2010 Arkansas Code
Title 17 - Professions, Occupations, and Businesses
Subtitle 2 - Nonmedical Professions
Chapter 19 - Bail Bondsmen
Subchapter 3 - Bond Requirements -- Posting of Bondsmen List
§ 17-19-301 - Premiums.

17-19-301. Premiums.

(a) With the exception of other provisions of this section, the premium or compensation for giving bond or depositing money or property as bail on any bond shall be ten percent (10%), except that the amount may be rounded up to the nearest five-dollar amount.

(b) The minimum compensation for giving bond or depositing money or property as bail on any bond shall be not less than fifty dollars ($50.00).

(c) If a bail bond or appearance bond issued by a licensee under this chapter must be replaced with another bail bond or appearance bond because of the licensee's violation of any provision of the laws of this state or any rule, regulation, or order of the Professional Bail Bond Company and Professional Bail Bondsman Licensing Board, the licensee who violated the provision and who caused the replacement to be required shall pay all the premium amount for the replacement bond, in an amount not to exceed the amount of the original bond, without any contribution from the respective defendant or principal.

(d) (1) (A) In addition to the ten percent (10%) bail or appearance bond premium or compensation allowed in subsection (a) of this section, and commencing on April 1, 1993, each licensed professional bail bond company shall charge and collect as a nonrefundable administrative and regulatory fee for the State Insurance Department Trust Fund an additional ten dollars ($10.00) per bond fee for giving bond for every bail and appearance bond issued by the licensed professional bail bond company by or through its individual licensees.

(B) The administrative and regulatory fees payable by these companies to the fund for the support and operation of the department, and collected by the bail bond companies as required by this section, shall be reported and filed with the Insurance Commissioner no later than fifteen (15) calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter, contemporaneous with the professional bail bond company's filing of its quarterly bail bond report with the department.

(C) A notarized annual reconciliation of all such fees collected in the preceding calendar year for the fund shall be filed by each licensed professional bail bond company at a time and on forms prescribed by the commissioner.

(D) The commissioner may in his or her discretion grant an extension for good cause shown upon timely written request.

(E) In no event shall the administrative and regulatory fees payable by the bail bond companies to the fund exceed ten dollars ($10.00) per bond, as required by this subchapter, exclusive of statutory licensure fees elsewhere in this chapter.

(2) (A) Absent an extension the commissioner granted for good cause to a company and in addition to any license suspension or revocation, the commissioner may in his or her discretion order after notice and a hearing a professional bail bond company failing timely to report or pay the regulatory fee to the fund by and through the commissioner shall be liable to the fund for a monetary penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) per day for each day of delinquency.

(B) The commissioner may pursue any appropriate legal remedies on behalf of the fund to collect any delinquent fees and penalties owed pursuant to this section as special revenues to the fund.

(3) Upon collection of the regulatory fees and any monetary penalties payable to the fund and assessed under this section, the commissioner shall deposit all fees and penalties directly into the fund as special revenues.

(4) (A) Upon failure of the bail bond company to remit the fees timely, the commissioner may pursue civil legal remedies against the noncomplying bail bond company on behalf of the fund to recover the balance of the fees and any penalties owed.

(B) In its discretion, the board may also fine, or suspend or revoke the license of, any professional bail bond company failing to remit or pay timely the fees required by this section.

(5) (A) Other than sole proprietors licensed as professional bail bond companies, individual bail bondsmen are exempt from the duty and responsibility of payment of the administrative and regulatory fees to the fund, except that the individual licenses of such individual employees of the professional bail bond company may be suspended or revoked by the commissioner pursuant to the administrative procedures provided in this chapter if the individual licensee fails to comply with his or her duties in proper collection of the bail bond premiums earmarked for later payment to the fund pursuant to this subsection, if he or she converts such moneys to his or her own use, or commits other infractions in regard to collection of such premium amounts.

(B) In those instances, the violations of the individual may in the commissioner's discretion be attributed to the employing professional bail bond company for good cause shown, and its license may be sanctioned by the commissioner pursuant to the administrative procedures provided in this chapter.

(C) Further, upon criminal conviction of the individual bondsman for theft of property in connection with fraudulent conversion of those premium amounts due the fund, the board shall revoke the individual's license, and in its discretion, fine or suspend or revoke the license of, the employing professional bail bond company if it assisted the individual in such fraudulent conduct.

(6) (A) For purposes of 17-19-205 requiring the professional bail bond company's deposit of a letter of credit or certificate of deposit for the faithful performance of its duties, the company's payment of the administrative and regulatory fee as required by this subsection shall be considered to be and shall be a duty of the licensee so as to allow the commissioner to make a claim against the security deposit required in 17-19-205 on behalf of the fund for the balance of any owed and unpaid administrative and regulatory fees the professional bail bond company still owes to the fund, and the commissioner shall promptly proceed to make claims against such security deposits on behalf of the fund, up to the limit of the company's deposit for any remaining fee balance due, in the manner provided in this subchapter for any claim against the deposit required herein.

(B) Under no circumstances shall such deposits held for the fund, or fees or any moneys deposited into the fund be subject to any levy or assessment of any kind, including forfeiture claims, misconduct claims, or general creditor claims of the bail bond company, subject to garnishment or other creditors' remedies under Title 16 of this Code or other provisions of Arkansas law.

(e) (1) In addition to the premiums, compensation, and fees allowed in subsections (a) and (d) of this section, each bail bond company shall charge and collect twenty dollars ($20.00) as a nonrefundable fee for the Arkansas Public Defender Commission.

(2) All fees collected shall be forwarded to the commission for deposit into the Public Defender User Fee Fund.

(3) (A) The commission shall deposit the money collected into the existing account within the State Central Services Fund entitled "Public Defender User Fees".

(B) (i) Three dollars ($3.00) of each fee collected under this section shall be remitted to each county in the state to defray the operating expenses of each county's public defender office.

(ii) The commission shall remit quarterly to each county treasurer the county's portion of the fee collected under this section using the formula for the County Aid Fund under 19-5-602.

(4) The fees collected by the bail bond companies required under this subsection shall be reported and filed with the commission quarterly.

(5) A notarized annual reconciliation of all fees collected in the preceding calendar year shall be filed by each bail bond company by February 15 on forms provided by the commission.

(6) In addition to the bail or appearance bond premium or compensation allowed under this section and 17-19-111, each licensed professional bail bond company shall charge and collect a processing fee of five dollars ($5.00) on each bail bond in order to defray the surety's costs incurred by the quarterly and annual reports to the commission and to further defray the surety's costs incurred in the collection of all fees due owing and collected on behalf of the commission.

(7) The commission may pursue any appropriate legal remedy for the collection of any delinquent fees owed under this subsection.

(8) Upon collection of any fees and penalties, the commission shall deposit all fees and penalties directly into the Public Defender User Fees Fund account within the State Central Services Fund.