Can a bail bond board take away an attorney's right to write bail bonds over a felony conviction in Texas?

Plain-English summary

Most people who write bail bonds in Texas need a license from the county bail bond board. Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code carves out an "Attorney Exemption" in section 1704.163: a lawyer licensed in Texas can execute a bail bond or act as a surety without holding a bail bond license. That exemption comes with a string attached. Section 1704.163(b) says a person writing bonds under the attorney exemption "may not engage in conduct involved with that practice that would subject a bail bond surety to license suspension or revocation."

Separately, section 1704.252 lists sixteen kinds of conduct that let a bail bond board suspend or revoke a licensed surety's license. One of them is a final conviction for a felony, or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, committed after August 27, 1973.

The Midland County Attorney asked the Attorney General to square those two provisions. His first question: if an attorney writing bonds under the exemption is convicted of a felony, can the board pull the attorney's authority for any felony, or only for a felony tied to the bail-bond practice? The opinion answered that the board may act only on a felony that resulted from conduct "involved with that practice" of executing bonds or acting as a surety. Reading the statute to let a board revoke for any felony at all would make the Legislature's phrase "involved with that practice" meaningless, and courts do not read statutes that way.

The second question: if the board does find a disqualifying felony, what can the attorney do to fix it? The opinion noted that the Legislature never described how someone "remedies" a violation. Drawing on an earlier opinion (GA-0197 in 2004), it concluded the board has the discretion both to decide whether an attorney engaged in disqualifying conduct and to decide whether the attorney has remedied it. So the board, not a fixed statutory procedure, determines how an attorney may cure a felony conviction and whether that has happened in a given case.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2012. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

Attorneys writing bonds under the exemption (as the opinion described it): The opinion read section 1704.163(b) to let a bail bond board suspend or revoke the attorney's authority based on a felony only when the felony arose from conduct involved with executing bonds or acting as a surety. A felony unrelated to that practice would not, under this reading, support board action under section 1704.163.

County bail bond boards (as the opinion described it): The opinion treated the board as the body that decides both whether an attorney engaged in disqualifying conduct and, because no statute sets out a method, how an attorney may remedy a violation and whether the remedy has occurred.

County officials and county attorneys (as the opinion described it): The opinion answered a clarification request about how section 1704.163 interacts with the general license-revocation grounds in section 1704.252, refining the earlier GA-0197 (2004) opinion on the attorney exemption.

Common questions

Can a bail bond board revoke an attorney's bond-writing authority for any felony?
No, as the opinion read the statute. The board may use a felony to suspend or revoke the attorney's authority under section 1704.163 only if the felony resulted from conduct involved with the practice of executing bonds or acting as a surety.

Where does the "attorney exemption" come from?
Occupations Code section 1704.163. It lets a Texas-licensed lawyer write bail bonds or act as a surety without holding a bail bond license, but bars conduct in that practice that would subject a licensed surety to suspension or revocation.

If the board finds a disqualifying felony, how does the attorney fix it?
The opinion said the Legislature did not describe a method, so the board itself has discretion to decide how an attorney may remedy the violation and whether the attorney has done so.

Does a felony conviction affect the attorney's law license too?
The opinion noted in a footnote that an attorney convicted of an intentional crime that becomes final is generally disbarred (or suspended) under the disciplinary rules, which can strip the section 1704.163 authority without any action by the bail bond board.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code governs bail bond sureties and applies in counties with a population of 110,000 or more, or in counties that have created a bail bond board. Section 1704.151 generally requires a license to act as a surety. Section 1704.163, the "Attorney Exemption," lets a licensed Texas attorney write bonds without that license, subject to subsection (b)'s limit on "conduct involved with that practice." Section 1704.252 gives a board discretion to suspend or revoke a surety's license for sixteen categories of conduct, including a final felony conviction (or a moral-turpitude misdemeanor) committed after August 27, 1973.

The opinion turned on a settled rule of construction: courts read statutes so that no part is rendered meaningless or superfluous, quoting Columbia Medical Center of Las Colinas, Inc. v. Hogue; letting a board revoke for any felony would erase the limiting phrase "involved with that practice." On the remedy question, the opinion relied on its earlier reading in GA-0197 (2004) that the board, by being authorized to find disqualifying conduct, also has discretion to decide whether the conduct has been remedied. A footnote pointed to the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure (Rule 8.05) under which a final conviction for an intentional crime generally leads to disbarment.

Citations

Cases:

• Columbia Med. Ctr. of Las Colinas, Inc. v. Hogue, 271 S.W.3d 238, 256 (Tex. 2008)

Statutes and rules:

• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 1704.001-.306 (West 2012)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 1704.151, 1704.163, 1704.163(b), 1704.252(5), 1704.002 (West 2012)
• Tex. Rules Disciplinary P. R. 8.05, reprinted in Tex. Gov't Code Ann., tit. 2, subtit. G, app. A-1 (West 2005)
• Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0197 (2004)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0971
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2012/ga0971.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT

September 24, 2012

The Honorable Russell W. Malm Opinion No. GA-0971
Midland County Attorney
500 North Loraine, Suite 1101 Re: Authority of a county bail bond board with regard
Midland, Texas 79701 to attorneys who execute bail bonds: Clarification
of Attorney General Opinion No. GA-0197 (2004)
(RQ-1058-GA)

Dear Mr. Malm:

You ask two questions related to a bail bond board's authority to prohibit an attorney from executing a bail bond or acting as a surety for another person as authorized by Occupations Code section 1704.163.[1] Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code governs the regulation of bail bond sureties. See TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. §§ 1704.001-.306 (West 2012).[2] Except as provided by section 1704.163, a person may not act as a bail bond surety unless the person holds a license issued under that chapter. Id. § 1704.151. Section 1704.163, titled the "Attorney Exemption," creates an exemption to the bail bond licensing requirements in certain limited circumstances for individuals licensed to practice law in this state. Id. § 1704.163(a). Your questions pertain to subsection 1704.163(b), which states, "[a] person executing a bail bond or acting as a surety under this section may not engage in conduct involved with that practice that would subject a bail bond surety to license suspension or revocation." Id. § 1704.163(b). Also relevant to your request, section 1704.252 gives a bail bond board discretion to suspend or revoke the license of a bail bond surety if the license holder engages in one of sixteen categories of conduct, including instances where a license holder "is finally convicted under the laws of this state, another state, or the United States of an offense that: (A) is a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony; and (B) is committed after August 27, 1973." Id. § 1704.252(5).

Related to these provisions, you first ask whether a bail bond board may "suspend or revoke [an attorney's authorization to post bond under section] 1704.163 for any conviction for a felony he has committed after August 27, 1973, or may the board only do so if the felony conviction was for conduct involved with the practice of executing bail bonds or acting as a surety for others." Request Letter at 1. The plain language of subsection 1704.163(b) does not authorize the board to suspend or revoke an attorney's authorization under that section for all conduct that would be subject to license suspension or revocation. Instead, an attorney's authorization may be revoked only for conduct "involved with th[e] practice" of executing a bail bond or acting as a surety that would subject a bail bond surety to license suspension or revocation. TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.163(b) (West 2012). When construing statutes, we must do so in a manner that avoids rendering "any part of a statute meaningless or superfluous." Columbia Med. Ctr. of Las Colinas, Inc. v. Hogue, 271 S.W.3d 238, 256 (Tex. 2008). If we were to conclude that a bail bond board could revoke an attorney's authorization based on any conviction, we would render meaningless the Legislature's use of the phrase "involved with that practice." TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.163(b) (West 2012). Thus, we conclude that, under section 1704.163 of the Occupations Code, a bail bond board may use a felony conviction to suspend or revoke the authorization granted under section 1704.163 only if the conviction resulted from conduct involved with the practice of executing a bail bond or acting as a surety.[3]

Your second question is, "[i]f a bail bond board determines that an attorney has committed a felony that may be used to suspend him or revoke his right to act under § 1704.163, what actions may the attorney take to remedy the felony conviction[?]" Request Letter at 1. Your question refers to the final sentence of subsection 1704.163(b), which states:

If the board determines that a person has violated this subsection, the board may suspend or revoke the person's authorization to post a bond under this section or may bar the person from executing a bail bond or acting as a surety under this section until the person has remedied the violation.

TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.163(b) (West 2012). The Legislature has not further described the methods by which an individual might remedy a violation. As this office has previously explained, "[i]n addition to expressly authorizing a bail bond board to determine whether an attorney has engaged in disqualifying conduct, section 1704.163(b) necessarily gives a board the discretion to determine whether an attorney has remedied such a violation." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0197 (2004) at 9 (citations omitted). Thus, it is the responsibility of the board to determine how an attorney may remedy a felony conviction and whether such remedial action has occurred in a given instance.

SUMMARY

A bail bond board may use a felony conviction to suspend or revoke the authorization granted to an attorney under Occupations Code section 1704.163 only if the conviction resulted from conduct involved with the practice of executing a bail bond or acting as a surety.

If a bail bond board determines that an attorney has committed a felony that may be used to suspend or revoke his or her right to act under Occupations Code section 1704.163, the board would be the appropriate body to determine how the attorney may remedy the felony conviction and whether such remedial action has occurred in a given instance.

Very truly yours,

DANIEL T. HODGE
First Assistant Attorney General

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

JASON BOATRIGHT
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Virginia K. Hoelscher
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] See Letter from Honorable Russell W. Malm, Midland Cnty. Att'y, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. (Apr. 27, 2012), http://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter").

[2] Chapter 1704 applies only in a county with a population of 110,000 or more or in a county that has exercised its discretion to create a county bail bond board. TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.002 (West 2012). You submit your request in your capacity as Midland County Attorney, and we note that Midland County has a population in excess of 110,000. See U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 2010 Census of Population: Texas Quick Facts (population of Midland Cnty. 136,872), http://quickfacts.census.gov.

[3] In many instances, an attorney convicted of a felony will either have his or her license to practice law suspended or will be disbarred and will thereby lose the authority granted under section 1704.163 without action on the part of a bail bond board. See Tex. Rules Disciplinary P. R. 8.05, reprinted in TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN., tit. 2, subtit. G, app. A-1 (West 2005) ("When an attorney has been convicted of an Intentional Crime, and that conviction has become final, ... the attorney shall be disbarred unless the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, under Rule 8.06, suspends his or her license to practice law.").