Insurance: bail licenses.

Existing law provides for the issuance of bail licenses under the jurisdiction of the Insurance Commissioner for bail agents, bail permittees, and bail solicitors. Existing law requires persons soliciting or negotiating the execution or delivery of an undertaking of bail on behalf of a surety insurer to be licensed as a bail agent. Existing law requires the commissioner to charge and collect specified fees for an application for a new or renewed bail license by a bail agent, bail permittee, or bail solicitor. This bill would increase the fees for an application for a new or renewed bail license, as specified. The bill would require each surety insurer or bail permittee to pay a fee, not to exceed $10 per bail bond transaction. These fees would go to the Bail Investigation and Prosecution Fund, created as a special account in the Insurance Fund. The bill would provide that moneys in the Bail Investigation and Prosecution Fund be distributed by the commissioner, upon appropriation, to fund the reasonable costs incurred in regulating entities involved in the undertaking of bail, as specified. The bill would provide that if the total amount in the Bail Investigation and Prosecution Fund ever exceeds $8,000,000, then the commissioner shall reduce the amount of the assessment, as specified. The bill would authorize the commissioner to develop guidelines to implement or clarify these provisions. The bill would require the commissioner to provide an annual report on the department's Internet Web site including various information, as specified. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.