Under existing law, the Alabama Bail Reform Act of 1993, defines and provides for the use of bail bonds and the duties and responsibilities of professional bail and professional surety companies. This bill would provide for the acceptance of certain filing fees by the sheriff or jailer, and would provide further for the definitions of cash bail and property bail. This bill would provide further for the arrest and delivery of a defendant to jail by a surety with no court costs to be entered on the surety, would provide that a surety not be charged for a bondsman's process or for a certified copy of a bond, and would require the license number of the bondsman or recovery to be listed on a bondsman's process form. This bill would authorize a surety to sign for a conditional forfeiture notice with the clerk of the ordering court. This bill would increase the time frame for which the ordering court has jurisdiction over a forfeiture action to one year. This bill would authorize a bail bondsman to file motions, answers, and notices relating to a defendant who is out on bond with that bondsman. HB478 HB478 INTRODUCED INTRODUCED This bill would increase the time frames for notice and conducting hearings in conditional forfeiture proceedings. This bill would remove the requirement that a conditional judgment to set aside shall be made absolute for the entire sum and would provide further for instances when a court may set aside forfeiture, may not release a defendant on judicial public bail, and eligibility for judicial public bail. This bill would provide further for the amount of new corporate surety bonds and escrow agreements required in counties with populations of 200,000 or more. This bill would provide further for criminal penalties for certain unlawful behavior. This bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to current style. Section 111.05 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose. HB478 HB478 INTRODUCED INTRODUCED The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 15-13-107, 15-13-111, 15-13-114, 15-13-118, 15-13-125, 15-13-128, 15-13-131, 15-13-132, 15-13-134, 15-13-136, 15-13-137, 15-13-138, 15-13-139, 15-13-140, 15-13-141, 15-13-145, 15-13-159, 15-13-160, 15-13-164