Amends TCA Title 4; Title 16, Chapter 3, Part 8; Title 39 and Title 40, Chapter 11.

This bill makes various changes and additions to present law concerning bail and professional bondsmen, as follows: (1) Applies to laws concerning bail generally terms and definitions that presently apply only to provisions of law specifically concerning professional bondsmen, and defines "professional bonding agent" to mean both a professional bondsman and a person licensed as limited insurance representatives by the department of commerce and insurance; (2) Replaces the present law system whereby courts approve professional bondsmen with a system whereby the department of commerce and insurance will register professional bondsmen and provide lists of registrants to the courts; (3) Replaces present law due process requirements that apply to appeals of disciplinary action against bondsmen and denials of approval to act as a bondsman. Under this bill, the hearings will be conducted under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act. This bill preserves the right of any individual court to deny, withhold, suspend, or revoke an approved professional bondsman's bonding privileges in such court upon the court's determination that the professional bondsman's conduct is detrimental to the bondsman's client or is disruptive to the court or court proceedings. Any appeal of a court's action against a bondman's privileges in that court must be appealed to the next highest court rather than administratively to the department; (4) Requires that courts report to the department findings made and actions taken with regard to inquiries into the solvency of professional bondsmen so that the department may suspend or revoke the professional bondsman's authority to practice bail bonding in Tennessee; (5) Deletes the present law requirement that any applicant for approval as a bonding company owner have two years' experience writing bail in Tennessee as a full-time qualified agent for a Tennessee professional bonding company in good standing; (6) Prohibits any person from operating as a professional bondsman in Tennessee on or after January 1, 2022, unless the person is registered with the department and establishes requirements for registration, including, but not limited to, being at least 18 years of age, providing a surety bond in the amount of $10,000, and not having been convicted of an offense related to the conduct of professional bondsmen during the preceding five years. A professional bondsman's certificate of registration will be valid for two years; (7) Requires the department to promulgate rules to implement this bill; (8) Increases from eight hours to 16 hours the amount of continuing education credit that professional bondsmen must obtain each 12-month period. The annual maximum cost of the continuing education is also doubled from $240 to $480; (9) Transfers responsibility for provision of continuing education for professional bondsmen from the Tennessee Association of Professional Bail Agents to a third-party contractor that is approved by the department, which may include a professional association related to bail bonding; and (10) Requires that the practice of bail bonding and the regulation thereof are audited in conjunction with the audit of the department of commerce and insurance by the comptroller of the treasury for purposes of the governmental entity review laws, and specifically required that the audit include a random review of certificates of compliance with continuing education requirements. This bill takes effect upon becoming a law for rulemaking purposes, and January 1, 2022, for all other purposes.