The corona virus may do more long term damage than any tornado or hurricane that has hit the state of Texas. The ramifications will be felt for many years to come.
These are interesting times. As bail bond boards across the state of Texas are attempting to struggle with how to address licenses of their local bondsmen during this time, we would like to highlight several issues for your consideration.
Licenses for Renewal Over the Next 60 Days
A bail bond board issued an order stating that if the courthouse was closed, then all bail bond licenses would be continued in effect by operation of law. Once the courthouse reopened, if there were any licenses that needed to be renewed, the licenseholder would be required to file an application for renewal within 5 business days following the reopening of the courthouse and the board would act on the application within 60 days.
The Professional Bondsmen of Texas appreciate the actions of this board in looking out for the bondsmen. If this is the action that you chose to follow we will endeavor to comply. We would also propose an alternative procedure to consider as well.
PBT suggests that the board review their records to determine whether any license holders need renewal in the next 30 to 60 days. Since the statute requires that a renewal be filed within 31 days before the license expires, the board staff should be aware of the licenses needing attention in the next 30 days already. PBT would propose, as an alternative procedure, that boards consider conducting an emergency meeting via telephone to consider only the license for renewal so that these were considered and taken care of for the long term well being of your local bondsmen. If the board has a local rule precluding the consideration of applications at special meetings, PBT would recommend waiving the local rule for this meeting.
If a board determines to issue an order stating that all licenses are continued by operation of law, the bonding community will certainly follow the board decision, but we would also point out several matters for your consideration:
There is some case law stating that a bail bond board license expires automatically if no action is taken. There is an argument that if the board issues an order stating that if the courthouse is closed the existing licenses are continued, that this is an actions taken. ,However, there is no clear authority under the law to support this. Some have argued that the order from the court of criminal appeals provides some support to such an order if issued by a board. But it appears that the order issued by the Court of Criminal Appeals applies to procedural deadlines but not to substantive issues. The issue of whether the license expires may be a substantive issue.
We would also point out that the Texas Occupations Code does address an exception where a license is extended by operation of law and that is set out in section 1704.162 (h). This sections says that if a board meets quarterly (meaning the county has a population of less than 150,000) and does not meet to consider a renewal or tables the application then the license is continued by operation of law until the next meeting of the board. Since the statute does address this situation and the statute says that it applies only to counties that meet quarterly, questions could be raised about this order.
We have been asked who will raise this issue? While we agree that there is probably less than a 25% chance this would ever become an issue, if it did it would be raised in a year by a competitor.
We would ask the board to consider in its discretion to hold a special telephone meeting. Only four members would be required to attend to constitute a quorum. The meeting can consider the renewal application that is pending and approve it so that it is done.
Continuing Education Class Requirement
The next item we would like to raise is the issue of Continuing Education. On this issue, the orders to shelter in place that were issued by Dallas County and McClennon Counties and the additional orders that will be issued in the coming days may impact the continuing education requirement on applications. PBT had a school scheduled for April 10, 2020 in Travis County. A school is also schedueld in May. A shelter in place order has been issued for Travis County. Therefore, this class has been canceled.
If this happens and PBT is not able to provide its class in May as well, PBT recommends that a board consider renewing a license subject to providing doucmentation of competion of the continuing education requirement within 60 days after the shelter in place orders are lifted. Thee are qeustions about whether a board has the authority to waive a statutory requirement to obtain a license. Additionally, there is some question about whether granting a license subject to a future act is permissible as well. But PBT has witnessed this practice across the state without issue or appeal. Therefore, PBT maintains that this is the best option of all the bad options.
Documentation that Must Come From the County
The next issue that may arise deals with documentation that is required to be submitted to the board as a part of the application for renewal. An application is required to include an updated fingerprint card from the license holder. Some boards allow the application to note that the finger print card is already on file. Others require that a new one be filed with each application. If a sheriff's office is closed to the public, it may not be possible to obain these types of documents. PBT recommends that the board allow the license holder to note that these documents have been previously filed and could not be updated because of the current situation.
Public Meetings
There has been much discussion regarding what the proper procedure for meetings during this time. PBT notes that the Governor's office has issued directives to allow for meetings to be held over the telephone. PBT believes that this is an appropriate way to ensure that the essential items of the board can be handled expeditiously during the next 30 to 60 days.
If you have any questions on how PBT has seen board's across the state address certain issues, please do not hesitate to contact us.
