HB 136

            
2020 SESSION


20106258D

HOUSE BILL NO. 136

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE

(Proposed by the House Committee for Courts of Justice

on January 22, 2020)

(Patron Prior to Substitute--Delegate Collins [HB 138])

A BILL to amend and reenact � 19.2-149 of the Code of
Virginia, relating to bail bondsman; deposit for surrender of principal for
reasons other than principals failure to appear.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That � 19.2-149 of the Code of Virginia is amended and
reenacted as follows:

� 19.2-149. How surety on a bond in recognizance may surrender
principal and be discharged from liability; deposit for surrender of principal.

A. A bail bondsman or his licensed bail enforcement agent on a
bond in a recognizance may at any time arrest his principal and surrender him
to the court before which the recognizance was taken or before which such
principals appearance is required, or to the sheriff, sergeant or jailer of
the county or city wherein the court before which such principals appearance
is required is located; in addition to the above authority, upon the
application of the surety, the court, or the clerk thereof, before which the
recognizance was taken, or before which such principals appearance is
required, or any magistrate shall issue a capias for the arrest of such
principal, and such capias may be executed by such bail bondsman or his
licensed bail enforcement agent, or by any sheriff, sergeant or police officer,
and the person executing such capias shall deliver such principal and such
capias to the sheriff or jailer of the county or the sheriff, sergeant or
jailer of the city in which the appearance of such principal is required, and
thereupon the surety or the property bail bondsman shall be discharged from
liability for any act of the principal subsequent thereto. Upon application of
the surety for a capias, the surety shall state the basis for which the capias
is being requested. Such sheriff, sergeant or jailer shall thereafter deliver
such capias to the clerk of such court, with his endorsement thereon
acknowledging delivery of such principal to his custody.

If a magistrate issues a capias pursuant to this section, the
magistrate shall transmit a copy of the capias to the court before which such
principals appearance is required by the close of business on the next day
that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day on which the court is
lawfully closed.

B. If a bail bondsman on a bond in a recognizance surrenders
his principal for any reason other than a summons to show cause issued by
the court for which the principal is principals failure to
appear in any court, the bondsman shall deposit with the clerk or
magistrate the greater of 10 percent of the amount of the bond or $50, which
shall be made at such time the bondsman makes application for a capias. The
bondsman shall petition the court within 15 days from the surrender of the
principal to show cause, if any can be shown, why the bondsman is entitled to
the amount deposited. If the court finds that there was sufficient cause to
surrender the principal, the court shall return the deposited funds to the
bondsman. If the court finds that the surrender of the principal by the
bondsman was unreasonable, the deposited funds shall be returned to the
principal payer. Remission of funds shall not be issued by the court
until the sixteenth day after the finding. If the bondsman does not petition
the court for the return of the deposited funds within 15 days from the
surrender of the principal, the deposited funds shall be paid into the state
treasury to be credited to the Literary Fund. Nothing in this subsection
shall apply to a private citizen who posted cash or real estate to secure the
release of a defendant.