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WEST virginia legislature
2023 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2621
By Delegates Burkhammer, Foster and Hott
[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary; Reported on January 1, 2023]
A BILL to amend and reenact §51-10-1 and §51-10-8 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to professional bondsmen in criminal cases; definitions of "approved securities" and "bondsman"; and requiring the Insurance Commissioner to formulate testing and continuing education requirements for all applicants and license renewals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
The following definitions of kinds of insurance are not mutually exclusive and, if reasonably adaptable thereto, a particular coverage may be included under one or more of such definitions:
(a) Life insurance. — Life insurance is insurance on human lives including endowment benefits, additional benefits in the event of death or dismemberment by accident or accidental means, additional benefits for disability and annuities.
(b) Accident and sickness. — Accident and sickness insurance is insurance against bodily injury, disability or death by accident or accidental means, or the expense thereof, or against disability or expense resulting from sickness and insurance relating thereto. Group credit accident and health insurance may also include loss of income insurance which is insurance against the failure of a debtor to pay his or her monthly obligation due to involuntary loss of employment. For the purposes of this definition, involuntary loss of employment means the debtor loses employment income (salary or wages) as a result of unemployment caused by individual or mass layoff, general strikes, labor disputes, lockout or termination by employer for other than willful or criminal misconduct. Any or all of the above-mentioned perils may be included in an insurance policy, at the discretion of the policyholder.
(c) Fire. — Fire insurance is insurance on real or personal property of every kind and interest therein, against loss or damage from any or all hazard or cause, and against loss consequential upon such loss or damage, other than noncontractual liability for any such loss or damage. Fire insurance shall also include miscellaneous insurance as defined in paragraph (12), subdivision (e) of this section §33-1-10(e)(12) of this code.
(d) Marine insurance is insurance:
(1) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to vessels, craft, aircraft, cars, automobiles and vehicles of every kind, as well as all goods, freight, cargoes, merchandise, effects, disbursements, profits, moneys, bullion, precious stones, securities, chooses in action, evidences of debt, valuable papers, bottomry and respondentia interests and all other kinds of property and interests therein, in respect to, appertaining to or in connection with any and all risks or perils of navigation, transit or transportation, including war risks, on or under any seas or other waters, on land (above or below ground), or in the air, or while being assembled, packed, crated, baled, compressed or similarly prepared for shipment or while awaiting the same or during any delays, storage, transshipment, or reshipment incident thereto, including marine builders’ risks and all personal property floater risks;
(2) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to person or to property in connection with or appertaining to a marine, inland marine, transit or transportation insurance, including liability for loss of or damage to either, arising out of or in connection with the construction, repair, operation, maintenance or use of the subject matter of such insurance (but not including life insurance or surety bonds nor insurance against loss by reason of bodily injury to the person arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of automobiles);
(3) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to precious stones, jewels, jewelry, gold, silver and other precious metals, whether used in business or trade or otherwise and whether the same be in course of transportation or otherwise;
(4) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to bridges, tunnels and other instrumentalities of transportation and communication (excluding buildings, their furniture and furnishings, fixed contents and supplies held in storage) unless fire, windstorm, sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot or civil commotion or any or all of them are the only hazards to be covered;
(5) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to piers, wharves, docks and ships, excluding the risks of fire, windstorm, sprinkler leakage, hail, explosion, earthquake, riot and civil commotion and each of them;
(6) Against any and all kinds of loss or damage to other aids to navigation and transportation, including dry docks and marine railways, dams and appurtenant facilities for control of waterways; and
(7) Marine protection and indemnity insurance, which is insurance against, or against legal liability of the insured for, loss, damage or expense arising out of, or incident to, the ownership, operation, chartering, maintenance, use, repair or construction of any vessel, craft or instrumentality in use in ocean or inland waterways, including liability of the insured for personal injury, illness or death or for loss of or damage to the property of another person.
(e) Casualty. — Casualty insurance includes:
(1) Vehicle insurance, which is insurance against loss of or damage to any land vehicle or aircraft or any draft or riding animal or to property while contained therein or thereon or being loaded therein or therefrom, from any hazard or cause, and against any loss, liability or expense resulting from or incident to ownership, maintenance or use of any such vehicle, aircraft or animal; together with insurance against accidental death or accidental injury to individuals, including the named insured, while in, entering, alighting from, adjusting, repairing or cranking, or caused by being struck by any vehicle, aircraft or draft or riding animal, if such insurance is issued as a part of insurance on the vehicle, aircraft or draft or riding animal;
(2) Liability insurance, which is insurance against legal liability for the death, injury or disability of any human being, or for damage to property; and provisions for medical, hospital, surgical, disability benefits to injured persons and funeral and death benefits to dependents, beneficiaries or personal representatives of persons killed, irrespective of legal liability of the insured, when issued as an incidental coverage with or supplemental to liability insurance;
(3) Burglary and theft insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage by burglary, theft, larceny, robbery, forgery, fraud, vandalism, malicious mischief, confiscation, or wrongful conversion, disposal or concealment, or from any attempt at any of the foregoing, including supplemental coverages for medical, hospital, surgical and funeral benefits sustained by the named insured or other person as a result of bodily injury during the commission of a burglary, robbery or theft by another; also insurance against loss of or damage to moneys, coins, bullion, securities, notes, drafts, acceptances or any other valuable papers and documents resulting from any cause;
(4) Personal property floater insurance, which is insurance upon personal effects against loss or damage from any cause;
(5) Glass insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage to glass, including its lettering, ornamentation and fittings;
(6) Boiler and machinery insurance, which is insurance against any liability and loss or damage to property or interest resulting from accidents to or explosion of boilers, pipes, pressure containers, machinery or apparatus and to make inspection of and issue certificates of inspection upon boilers, machinery and apparatus of any kind, whether or not insured;
(7) Leakage and fire extinguishing equipment insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage to any property or interest caused by the breakage or leakage of sprinklers, hoses, pumps and other fire extinguishing equipment or apparatus, water mains, pipes and containers, or by water entering through leaks or openings in buildings, and insurance against loss or damage to such sprinklers, hoses, pumps and other fire extinguishing equipment or apparatus;
(8) Credit insurance, which is insurance against loss or damage resulting from failure of debtors to pay their obligations to the insured. Credit insurance shall include loss of income insurance which is insurance against the failure of a debtor to pay his or her monthly obligation due to involuntary loss of employment. For the purpose of this definition, involuntary loss of employment means the debtor loses employment income (salary or wages) as a result of unemployment caused by individual or mass layoff, general strikes, labor disputes, lockout or termination by employer for other than willful or criminal misconduct; any or all of the above-mentioned perils may be included in an insurance policy, at the discretion of the policyholder;
(9) Malpractice insurance, which is insurance against legal liability of the insured and against loss, damage or expense incidental to a claim of such liability, and including medical, hospital, surgical and funeral benefits to injured persons, irrespective of legal liability of the insured arising out of the death, injury or disablement of any person, or arising out of damage to the economic interest of any person, as the result of negligence in rendering expert, fiduciary or professional service;
(10) Entertainment insurance, which is insurance indemnifying the producer of any motion picture, television, radio, theatrical, sport, spectacle, entertainment or similar production, event or exhibition against loss from interruption, postponement or cancellation thereof due to death, accidental injury or sickness of performers, participants, directors or other principals;
(11) Mine subsidence insurance as provided for in article thirty of this chapter;
(12) Miscellaneous insurance, which is insurance against any other kind of loss, damage or liability properly a subject of insurance and not within any other kind of insurance as defined in this chapter, if such insurance is not disapproved by the commissioner as being contrary to law or public policy; and
(13) Federal flood insurance, which is insurance provided by the federal insurance administration or by private insurers through the write your own program within the national flood insurance program, instituted by the federal insurance administration pursuant to the provision of 42 U.S.C. §4071, on real or personal property of every kind and interest therein, against loss or damage from flood or mudslide and against loss consequential to such loss or damage, other than noncontractual liability for any loss or damage.
(14) Workers’ compensation insurance, which is insurance providing all compensation and benefits required by chapter twenty-three 23 of this code.
(f) Surety. — Surety insurance includes:
(1) Fidelity insurance, which is insurance guaranteeing the fidelity of persons holding positions of public or private trust;
(2) Insurance guaranteeing the performance of contracts, other than insurance policies, and guaranteeing and executing bonds, undertakings and contracts of surety ship: Provided, That surety insurance does not include the guaranteeing and executing of bonds by professional bondsmen in criminal cases or by individuals not in the business of becoming a surety for compensation upon bonds;
(3) Insurance indemnifying banks, bankers, brokers, financial or moneyed corporations or associations against loss, resulting from any cause, of bills of exchange, notes, bonds, securities, evidences of debt, deeds, mortgages, warehouse receipts or other valuable papers, documents, money, precious metals and articles made therefrom, jewelry, watches, necklaces, bracelets, gems, precious and semiprecious stones, including any loss while they are being transported in armored motor vehicles or by messenger, but not including any other risks of transportation or navigation, and also insurance against loss or damage to such an insured’s premises or to his or her furnishings, fixtures, equipment, safes and vaults therein, caused by burglary, robbery, theft, vandalism or malicious mischief, or any attempt to commit such crimes; and
(4) Title insurance, which is insurance of owners of property or others having an interest therein, or liens or encumbrances thereon, against loss by encumbrance, defective title, invalidity or adverse claim to title.
When used in this article:
"Approved securities" means cash, irrevocable letter of credit, an annuity purchased through an insurance company licensed and in good standing in this state, a bond issued by an insurance company licensed and in good standing in this state, or a qualified power of attorney issued by an insurer pursuant to a producer underwriting agreement, or real estate located in in this state that is unencumbered in, at least, the amount of minimum financial responsibility required as set forth by the insurance commissioner.
(1) "Bonding business" means the business of becoming surety for compensation upon bonds in criminal cases in the State of West Virginia;
(2) "Bondsman" means (A) any person engaged in the bonding business that has satisfied the requirements for, and is duly licensed as, an insurance producer with a property and casualty line of authority as set forth by the Insurance Commissioner and §33-12-1, et seq. of this code; or (B) any person who is approved and licensed under the provisions of this article who pledges cash or approved securities with the commissioner as security for bail bonds written in connection with a judicial proceeding and receives or is promised money or other things of value for the pledge;
(3) "Commissioner" means the Insurance Commissioner of West Virginia, as defined in §33-1-5 of this code; and
(4) "Insurer" means any domestic, foreign, or alien person, including a surety company, which has been qualified generally to transact rety business in the State of West Virginia.
(a) The commissioner shall promulgate and propose legislative rules for promulgation under §29A-3-1, et seq. of this code, to carry out the intent, administration, and enforcement of this article. The commissioner may promulgate any emergency rules under §29A-3-15 of this code necessary to carry out the intent, administration, and enforcement of this article. The commissioner shall develop all forms, contracts, or other documents to be used for the purposes outlined in this article.
(b) The rules required by subsection (a) of this section shall specify the qualifications that a person must have when applying to be a bondsman, and the terms and conditions upon which the bonding business may be conducted. The commissioner shall require a biennial fee of $200 for all bondsman licensed under this article.
(c) The commissioner, in promulgating and proposing rules required by subsection (a) of this section, and in granting a license to a person to engage in the bonding business, shall take into consideration both the financial responsibility and the moral qualities of the person applying, and a person who has been convicted of any offense involving moral turpitude, or who is not known to be a person of good moral character shall may not be licensed.
(d) The applicant shall provide the commissioner a qualifying power-of-attorney from a licensed insurer or surety company or pledge cash or approved securities with the commissioner as security for bail bonds.
(e) The applicant shall comply with the provisions of §33-12-37 of this code regarding criminal history record checks.
(f) The commissioner shall require every bondsman licensed to engage in the bonding business as a principal to file with the commissioner a list showing the name, age, and residence of each person employed by the bondsman as an agent, clerk, or representative in the bonding business, and require an affidavit from each of the persons stating that the person will abide by the terms and provisions of this article.
(g) The commissioner shall formulate testing and continuing education requirements for all applicants and license renewals.
(g) (h) (1) The commissioner shall require a person licensed as a bondsman to renew his or her license every two years and to file an affidavit stating that since his or her previous license to engage in the bonding business he or she has abided by the provisions of this article.
(2) A person who files a false affidavit is guilty of false swearing and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided by law for the offense.
(3) A person seeking to renew his or her license to engage in the bonding business shall submit to the property and casualty requirements under section (d) of this section for each renewal, unless he or she has voluntarily terminated his or her license to engage in the bonding business
(h) (i) The commissioner shall keep a list of all bondsmen and, upon the request of a place of detention listed under §51-10-6 of this code, furnish an alphabetical list of all licensed bondsmen to the jail.
(j) After July 1, 2022, a person shall may not, either as principal, or as agent, clerk, or representative of an agent, engage in the bonding business unless licensed by the commissioner under this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Insurance Commissioner to formulate testing and continuing education requirements for all applicants and license renewals for professional bondsmen in criminal cases. The bill also provides a definition of "approved securities" and amend the definition of "bondsman".
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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