NAC: CHAPTER 697 - BUSINESSES RELATED TO BAIL

[Rev. 5/25/2022 11:37:30 AM]

[NAC-697 Revised Date: 11-13]

CHAPTER 697 - BUSINESSES RELATED TO BAIL

GENERAL PROVISIONS

697.110 Purpose.

697.120 Definitions.

697.125 Required score on examination.

697.130 Unlicensed persons: Limitations.

PARTNERSHIPS

697.210 Written statement.

697.220 Changes in membership.

697.230 Suspension of partner.

697.240 Discipline for act of one partner.

DUTIES OF LICENSEES

697.250 Solicitors.

697.310 Actions for attorneys; release or assignment of collateral.

697.330 Information concerning employees.

697.340 Supervision of employees.

697.350 Advertising and listings in classified section of telephone directories.

697.355 Advertisement or solicitation of bail transaction; dissemination of untrue, deceptive or misleading information prohibited.

SURETY COMPANIES

697.360 Maintenance of accounts.

697.370 Provision of envelopes to clerk of court.

697.380 Satisfaction of final judgment of default.

RECORDS

697.410 Required information; authorized form.

697.420 Location of records; quarterly reports.

697.430 Retention by surety company.

697.440 Filing of sample copies of forms.

697.450 Copies required.

697.460 Receipts for collateral.

AGREEMENTS

697.470 Agreement to act as guarantor.

697.475 Certain agreements prohibited.

697.480 Guarantee of bail in advance of offense prohibited.

COLLATERAL

697.510 Cash accounts.

697.520 Disbursement.

697.530 Real property.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

697.550 Early surrender of defendant.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

NAC 697.110 Purpose. (NRS 679B.130) The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive regulation of practices common among bail bondsmen and provide guidelines for the enforcement of current statutes regulating bail bondsmen, bail solicitors and bail surety companies.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § II, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.120 Definitions. (NRS 679B.130)

1. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 697.030 to 697.070, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections.

2. “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Insurance.

3. “Licensee” means a natural person licensed under chapter 697 of NRS.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § III, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.125 Required score on examination. (NRS 679B.130) An applicant for a license as a bail bondsman, bail solicitor or property bondsman must achieve a score of at least 67 percent to pass the licensing examination.

(Added to NAC by Comm’r of Insurance, eff. 3-15-84; A 6-23-86)

NAC 697.130 Unlicensed persons: Limitations. (NRS 679B.130) No person other than a licensee may:

1. Complete an application for a bail bond, other than filling in the initial statistical information.

2. Execute the surety contract, other than clerical preparation of a surety contract under the direct and immediate supervision of the licensee.

3. Execute a collateral receipt, other than clerical preparation of the receipt under the direct and immediate supervision of the licensee.

4. Post a bond with a court or with a jail in which a defendant is confined or have any communication with defendant while he or she is confined, except to obtain statistical information sufficient to refer the matter to the licensee. Any natural person may post a bond on behalf of a defendant if the person is not regularly engaged in the business of providing bail bonds.

5. Appear on behalf of the licensee at a court proceeding for the purpose of obtaining continuation, exoneration or reduction of a posted bond, or obtaining other court action on it.

6. Solicit bail bond business on behalf of a licensee.

7. Perform any other function of a licensee.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § VII, eff. 11-22-78]

PARTNERSHIPS

NAC 697.210 Written statement. (NRS 679B.130)

1. Any licensee who desires to conduct business with one or more other licensees as a partnership must file a written statement setting forth:

(a) The nature of all business to be conducted by the partnership;

(b) The location of the principal place of the bail business of the partnership and of all other places for the conducting of partnership business; and

2. The written statement must be filed at least 10 days before the partnership transacts any business, and must be executed and verified by each partner.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XV, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.220 Changes in membership. (NRS 679B.130) Upon any change in the membership of a partnership, whether through death, dissolution, addition, deletion, revocation of the license of any partner or otherwise, the survivors or successors to the partnership business, if they wish to continue to act as a partnership, must promptly file a new statement pursuant to NAC 697.210. If the change in membership arises through the death of a partner, the Commissioner may allow the partnership to continue to transact business as a partnership pursuant to NRS 683A.300.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XVI, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.230 Suspension of partner. (NRS 679B.130)

1. If the license of any partner is suspended, that partner may not engage directly in the transaction of bail, nor may he or she directly receive any commission on, or profit derived from, any transactions entered into by other persons during the period of suspension.

2. This section applies to profits or commissions earned during the period of suspension, even if the profits, commissions or other money are not actually received until after the end of the suspension period.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XVII, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.240 Discipline for act of one partner. (NRS 679B.130) The license of each member of a partnership is subject to suspension or revocation for the failure of the partnership or of any member of the partnership to comply with all laws and regulations governing the conduct of the bail business or acts incidental thereto, if the failure occurred with the knowledge, consent, ratification or collusion of the member.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XVIII, eff. 11-22-78]

DUTIES OF LICENSEES

NAC 697.250 Solicitors. (NRS 679B.130)

1. In addition to fulfilling the requirements of chapter 697 of NRS, a solicitor must:

(a) Pass a special solicitor’s examination provided by the Commissioner; and

(b) Meet other qualifications established by the Commissioner.

2. A person who is licensed as a solicitor may perform the duties of bail agent, except that a solicitor may not execute a bond.

3. All persons licensed as solicitors before November 22, 1978, are deemed to have complied with the terms of this chapter.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § VIII, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.310 Actions for attorneys; release or assignment of collateral. (NRS 679B.130)

1. No licensee or employee thereof may receive, accept or otherwise collect or transmit money or other consideration for attorney’s fees, services or costs, or for any other purpose, to an attorney on behalf of any defendant.

2. A licensee who is lawfully holding money or other collateral may, upon release or assignment of the collateral, honor the release or assignment if the licensee took no part in the negotiation of the release or assignment.

3. Any release or assignment of collateral held by a licensee, including a release or assignment to pay a fine or for any reason other than to satisfy or secure the bond for which the collateral was originally received, must be executed by the defendant in writing.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § V, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.330 Information concerning employees. (NRS 679B.130, 697.130, 697.360) Each bail bond agent shall furnish the following information concerning every person in his or her employ, including independent contractors, clerical workers, skip tracers and special agents for the purpose of surrender, as long as the persons are employed for an aggregate period of 30 days or more during any 1-year period:

1. Name;

2. Address, length of time at that address, and previous addresses for 2 years preceding the date of application;

3. Business and residence telephone numbers;

4. Age, date of birth, place of birth and social security number; and

5. Current and previous occupations for 2 years preceding the date of the application.

Ê The requirements of this section may be met by completing Form ID6-BE, Bail Employee Notification Form, which will be provided by the Commissioner. The provisions of this section apply only to those persons employed within the State of Nevada.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § IX, eff. 11-22-78]—(NAC A by R109-10, 9-14-2012)

NAC 697.340 Supervision of employees. (NRS 679B.130) An employing bail agent shall exercise supervision over his or her employees and make a diligent effort to keep informed of their acts as his or her employees. Failure of the employer to exercise sufficient supervision to prevent violations of the insurance law or this chapter by the employee while acting within the scope of his or her employment may result in disciplinary action against the employer.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § X, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.350 Advertising and listings in classified section of telephone directories. (NRS 679B.130) All advertising or telephone listings in the classified sections of telephone directories must clearly indicate the true name of each licensee who owns the business, along with its fictitious name.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XIX, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.355 Advertisement or solicitation of bail transaction; dissemination of untrue, deceptive or misleading information prohibited. (NRS 679B.130)

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a person shall not advertise or solicit a bail transaction, directly or indirectly, including, without limitation, by the use of any type of printed matter, a bail solicitor or an employee of a court, prison, county or city jail or detention facility:

(a) Within the prison, county or city jail or detention facility;

(b) Within a courthouse or courtroom; or

2. The provisions of subsection 1 do not prohibit:

(a) An employee of the court, prison, county or city jail or detention facility from distributing or posting a list prepared by:

(1) The Division of Insurance of the Department of Business and Industry; or

(2) The court, prison, county or city jail or detention facility,

Ê that sets forth the names and telephone numbers of bail agents who are licensed pursuant to chapter 697 of NRS.

(b) A person from advertising in or distributing a telephone directory prepared for and distributed to the general public that sets forth the names and telephone numbers of bail agents who are licensed pursuant to chapter 697 of NRS.

3. A person shall not make, publish, disseminate, circulate or place before the public, or cause, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public, in a newspaper, magazine or other publication, or in the form of a notice, circular, pamphlet, letter or poster, or over any radio station, television station, electronic media, or in any other way, any advertisement, announcement or statement containing any assertion, representation or statement with respect to the transaction of bail or with respect to any person in the conduct of his or her bail surety business, which is untrue, deceptive or misleading.

(Added to NAC by Comm’r of Insurance by R133-98, eff. 2-23-99; A by R073-02, 8-23-2002)

SURETY COMPANIES

NAC 697.360 Maintenance of accounts. (NRS 679B.130) Deposits, reserves or build-up accounts posted by a bail bondsman or general agent, either with a surety company or a general agent representing a surety company, must be maintained by the surety company or the general agent as trustee for the agent and deposited in a bank, savings and loan association, thrift company or similar institution in Nevada.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XI, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.370 Provision of envelopes to clerk of court. (NRS 679B.130) Each surety company engaged in the writing of bail bonds shall provide to the clerk of each court in which the surety company posts bonds, self-addressed envelopes for the use of the court in notifying the surety company that final judgment of default has been entered against a bond of the company.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXI, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.380 Satisfaction of final judgment of default. (NRS 679B.130)

1. For purposes of NAC 697.370 and this section, “final judgment of default” means a judgment entered against a bond after the 180-day notice of forfeiture period as provided in NRS 178.508.

2. If the final judgment of default has not been satisfied within 30 days after the clerk serves it by mail to the surety company, the Commissioner may require an officer of the company to appear before him or her.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXII, eff. 11-22-78]—(NAC A by R152-99, 1-28-2000)

RECORDS

NAC 697.410 Required information; authorized form. (NRS 679B.130, 679B.137)

1. Each bail bondsman licensed under the provisions of chapter 697 of NRS shall maintain complete and accurate records of the following information for each bond:

(a) The date on which the bond was executed.

(b) The bond number.

(d) The amount of the bond.

(e) The court in which the bond was posted.

2. The requirements of this section may be met by completing a form similar to the Division of Insurance Form M-8A.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 part § IV, eff. 11-22-78]—(NAC A 5-27-92)

NAC 697.420 Location of records; quarterly reports. (NRS 679B.130)

1. Information required by NAC 697.410 must be compiled by the licensee and filed at the home office of the surety company unless the company designates another location in writing to the Commissioner and that location is approved by the Commissioner.

2. The information required by this section must be updated on a quarterly basis and filed at the designated place of filing not later than 21 days after the close of each calendar quarter.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 part § IV, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.430 Retention by surety company. (NRS 679B.130) All forms forwarded to the surety company pursuant to this chapter must be maintained for 3 years after the date of receipt by the surety company.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXVIII, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.440 Filing of sample copies of forms. (NRS 679B.130) Each licensee shall file with the Commissioner a sample copy of each form used in his or her business.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXVI, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.450 Copies required. (NRS 679B.130) Every bondsman’s agent or employee of an agent shall promptly provide, upon request to any person who posts or secures bail or otherwise becomes obligated, copies of any form signed by that person.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXIV, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.460 Receipts for collateral. (NRS 679B.130)

1. Receipts for collateral must be issued and maintained in numerical order. A master collateral receipt book must remain permanently at the principal place of business of the licensee.

2. A licensee may keep a duplicate book of collateral receipts on his or her person away from the principal place of business. If a duplicate book is maintained, it must be clearly designated as such.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XII, eff. 11-22-78]

AGREEMENTS

NAC 697.470 Agreement to act as guarantor. (NRS 679B.130) All agreements of persons to act as guarantor must be in writing or reduced to writing as soon as possible after consummation. If any person acts as a guarantor, a copy of the agreement executed by the person must be delivered to him or her promptly upon his or her completion of the execution. No bail licensee may enforce any such agreement without disclosing to the guarantor all collateral held by the licensee indemnifying the bond to which the agreement relates, and the identity of all other guarantors thereof, if any.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XX, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.475 Certain agreements prohibited. (NRS 679B.130) It is unlawful for any licensee to:

1. Enter into any agreement of any kind which would directly or indirectly result in a restraint of trade or an unfair method of competition; or

2. Have any direct or indirect understanding with any law enforcement agency, judicial officer, employee of any court, newspaper employee, private investigator, messenger service or similar business, trusty in a jail or anyone incarcerated, under which the person will notify or inform the licensee, directly or indirectly, of a criminal complaint, an arrest, that an arrest is pending or contemplated, or any other matters relating thereto.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § VI, eff. 11-22-78]—(Substituted in revision for NAC 697.320)

NAC 697.480 Guarantee of bail in advance of offense prohibited. (NRS 679B.130) No bail licensee may enter into an agreement or arrangement with any person, guaranteeing or assuring in advance of the commission of any offense that bail will be furnished to the person if he or she is arrested.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXVII, eff. 11-22-78]

COLLATERAL

NAC 697.510 Cash accounts. (NRS 679B.130) Subject to any contract to the contrary with a surety, a licensee may maintain cash collateral in an interest-bearing account with a bank, savings and loan association, thrift company or similar institution in this state, and may retain the interest earned on that money if:

1. All such deposits are maintained separate from any other funds, except cash collateral funds;

2. All such deposits are returned to the person who posted the money with the licensee promptly upon the termination of the liability for which the money was posted as security; and

3. Any penalty or loss of interest for early withdrawal of collateral deposits is the responsibility of the licensee.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XIII, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.520 Disbursement. (NRS 679B.130)

1. Upon return of collateral to the person who posted it, if any amount has been deducted by the licensee as expense, the licensee shall include with the money an itemized statement of all expenses, and maintain a copy of the statement in his or her file. The statement must include notary fees, guard fees and any other expenses deducted from the collateral.

2. If the bond secured by the collateral is forfeited and the licensee retains possession of the collateral in payment of the forfeiture or otherwise disposes of the collateral, the licensee shall advise the surety company within 7 working days of the terms of disposition of the collateral.

3. Compliance with subsection 1 or 2 of this section may be accomplished by completion of a form similar to Form M-8B or M-8B-1, and including the items shown on those forms.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XIV, eff. 11-22-78]

NAC 697.530 Real property. (NRS 679B.130)

1. If a licensee receives any document which conveys title to real property as collateral in a bail transaction, whether on his or her own behalf or on behalf of a surety company, the document must state on its face that it is executed as part of a security transaction.

2. If the document is recorded, a reconveyance of the property executed in such a manner that it may be recorded must be delivered by the licensee or surety to the person executing the original conveyance, or to his or her heirs, legal representative or successor in interest, promptly upon satisfaction of the obligation secured.

3. The licensee or surety company shall determine promptly whether the obligation has been discharged upon request for return of the collateral by the person entitled to it.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXIII, eff. 11-22-78]

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

NAC 697.550 Early surrender of defendant. (NRS 679B.130)

1. No bail bondsman may surrender a defendant back into custody without good cause before the time specified in the bond for the appearance of the defendant.

2. “Good cause” includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Information from a source credible under the circumstances that the defendant intends to fail to appear before the appropriate court at the date and time prescribed.

(b) Materially false information on the application of a defendant.

(d) A material change in the collateral posted by the defendant or one acting on his or her behalf.

(e) A change of address or telephone number by the defendant made without giving reasonable notice to the licensee.

(f) Commission of another crime, other than a minor traffic violation, by the defendant while on bail.

(g) Failure by the defendant to appear in court at the appointed time.

(h) A finding of guilt against the defendant by a court of competent jurisdiction.

3. If a bail bond agent surrenders a defendant before the time specified in the bond, the agent shall, within 10 days after the surrender, complete and mail to the Commissioner a statement concerning the surrender, including the information required on Form M-8C, available from the Commissioner of Insurance.

[Comm’r of Insurance, M-8 § XXV, eff. 11-22-78]