AGO 1996-157.

• Case Date: March 20, 1996
• Court: Alabama

Alabama Attorney General Opinions 1996. AGO 1996-157. 1996-157March 20, 1996Honorable Frank W. Gregory Administrative Director of Courts Administrative Office of Courts 300 Dexter Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104-3741 Bail Reform Act of 1993 - Bond Forfeitures - Bail Bonds - Spouses Affidavit of an agent of a professional bail or surety company, filed in order to qualify to do bonding business in a county, must state that company is not aware of any forfeitures that have been final for over 30 days, applies to forfeitures statewide.Spouse of magistrate or sheriff is prohibited by law from being a bondsman or employee of a professional bail or surety company.Dear Mr. Gregory: This opinion is issued in response to your request for an interpretation of certain provisions of the Bail Bond Reform Act of 1993, codified in _ 15-13-100, et seq., Code of Alabama 1975, pertaining to the qualifications of bail bondsmen. QUESTION 1 Pursuant to __ 15-13-159(4)(d) and 15-13-160(3)(e), in order to qualify to do bonding business in a county, an agent of a professional bail company or professional surety company must endorse an affidavit stating that the company "has no knowledge of forfeitures that have been final for more than 30 days that have not been paid arising out of surety undertaking, and that the . . . company has no petitions, motions, or other litigation matters pending." Do these provisions apply only to pending forfeitures within the county where the application is made, or do they mean within any county of the state? FACTS, LAW AND ANALYSIS Because the Bail Bond Reform Act of 1993 contains no specific reference to the company's having pending forfeitures only within the county in which it is applying and because the intent of the Legislature in passing the Act was to improve the bonding practices statewide, the requirement that the company's agent aver that the company did not have any pending forfeitures would logically include anything pending in any county in the State. CONCLUSION In passing the "Bail Bond Reform Act of 1993," the Legislature intended that only those companies which did not have unpaid forfeitures pending would be approved to conduct bonding business. Therefore, the affidavit required to be executed by bail bondsmen must state that they have no knowledge of any pending forfeitures in any county in the...