Committee rolls bail-bonds agents into existing investigators board; substitute adopted 21-0

The House Committee on Professional Registration adopted a committee substitute for House Bill 3,111 that moves professional surety bail bondsmen under an existing regulatory board for private investigators and fire investigators, a change the sponsor said eliminates a previously projected fiscal note.

Representative Phelps offered the committee substitute, explaining the change "basically just rolls bail bondsmen into the existing...board" to avoid creating a new board and its associated costs. The substitute originally capped fees charged by bail-bond agents at $150; an amendment was adopted to remove that cap and grant the board discretion to set fees deemed necessary to sustain operations.

After debate and the adoption of the amendment, the committee adopted the committee substitute and voted by roll call to recommend that the House bill "do pass." The secretary called the roll and the committee reported the substitute out of committee with a recorded tally the chair stated as 21 yeas, 0 nays.

The committee did not go into executive session before the vote. The action directs the bill forward in the legislative process; no additional legislative steps or effective dates were specified at the hearing.