HB 138

            
2020 SESSION

20101433D

HOUSE BILL NO. 138


Offered January 8, 2020


Prefiled December 18, 2019

A BILL to amend and reenact � 19.2-149 of the Code of 
 Virginia, relating to bail bondsman; petition for return of deposit for 
 surrender of principal; deposited funds credited to Literary Fund.
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Patron-- Collins

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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice

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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 to appear, 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. 
 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.