Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 1; Title 8, Chapter 19 and Title 8, Chapter 8.

Under present law, a sheriff, before entering on the duties of that office, must enter into an official bond, in a penalty of not less than $100,000, or in a greater sum as the county legislative body may determine. The bond is payable to the state and conditioned on the sheriff executing and making due return of all process directed to the sheriff; paying all fees and sums of money received by the sheriff or levied by virtue of any process, into the proper office or to the person entitled; and faithfully executing the duties of the office of sheriff. <br /> <br /> This bill adds that the above bond requirement does not apply to a sheriff if the sheriff maintains an insurance policy that identifies the sheriff in the policy agreement and that is authorized under the following present law provisions that generally require county governments to either:<br /> <br /> (1) Obtain and maintain blanket surety bond coverage for all county employees not covered by individual bonds referenced elsewhere in statute. The minimum amount of such blanket bonds is $150,000; or<br /> (2) Obtain and pay the premiums or other costs with respect to a policy of insurance issued by an insurance company duly authorized to do business in this state or an agreement with an established pool established (as authorized by present law) for administration of such agreement, that provides government crime coverage, employee dishonesty insurance coverage, or equivalent coverage that insures the lawful performance by officials and their employees of their fiduciary duties and responsibilities. Any such policy or agreement maintained must have limits of not less than $400,000 per occurrence.<br /> <br /> ON APRIL 17, 2019, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 394, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill and revises present law governing bonds of public officers. <br /> <br /> Present law requires county governments to either:<br /> (1) Obtain and maintain blanket surety bond coverage for all county employees not covered by individual bonds referenced elsewhere in statute. The minimum amount of such blanket bonds is $150,000; or<br /> (2) Obtain and pay the premiums or other costs with respect to a policy of insurance issued by an insurance company duly authorized to do business in this state or an agreement with a risk pool established pursuant to the Governmental Tort Liability Act or any entity established pursuant to the Act for administration of such agreement, that provides government crime coverage, employee dishonesty insurance coverage, or equivalent coverage that insures the lawful performance by officials and their employees of their fiduciary duties and responsibilities. Any such policy or agreement maintained must have limits of not less than $400,000 per occurrence. <br /> <br /> Present law also provides that:<br /> <br /> (A) A policy or agreement satisfying the requirements set forth above in (2) is deemed to be a blanket official bond for each official or office identified in the policy or agreement for all purposes, including all present law provisions governing bond requirements for public officers and employees under title 8 and under TCA 4-4-108 (which requires that a blanket surety bond be obtained covering all officers and employees of every department, agency, office, commission, institution, institution of higher education, and instrumentality of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government);<br /> (B) A certificate of insurance evidencing the officials and offices covered, the amount of coverage maintained, and the type of coverage provided must be filed in the register's office for the county in which the official is located; and<br /> (C) A certificate of insurance satisfies the requirement for the filing of the official bond by the named officials.<br /> <br /> This amendment revises the above-described provisions as follows:<br /> <br /> (1) Removes the reference, as set out in (A) above, to TCA 4-4-108;<br /> (2) Identifies specific public officials who may be covered under the policy or agreement (such as county mayors, coroners, sheriffs, clerks of court, and county assessors, among others); <br /> (3) Adds that in the event that the policy of insurance maintained by the county ceases to provide coverage to the officeholder for any reason, the officeholder has 30 days from the date of termination of coverage to file a bond or other proof of insurance coverage; and<br /> (4) Adds that a policy or endorsement also satisfies the requirement for the filing of the official bond described in (B) above.<br /> <br /> Present law provides that a person incurring any wrong, injury, loss, damage or expense resulting from any act or failure to act on the part of any deputy appointed by the sheriff may bring suit against the county in which the sheriff serves; provided, that the deputy is, at the time of such occurrence, acting by virtue of or under color of the office. The governmental immunity of the county in which the sheriff serves is waived for purposes of this provision, but to an extent not in excess of the amount of the surety bond executed for that county's sheriff. This amendment revises this provision to provide that the immunity is waived but to an extent "not in excess of the minimum amount required for a surety bond" applicable to the sheriff and adds that this cap, based on the amount required for a bond, applies regardless of whether the sheriff is covered by a surety bond or an insurance policy.<br /> <br />