Sec. 38a-660. Bail bond insurance and agents. Licensing. Examinations. Fees.
Sec. 38a-660. Bail bond insurance and agents. Licensing. Examinations. Fees.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner;
(2) "Insurer" means any domestic, foreign or alien insurance company which has
qualified generally to transact surety business in this state under the requirements of
chapter 698 and specifically to transact bail bond business in this state;
(3) "Surety bail bond agent" means any person who has been approved by the commissioner and appointed by an insurer by power of attorney to execute or countersign
bail bonds for the insurer in connection with judicial proceedings;
(4) "License" means a surety bail bond agent license issued by the commissioner
to a qualified individual as provided in this section;
(5) "Solicit" includes any written or printed presentation or advertising made by
mail or other publication, or any oral presentation or advertising in person or by means
of telephone, radio or television which implies that an individual is licensed under this
section, and any activity in arranging for bail which results in compensation to the
individual conducting that activity;
(6) "Disqualifying offense" means: (A) A felony; or (B) a misdemeanor if an element of the offense involves dishonesty or misappropriation of money or property.
(b) An insurer shall not execute an undertaking of bail in this state except by and
through a person holding a license issued as provided in this section.
(c) A person shall not in this state solicit or negotiate in respect to execution or
delivery of an undertaking of bail or bail bond on behalf of an insurer, or execute or
deliver such an undertaking of bail or bail bond on behalf of an insurer unless licensed
as provided in this section. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection
shall be guilty of a class D felony.
(d) Only natural persons who are licensed under this section may execute bail bonds.
A firm, partnership, association or corporation, desiring to execute an undertaking of
bail in this state must do so by and through a person holding a license issued as provided
in this section.
(e) Any person desiring to act within this state as a surety bail bond agent shall
make a written application to the commissioner for a license in such form and having
such supporting documents as the commissioner prescribes. Each application shall be
signed by the applicant and shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable filing fee as determined by the commissioner. The applicant must also submit with the application a
complete set of the applicant's fingerprints, certified by an authorized law enforcement
officer, and two recent credential-sized full-face photographs of the applicant. At the
time of application, each applicant for a license shall forward a copy of the applicant's
complete application and supporting documents to the bond forfeiture unit of the Office
of the Chief State's Attorney.
(f) Every applicant for a license must file with the commissioner a notice of appointment executed by an insurer or its authorized representative authorizing such applicant
to execute undertakings of bail and to solicit and negotiate such undertakings on its
behalf. Each appointment shall, by its terms, continue in force until: (1) Termination of
the surety bail bond agent's license; or (2) the filing of a notice of termination by the
insurer or its representative or by such surety bail bond agent.
(g) An applicant for a license shall be required to appear in person and take a written
examination testing the applicant's competency and qualifications to act as a surety bail
bond agent. The commissioner may designate an independent testing service to prepare
and administer such examination, provided any examination fees charged by such service shall be paid by the applicant. The commissioner shall collect the appropriate examination fee, which shall entitle the applicant to take the examination for the license, except
when a testing service is used, the testing service shall pay such fee to the commissioner.
In either case, such examination shall be as the commissioner prescribes and shall be
of sufficient scope to test the applicant's knowledge of subjects pertinent to the duties
and responsibilities of a surety bail bond agent, including all laws and regulations of
this state applicable thereto.
(h) In addition to all other requirements prescribed in this section, each applicant for
a license shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the commissioner that: (1) The applicant is
at least eighteen years of age; (2) the applicant is a citizen of the United States; and (3)
the applicant has never been convicted of a felony or any misdemeanor under section
21a-279, 53a-58, 53a-61, 53a-61a, 53a-62, 53a-63, 53a-96, 53a-173, 53a-175, 53a-176,
53a-178 or 53a-181d. The commissioner shall require each applicant to submit to a
background investigation, including an investigation of any prior criminal activity, to
be conducted by the Division of Criminal Justice. The Division of Criminal Justice shall
require each applicant to submit to state and national criminal history records checks.
Such criminal history records checks shall be conducted in accordance with section
29-17a.
(i) Upon satisfying himself that an applicant meets the licensing requirements of
this state and is in all respects properly qualified and trustworthy and that the granting
of such license is not against the public interest, the commissioner may issue to such
applicant the license applied for, in such form as he may adopt, to act within this state
to the extent therein specified.
(j) The commissioner may adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54 relating to the approval of schools offering courses in the duties and responsibilities of surety bail bond agents, the content of such courses and the advertising to the
public of the services of these schools.
(k) To further the enforcement of this section and to determine the eligibility of any
licensee, the commissioner may, as often as he deems necessary, examine the books
and records of any such licensee.
(l) A license may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be renewed or continued
upon payment of the appropriate fee as the commissioner deems necessary without the
resubmittal of the detailed information required in the original application.
(m) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54 to implement subsections (a) to (l), inclusive, of this section.
(n) Any individual aggrieved by the action of the commissioner in revoking, suspending or refusing to reissue a license or in imposing a fine or penalty may appeal
therefrom, in accordance with the provisions of section 4-183, except venue for such
appeal shall be in the judicial district of Hartford. Appeals under this section shall be
privileged in respect to the order of trial assignment.
(o) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting an individual's ability to
operate as a professional bondsman in this state pursuant to chapter 533 provided such
individual is in compliance with all requirements of said chapter.
(P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4-6; P.A. 96-164, S. 1; P.A. 97-287,
S. 15; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 28-30, 121; P.A. 99-240, S. 24; P.A. 01-175, S. 30, 32.)
History: (Revisor's note: P.A. 88-230, 90-98, 93-142 and 95-220 authorized substitution of "judicial district of Hartford"
for "judicial district of Hartford-New Britain" in 1996 public and special acts, effective September 1, 1998); P.A. 97-287
amended Subsec. (c) to add penalty provision; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 substituted "or" for a comma in Subdiv. (f)(2),
amended Subsec. (j) to substitute "responsibilities of" for "responsibilities to" re surety bail bond agents and amended
Subsec. (n) to delete reference to appeals under Sec. 54-65a, effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 99-240 amended Subsec. (h)
by eliminating exceptions to disqualification based on time elapsed since conviction and by listing the misdemeanors that
would disqualify an applicant; P.A. 01-175 amended Subsec. (h) by replacing requirement that each applicant submit to
a background investigation with provision re commissioner's requiring each applicant to submit to a background investigation, and replacing provision re Federal Bureau of Investigation and fees with provision re criminal history records checks
pursuant to Sec. 29-17a, effective July 1, 2001.