aside. – Except as provided by subsection (f) of this section, a
2 forfeiture shall be set aside for any one of the following reasons, and none other:
3 …
4 (8) Notice of the forfeiture was not provided pursuant to G.S. 15A-544.4(e).
5 (9) The court refused to issue an order for arrest for the defendant's failure to
6 appear, as evidenced by a copy of an official court record, including an
7 electronic record."
8 SECTION 4.(b) This section is effective when it becomes law and applies to
9 forfeitures set aside on or after that date.
10 SECTION 5. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes
11 law.
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Statutes affected:
Filed: 15A-544.3, 15A-544.5
Edition 1: 15A-544.3, 15A-544.5
Edition 2: 15A-531, 15A-544.2, 15A-544.3, 15A-544.5