NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1196

HOUSE BILL 1133

 

 

AN ACT TO TAX AND REGULATE PROFESSIONAL BONDSMEN IN BUNCOMBE COUNTY.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1. Every person, firm, association or corporation, who shall engage in the business of signing, executing, and becoming surety on appearance bonds in any court in Buncombe County for a fee or compensation and any person or persons employed by such person, firm, association or corporation in such business shall apply for and obtain from the County of Buncombe, and each city or town in said county in which such business is engaged in, a license for the privilege of engaging in such business. The amount of said license tax shall be fixed by the Board of County Commissioners of Buncombe County and the governing bodies of the cities and towns therein, and shall not be in excess of the maximum which counties, cities and towns are authorized to levy on professional bondsmen, under the provisions of the Revenue Act of the State of North Carolina, as amended. Said license shall be for a period of one year and shall expire on the thirty-first day of May of each year.

Sec. 2. In addition to the privilege license provided for in Section 1 of this Act, every person, firm, association or corporation, who shall engage in the business of signing, endorsing, executing or becoming surety on appearance bonds, or who shall pledge or deposit any cash, check, or other security of any nature in lieu of any appearance bond, in any court in Buncombe County for a fee or compensation, shall, as a condition precedent to engaging in any such business or activity, deposit with the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) in cash or negotiable securities approved by the clerk and shall, at the same time, post an agreement with the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County, that such cash or negotiable securities shall, at all times, be available for the purpose of the payment of any bond signed by such firm, person, association or corporation, which has been declared by the court to be forfeited. The agreement shall further provide that if the amount of any bond posted by such person, firm, association or corporation is forfeited by a court of competent jurisdiction and remains unsatisfied for ten days after the date of its forfeiture, the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County shall be authorized, empowered, and directed to satisfy the bond so forfeited out of the deposit made with the clerk. If the amount of such forfeited bond is not paid within ten days from the date of forfeiture, the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County is authorized to apply the amount of the forfeiture out of the said deposit and the person, firm, association or corporation, whose deposit is thus reduced, shall immediately upon notice by the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County deposit an additional sum with the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County in order that the deposit shall always be at least the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), either in cash or negotiable securities. No person, firm, association or corporation shall sign, endorse, execute or become surety on any additional appearance bonds, or pledge or deposit any cash, check, or other security of any nature in lieu of an appearance bond, in any court in Buncombe County until such time as an additional deposit sufficient to re-establish a total deposit of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), exclusive of any amounts so forfeited, has been made with the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County.

Sec. 3. Every person, firm, association or corporation, who is engaged in the business of signing, endorsing, executing or becoming surety on appearance bonds, or who shall pledge or deposit any cash, check, or other security of any nature in lieu of any appearance bonds, in any court in Buncombe County for a fee shall file a detailed monthly report in writing with the Board of Commissioners of Buncombe County showing the name of each individual bonded, the amount of the bond, the court in which the bond is returnable, and the fee charged for the bonding service in each instance. Copies of this report shall be delivered by such person, firm, association or corporation, to the Clerk of Superior Court of Buncombe County and to the solicitor or clerk of each of the several recorder's courts in Buncombe County.

Sec. 4. The following persons or classes or any member of their household shall not be bail bondsmen or runners and shall not directly or indirectly receive any benefits from the execution of any bail bond: attorneys at law, jailers, police officers, committing magistrates, justices of the peace, municipal or magistrate court judges, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and constables, any person having the power to arrest or having anything to do with the control of Federal, State, county or municipal prisoners.

Sec. 5. The Board of Commissioners of Buncombe County shall not issue the license provided for in this Act, unless and until said board is satisfied from an affirmative showing made by the applicant that said applicant is a person of good moral character, and said board shall be the sole judge as to whether an applicant is a person of good moral character for the purpose of being licensed under this Act.

Sec. 6. Any person, firm, association or corporation, who shall engage in the business defined in Section 1 of this Act without securing the privilege license and making the deposit required by this Act, or who violates any of the other provisions of this Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned in the discretion of the court, and conviction under this Act shall carry with it revocation of the license provided for herein. Surety or bonding companies regularly licensed by the Insurance Department of North Carolina shall not be required to make the deposit provided for in Section 2 of this Act.

Sec. 7. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or provision of this Act shall for any reason be adjudged by any court to be unconstitutional or invalid, such judgment shall not affect or invalidate the remainder of this Act.

Sec. 8. This Act shall apply to Buncombe County only.

Sec. 9. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 10. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 17th day of June, 1965.