Do new Texas bail bond license requirements apply to an application filed before the law took effect?

Plain-English summary

A Hidalgo County prosecutor, asking on behalf of the county bail bond board, wanted to know whether a set of tougher licensing rules the Legislature had just passed applied to an application that was already sitting on the board's desk. In 2001, Senate Bill 1119 added new eligibility requirements for a bail bond license: an applicant had to show at least one year of continuous work experience in the bail bond business and complete at least eight hours of approved continuing legal education in the two years before filing. The new law took effect on September 1, 2001. The application in question had been filed on May 28, 2001, several months earlier.

The Attorney General concluded that the new requirements did not apply to that application. Senate Bill 1119 included its own effective-date provision saying its changes to the requirements for an original bail bond license "apply only to an application for a bail bond license . . . that is made on or after the effective date of this Act." Because the application here was for an original license (not a renewal, which a separate subsection covered) and was filed before September 1, 2001, the new work-experience and course-work requirements did not reach it. The opinion is narrow: it answered one timing question about one statute's reach and nothing more.

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, which governs bail bond licensing, has been amended since 2002, so confirm the current requirements 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 told the board it could not apply Senate Bill 1119's new work-experience and continuing-education requirements to an original-license application filed before September 1, 2001. The bill's own effective-date language limited those requirements to applications made on or after that date.

The applicant who filed on May 28, 2001 (what the opinion held for them): The opinion concluded that this applicant did not have to meet the new section 1704.152(a)(4) eligibility requirements, because the application predated the new law's effective date.

The prosecutor who asked (the scope of the answer): The opinion assumed, without deciding, that the application otherwise complied with the application requirements of sections 1704.154 and 1704.155. It resolved only the timing question about Senate Bill 1119's reach.

Common questions

Did the 2001 bail bond law apply to applications already on file when it took effect?
No. The Attorney General read Senate Bill 1119's own effective-date provision to apply the new requirements only to applications made on or after September 1, 2001.

What new requirements did Senate Bill 1119 add?
It added subsection (a)(4) to section 1704.152, requiring an applicant to have, in the two years before filing, at least one year of continuous work experience in the bail bond business and at least eight hours of approved continuing legal education in criminal law or bail bond law.

Why did the filing date matter so much?
Because the bill drew the line by filing date. It said its changes to the requirements for an original license apply only to an application "made on or after the effective date of this Act," which was September 1, 2001.

Did the answer depend on whether this was a new license or a renewal?
Yes, in part. A separate subsection of the bill governed renewals (and pushed those changes to renewals occurring on or after September 1, 2002). The opinion noted the application here was for an original license, so the general rule about applications "made on or after" September 1, 2001 controlled.

Background and statutory framework

A person may not act as a bail bond surety in a county unless the person holds a license under chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code, 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 (application requirements), .157-.159 (board review). The application must comply with section 1704.154 and include a list of real property satisfying section 1704.155.

Section 1704.152 sets the eligibility requirements for an individual: residency and citizenship, minimum age, financial resources under section 1704.160 (unless acting only as agent for a licensed corporation), and, as added by Senate Bill 1119, the new subsection (a)(4) work-experience and continuing-education requirements. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(a)(4) (Vernon 2002); Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152(a)(4), 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839. The bill also added subsection (c), exempting subsection (a)(4) from certain original-license issuances. Id. § 1704.152(c).

The dispositive language was the bill's transition provision, section 16, which said that except for a renewal rule in subsection (b), "the changes in law made by this Act to the requirements for an original bail bond license or to renew a bail bond license apply only to an application . . . that is made on or after the effective date of this Act." Because subsection (b) addressed only renewals of existing licenses, subsection (a) governed the original-license application at issue. The bill took effect September 1, 2001. Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, §§ 16, 19, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839, 2843. The opinion concluded the section 1704.152(a)(4) requirements therefore did not apply to the original-license application filed on May 28, 2001.

Citations

Statutory provisions:

• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(a)(4) (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. § 1704.155 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.160 (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 1704.152(c) (Vernon 2002)
• Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152(a)(4), 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0479
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2002/jc0479.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

March 12, 2002

The Honorable Rene Guerra
Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney
Hidalgo County Courthouse
Edinburg, Texas 78539

Opinion No. JC-0479

Re: Whether certain eligibility requirements for a bail bond license enacted by Senate Bill 1119 apply to a bail bond license application filed on May 28, 2001 (RQ-0450-JC)

Dear Mr. Guerra:

On behalf of the bail bond board in your county, you ask whether certain requirements an individual must meet to be eligible for a bail bond license, which were recently enacted by Senate Bill 1119, see TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.152(a)(4) (Vernon 2002); Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 3, sec. 1704.152(a)(4), 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839, apply to a license application filed with the board on May 28, 2001.[1] We conclude that these requirements do not apply to an application filed prior to September 1, 2001, the new law's effective date.

A person may not act as a bail bond surety in a county unless the person holds a license under chapter 1704. See TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 1704.151 (Vernon 2002). 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 requirements), .157-.159 (board review of license applications). The application for an individual must comply with the requirements of section 1704.154 and include a list of real property that satisfies section 1704.155.

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 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 subsection (a)(4) to this provision in the last session, in Senate Bill 1119. It also added 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(c), 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839.

You ask whether the subsection (a)(4) work-experience and course-work licensing requirements enacted by Senate Bill 1119 apply to an application for a bail bond license filed with your county bail bond board on May 28, 2001. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2 ("[A]re the changes to [section 1704.152] retroactive or only applicable to applications filed after September 1, 2001[?]"). We assume for purposes of this opinion that the application filed with the bail bond board complied with the application requirements of sections 1704.154 and 1704.155.

Senate Bill 1119, which took effect on September 1, 2001, see Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, § 19, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839, 2843, included the following provision governing the effect of its changes to licensing requirements, including those set forth in section 1704.152:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, the changes in law made by this Act to the requirements for an original bail bond license or to renew a bail bond license apply only to an application for a bail bond license or to renew a bail bond license that is made on or after the effective date of this Act.

(b) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 1704.152, Occupations Code, relating to the renewal of a bail bond license by a person who holds a bail bond license immediately before the effective date of this Act apply only to a renewal that occurs on or after September 1, 2002.

Id. § 16, at 2843 (emphasis added).

It appears that the person at issue in your query has filed an application for an original license rather than to renew an existing license. See Request Letter, supra note 1, Exhibit 2. Because subsection (b) of this provision pertains only to renewals of existing licenses, subsection (a) governs the situation you describe. Under subsection (a), Senate Bill 1119's changes to the requirements for a bail bond license apply only to an application for a bail bond license that is made on or after its effective date, September 1, 2001. See Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, §§ 16(a), 19, 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839, 2843. Therefore, the section 1704.152(a)(4) work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements do not apply to an application for a new license filed with the county bail bond board on May 28, 2001.

SUMMARY

The work-experience and course-work eligibility requirements for bail bond licensees added to section 1704.152(a)(4) of the Occupations Code by Senate Bill 1119 do not apply to an application for an original license filed with the county bail bond board on May 28, 2001, prior to the new law's effective date. See Tex. S.B. 1119, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1262, §§ 3 (amendments to section 1704.152), 16 (providing for prospective application of changes to requirements for bail bond license), 19 (September 1, 2001 effective date), 2001 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 2839, 2843.

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 Rene Guerra, Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney, to Honorable John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General (Oct. 8, 2001) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter Request Letter].