Can a deceased Texas bail bondsman's relative keep running the business without a new license?

Plain-English summary

When a Texas bail bondsman dies, a close relative or surviving spouse may want to keep the family bail bond business running. In 2001 the Legislature, in Senate Bill 1119, added new licensing requirements for bail bond licenses (a year of work experience and some continuing education) but carved out an exception in section 1704.152(c)(2) for an individual who applies to operate the bail bond business of a license holder who has died, if that person is related to the decedent within the first degree by blood or is the surviving spouse. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney, asking for the county bail bond board, wanted to know how far that exception reaches: does it only excuse the survivor from the new experience-and-coursework rules, or does it free them from other chapter 1704 requirements too, such as needing their own license, or letting them keep writing bonds under the deceased's license and bond-writing ratio?

The Attorney General read the exception narrowly. By its own words, subsection (c)(2) says only that "Subsection (a)(4)," the work-experience and course-work requirement, does not apply to such a survivor. It was added in the same bill, in the same section, as subsection (a)(4), and the bill analyses described it the same way. So it lifts those two eligibility requirements and nothing more. It does not let a surviving relative skip the rest of chapter 1704. Chapter 1704 flatly requires anyone acting as a bail bond surety, except an attorney bonding a client, to hold a license, and subsection (c)(2) does not touch that rule. A surviving relative who wants to keep the business going must apply for and obtain their own license; they cannot continue writing surety bonds under the deceased's license or borrow the deceased's bond-writing ratio. The opinion also told the county board it could not stretch the exception further through its rule-making power, because a board may adopt only rules necessary to implement chapter 1704, and a rule expanding the exception would contradict the chapter.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. 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. Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code has been amended since 2002, so confirm the current bail bond licensing rules before relying on this opinion.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

County bail bond boards (what the opinion held for them): The opinion concluded the board could apply the section 1704.152(c)(2) exception only to the work-experience and course-work requirements for a survivor's license application, and could not, by rule, extend the exception to other chapter 1704 requirements. A board rule doing so would exceed its authority to adopt rules necessary to implement the chapter.

Relatives and surviving spouses of deceased bail bondsmen (what the opinion held for them): The opinion concluded a qualifying survivor is excused only from the experience and course-work eligibility rules and must still obtain their own license. They cannot continue writing bonds under the deceased's license or use the deceased's bond-writing ratio.

The Tarrant County District Attorney, who asked (the scope of the answer): The opinion answered the specific examples in the request: a survivor may not continue entering surety bonds under the deceased's license, and may not be excepted from the other licensing requirements or inherit the deceased's bond-writing ratio under section 1704.203.

Common questions

Does inheriting a bail bond business let you skip getting a license?
No. Under this opinion, a surviving relative is excused only from the experience and course-work requirements and must still apply for and obtain their own chapter 1704 license.

Can a survivor keep writing bonds on the deceased person's license?
No. The opinion concluded section 1704.152(c)(2) does not create an exception to the rule that a person may not act as a bail bond surety without holding a license.

Can the survivor use the deceased's bond-writing ratio?
No. The opinion treated the bond-writing ratio under section 1704.203, which depends in part on years licensed, as one of the chapter 1704 requirements the exception does not reach.

Could the county bail bond board expand the exception by rule?
No. The opinion concluded a board may adopt only rules necessary to implement chapter 1704, and a rule extending the exception would contradict the chapter and exceed the board's authority.

Background and statutory framework

Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code regulates bail bond sureties. A person may not act as a bail bond surety in a county unless the person holds a license under the chapter, the only exception being an attorney who executes a bail bond for a client. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 1704.151, 1704.163 (Vernon 2002). An applicant submits an application to the county bail bond board, which reviews and grants or denies it. Id. § 1704.154. Section 1704.152(a) sets the eligibility requirements, including, as added by Senate Bill 1119, the subsection (a)(4) work-experience and continuing-education requirements. The same bill added subsection (c), which provides that subsection (a)(4) does not apply to issuance of an original license in a newly created county board's first year, or to a survivor who applies to operate the deceased licensee's business and is related within the first degree by consanguinity or is the surviving spouse. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(a), (c) (Vernon 2002); Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839.

The opinion reasoned that because subsections (a)(4) and (c) were added together in the same section, subsection (c)(2) was meant to except survivors only from the subsection (a)(4) requirements, a reading the Senate Research Center bill analyses confirmed. It then concluded the exception could not be stretched. Chapter 1704 requires a license to act as a surety, and subsection (c)(2) creates no exception to that absolute rule, so a survivor cannot continue under the deceased's license or claim the deceased's bond-writing ratio under section 1704.203. Finally, the board's rule-making power under section 1704.101(4) reaches only rules "necessary to implement" the chapter, so a rule extending the survivor exception to other chapter 1704 requirements would be contrary to the chapter and beyond the board's authority.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(c)(2) (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.151 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.163 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.154 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(a) (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.160 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(c) (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.203 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.101(4) (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0472
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2002/jc0472.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official scanned PDF. Minor character-level errors from the source OCR have been corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL - STATE OF TEXAS

JOHN CORNYN

February 26, 2002

The Honorable Tim Curry
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney
Justice Center
401 West Belknap
Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0201

Opinion No. JC-0472

Re: Whether recently enacted Occupations Code, section 1704.152(c)(2) excepts the relative of a deceased bail bond licensee from requirements of chapter 1704 other than work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements (RQ-0445-JC)

Dear Mr. Curry:

On behalf of the bail bond board in your county, you ask about the application of chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code, regulating bail bond sureties, to individuals who inherit the bail bond business of a deceased relative.[1] Specifically, you ask whether recently enacted section 1704.152(c)(2), which exempts some survivors from certain licensing eligibility requirements, excepts those individuals from any other requirements of chapter 1704. See TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.152(c)(2) (Vernon 2002). We conclude that the exception is limited in scope to the work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements for licensing and does not authorize any other exceptions to chapter 1704.

A person may not act as a bail bond surety in a county unless the person holds a license under chapter 1704. See id. § 1704.151 ("Except as provided by Section 1704.163, a person may not act as a bail bond surety in the county unless the person holds a license issued under this chapter."). The only exception to the licensing requirement is for an attorney who executes a bail bond for a client. See id. § 1704.163. A person who wishes to be licensed under chapter 1704 must submit an application to the county bail bond board, which has the authority to review and grant or deny the application. See id. §§ 1704.154 (license application), .157-.159 (board review of license applications).

Section 1704.152 specifies that to be eligible for a license, an individual must:

(a) . . . .

    (1) be a resident of this state and a citizen of the United States;

    (2) be at least 18 years of age;

    (3) possess the financial resources required to comply with Section 1704.160, unless the individual is acting only as agent for a corporation holding a license under this chapter; and

    (4) have, in the two years preceding the date a license application is filed:

        (A) at least one year of continuous work experience in the bail bond business; and

        (B) completed at least eight hours of continuing legal education in criminal law courses or bail bond law courses that are approved by the State Bar of Texas and that are offered by an institution of higher education accredited by the state.

Id. § 1704.152(a). The legislature added the subsection (a)(4) work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements in the last session, in Senate Bill 1119. In the same bill, the legislature also made an exception to those eligibility requirements, providing in subsection (c) of section 1704.152:

(c) Subsection (a)(4) does not apply to the issuance of an original license:

    (1) in a county before the first anniversary of the date a board is created in the county; or

    (2) to an individual who applies to operate the bail bond business of a license holder who has died if the individual is related to the decedent within the first degree by consanguinity or is the decedent's surviving spouse.

Id. § 1704.152(c); see also Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839 (amending section 1704.152 by adding subsections (a)(4) and (c)).

You ask about newly-added subsection (c)(2) of section 1704.152, which excepts from the work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements of subsection (a)(4) "an individual who applies to operate the bail bond business of a license holder who has died if the individual is related to the decedent within the first degree by consanguinity or is the decedent's surviving spouse." TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.152(c)(2) (Vernon 2002). You ask, in essence, whether subsection (c)(2) is limited to excepting a deceased licensee's relative from the work-experience and course-work requirements of subsection (a)(4), or whether a bail bond board may also except such an individual from other chapter 1704 requirements. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2. You ask, for example, if a deceased licensee's relative may continue to enter into surety bonds under the license of the deceased and whether he or she may be excepted from other licensing requirements and may use the deceased licensee's bond writing ratio, which is based in part on how many years a surety has been licensed, see TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.203 (Vernon 2002). See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2-3.

We conclude that subsection (c)(2) is limited to excepting the relative of a deceased licensee who applies for a license from the work-experience and course-work requirements of subsection (a)(4) and that a bail bond board may not extend this exception by rule.

First, subsection (c)(2) on its face provides relatives of deceased licensees with only very limited relief from the chapter 1704 regulatory scheme. It states that "[s]ubsection (a)(4) does not apply to the issuance of an original license . . . to an individual who applies to operate the bail bond business of a license holder who has died if the individual is related to the decedent within the first degree by consanguinity or is the decedent's surviving spouse." TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.152(c)(2) (Vernon 2002) (emphasis added). Furthermore, subsections (a)(4) and (c) were added to section 1704.152 in the same legislation, in the same section. See Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839. Clearly, the legislature intended in subsection (c) to provide an exception only to the work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements set forth in subsection (a)(4). The legislative bill analyses are entirely consistent with this conclusion. See, e.g., SENATE RESEARCH CENTER, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S. (Apr. 9, 2001) (as Introduced) ("Provides that Subsection (a)(4) does not apply . . . to an individual who applies to operate the bail bond business of a license holder who has died if the individual is related to the decedent within the first degree by consanguinity or is the decedent's surviving spouse.") (emphasis added); Id. (June 19, 2001) (as Enrolled) (same).

Second, you suggest that the bail bond board in your county could extend the exception for relatives of deceased licensees to other chapter 1704 requirements pursuant to its rule-making authority. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2. It may not. Chapter 1704 provides that a county bail bond board may adopt rules "necessary to implement this chapter." TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.101(4) (Vernon 2002) (emphasis added). The rules suggested by your letter are contrary to chapter 1704 and therefore exceed the board's rule-making authority. Chapter 1704 expressly requires any person who acts as a bail bond surety, with the exception of an attorney, to hold a license. See id. § 1704.151 ("Except as provided by Section 1704.163, a person may not act as a bail bond surety in the county unless the person holds a license issued under this chapter."). Section 1704.152(c)(2) does not provide an exception to that absolute rule and cannot be construed to authorize a surviving relative to continue to enter into surety bonds under the license of the deceased. Indeed, the legislature's inclusion of this exception in the chapter 1704 provision regarding eligibility for licensing indicates that the legislature contemplated that relatives who wish to continue bail bond businesses of deceased family members must apply to obtain their own licenses.

SUMMARY

Section 1704.152(a) of the Occupations Code establishes eligibility requirements for individuals who apply to obtain a bail bond license from a county bail bond board. Recently enacted subsection (c)(2) of section 1704.152 excepts the relative of a deceased bail bond licensee from the work-experience and course-work requirements of subsection (a)(4). The new provision does not except the relative of a deceased bail bond licensee from any other requirements of chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code. A bail bond board may not by rule extend this exception for the relatives of deceased licensees to other chapter 1704 requirements.

Attorney General of Texas

HOWARD G. BALDWIN, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General

NANCY FULLER
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

SUSAN DENMON GUSKY
Chair, Opinion Committee

Mary R. Crouter
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] Letter from Honorable Tim Curry, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney, to Honorable John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General (Oct. 3, 2001) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter Request Letter].