Rule 531.2 - Approval and Regulation of Bail Bondsmen and Insurers in Lehigh County(a)Seeking Approval as Insurer or Bail Bondsman A Bail Bondsman, or an Insurer on behalf of a Bail Bondsman, may seek approval to serve as surety on any bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District by filing a petition with the Clerk. The petition must provide the information and have attached as exhibits any documents and certifications required in subsection (b) herein. Upon filing, the petition will be assigned to a Judge for determination.(b)Requirements to Become Qualified. To become qualified to post bond in Lehigh County: (1) Each petition must state that the Bail Bondsman and Insurer is in compliance with all laws, statutes, local and state rules of court as may be established from time to time;(2) Each petition must include as an attachment a current and valid Certificate of Authority issued by the Department showing that the Insurer is authorized under 40 P.S. § 382(1) shall be attached to the petition seeking approval to operate as a Bail Bondsman;(3) Each petition must include as an attachment a current and valid Appointment Form showing that the Bail Bondsman has been appointed as a producer for the Insurer with the Department shall attached to the petition. The execution of any bail bond by any Bail Bondsman appointed by the Insurer shall create a valid and binding obligation of the Insurer;(4) Each petition must include as an attachment a copy of the license of the Bail Bondsmen issued by the Department(5) In the event that a Bail Bondsman is acting as an agency, who employs or contracts with more than one individual person who serves as a Bail Bondsman, that agency must attach to the petition a list of all individuals who are licensed and appointed with an Insurer to act as a duly appointed Bail Bondsman who are authorized to act on its behalf of the agency;(6) Each Insurer and Bail Bondsman must attach to the petition a Statement of Official Address which shall provide an address to which service of correspondence, notices, orders and other legal communications shall be made. The mailing by any Lehigh County governmental entity, including but not limited to the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas, the Lehigh County Clerk of Courts and the Lehigh County Department of Law, of correspondence, notices, orders and other communications by first class mail to said address shall be deemed presumptive proof of service of same and no objection shall be made by any party that the mailing was sent to an improper or incorrect address, provided that no statute or Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure requires alternative method of service. In the event that statute or Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure specifically sets forth a means of service, service shall be made in accordance with the relevant statute or Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure;(7) Every Bail Bondsman, who conducts any business in Lehigh County shall keep at its office the usual and customary records pertaining to bail bonds posted in Lehigh County, including, but not limited to, such records of bail bonds executed or countersigned by the Insurer or Bail Bondsman, to enable the court to obtain all relevant information concerning such bail bonds for at least three (3) years after the liability of the Insurer has been terminated. Such records of bail bonds posted shall be subject to immediate examination, inspection or copying by the Court or its representative at the Bail Bondsman's place of business or, upon request, a copy will be made available to the Court at its place of business or as otherwise directed. Any and all information shall be furnished in such manner or form as the Court requires; (8) Each Bail Bondsman shall file an Affidavit with the Clerk of Judicial Records, Criminal Division, disclosing any convictions for non-summary criminal offenses, with the exception of misdemeanors under the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, by Bail Bondsman or, if the Bail Bondsman is an agency, by any owner, officer, director of the Bail Bondsman. The Affidavit must attach a copy of a criminal history records check conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police or, for persons residing in another state, the comparable document for that state, for each such person. A conviction may render the Bail Bondsman or, if the Bail Bondsman is an agency, by any owner, officer, director of the Bail Bondsman ineligible to conduct business in the Thirty-first Judicial District as determined by the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas in its sole discretion;(9) Each petition for approval shall be filed in the name of the Bail Bondsman who is seeking approval to serve as a surety on bail in Lehigh County. The name of the Bail Bondsman shall appear on the petition identically to the name of the Bail Bondsman on the license and appointment forms attached to the petition. Any Bail Bondsman who is authorized by law and approved to serve as surety on bail in Lehigh County shall only do so in the Bail Bondsman's name as it appears on the petition. The Bail Bondsman shall only use the approved name on any bail bond form or surety information page submitted to the Clerk on bail bonds issued by that Bail Bondsman. Any petitions, correspondence, court appearances or similar activities may only be filed in the name of the Bail Bondsman as approved by the Court and appointed by the Insurer who is obligated through the Bail Bondsman to insure bail bonds. No third party has standing to participate in any petitions correspondence, court appearances or similar activities on behalf of the Bail Bondsman or Insurer;(10) , A copy of the rates to be charged by the Bail Bondsman as an appointed producer of the Insurer and approved by the Department shall be attached to the petition;(11) Each Bail Bondsman must attach to the petition a schedule of the fees, in addition to the rates filed by the Insurer, to be charged for issuing the bail bond in the event that the Bail Bondsman charges such fees;(12) Upon approval of a petition required in subsection (a) of this rule, each Bail Bondsman shall pay to the Clerk an initial registration fee of $500.00, or such amount as may be established from time to time by the Clerk ; and(c)Requirements to Remain Qualified. To remain qualified to post bond in Lehigh County: (1) Each Insurer and Bail Bondsman must fully comply with all laws, statutes, local rules, rules of court and procedures as may be established from time to time;(2) Each Insurer and Bail Bondsman must maintain compliance with the requirements specified in subsection (b) of this rule to the extent applicable to each;(3) Each Bail Bondsman must annually update the documents required in subsection (b) of this rule by filing a Praecipe with the Clerk and attaching the relevant documents to that Praecipe;(4) Each Bail Bondsman, , must, within 30 days, notify, in writing, the President Judge and the Department of Law if the Bail Bondsman has been charged with any non-summary criminal offense with the exception of misdemeanors under the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, or if the license submitted with the petition for approval has been revoked, suspended or not renewed in any jurisdiction; (5) No Bail Bondsman or any employees and/or agents thereof may represent or identify itself, directly or indirectly, as employees or agents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or Thirty-first Judicial District or the County of Lehigh. Bail Bondsman or any employees or agents thereof shall not wear clothing or present badges or any other form of law enforcement credentials that create the impression of employment by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Thirty-first Judicial District or any of its units, including Pre-trial Services or the Lehigh County Sheriff's Department or the County of Lehigh;(6) Each Bail Bondsman must renew the required registration with the Thirty-first Judicial District, provide all certifications required by this rule and pay to the Clerk an annual renewal fee of $100.00, or such amount as may be established from time to time by the Clerk with the approval of the President Judge; and(7) No Bail Bondsman, or its agents and employees, may engage in Prohibited Conduct as set forth in §531.2(e) hereunder.(d)Opportunity to be Heard. A Bail Bondman whose petition seeking approval to post bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District is denied will be provided an opportunity to be heard and to contest the denial. Any Bail Bondman seeking to contest the denial of its petition for approval to post bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District must file a petition with the Clerk of Judicial Records, Criminal Division and serve the Department of Law within thirty (30) days of the date of denial of its initial petition, and set forth the relief requested and the factual basis therefor. Similarly, a Bail Bondman which has received approval to post bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District as provided in this rule but which has been subsequently prohibited from posting additional bail, whose right to post bail has been revoked or is otherwise ineligible to post bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District, will be provided an opportunity to be heard, unless the revocation is due to unpaid forfeitures at which the the opportunity to be heard shall be governed by 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5741.1. Any Bail Bondman seeking to contest prohibition from posting additional bail, that its right to post bail has been revoked, or that it is otherwise ineligible to post bail in the Thirty-first Judicial District must file a petition with the Clerk of Judicial Records, Criminal Division and serve the Department of Law within thirty (30) days of the date of the prohibition, revocation or determination of ineligibility, and set forth the relief requested and the factual basis therefor.(e)Prohibited Conduct. Each Bail Bondsman, or any, employee and/or agents thereof, may not engage in prohibited conduct as set forth below. The following constitutes prohibited conduct:(1) violating any laws, statutes, local rules or rules of court related to the bail business;(2) violating any of the rules herein;(3) having a license as Bail Bondman revoked in the Commonwealth;(4) being involved in any transaction which shows unfitness to act in a fiduciary capacity or a failure to maintain the standards of fairness and honesty required of a fiduciary;(5) being convicted of any non-summary criminal offense with the exception of misdemeanors under the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code;(6) failing to advise the Clerk within fourteen (14) days (or such other time period as may be specifically set forth) of any change in circumstances which would materially affect any of the statements, information or certifications required by 531.2(b) or (c) herein;(7) using an unregistered or unlicensed agent on behalf of an Insurer or Bail Bondsman;(8) using an individual or entity not appointed by the Insurer who has issued a Power of Attorney for the Bail Bondsman to serve as surety ont bail;(9) signing, executing or issuing bail bonds by a person or entity who or which is not the Bail Bondsman on the bond;(10) executing a bond without the appropriate counter signature by a licensed and/or authorized Bail Bondsman at time of issue;(11) failing to account for or pay any premiums held as a Bail Bondsman on behalf of an Insurer;(12) misstating or misrepresenting any material fact in the initial petition or any subsequent filings, including but not limited to certifications, required by these rules, or in any of the statements, information or certifications required by these rules;(13) failing to preserve, and to retain separately, any movable tangible collateral, including cash and cash equivalent, obtained as security on any bond;(14) failing to return collateral taken as security on any bond to the depositor of such collateral, or the depositor's designee, within forty-five (45) business days following the conclusion of the case as defined by the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure.;(15) offering or providing any consideration or gratuity to any person employed by, or incarcerated in, a jail facility, any person who has the power to arrest or to hold any person in custody, or to any court officers and attorneys to obtain or secure business;(16) failing to deliver to the defendant, and any person providing collateral on the defendant's behalf, prior to the time the defendant is released from jail, a one-page disclosure form which, at a minimum, must include:(A) the amount of the bail;(B) the defendant's bail obligations;(C) the conditions upon which the bond may be revoked; and(D) the conditions under which the bond may be exonerated.(17) failing to provide to the Clerk the fully completed one-page disclosure form required at the time bond is posted;(18) charging excessive fees not authorized by law or rule of court;(19) failing to provide an itemized statement of any and all expenses deducted from collateral to the owner thereof, if any;(20) requiring that, as a condition for posting a bail, a defendant engage the services of a particular law firm or attorney;(21) preparing or issuing a fraudulent or forged bail bond, power of attorney or other document;(22) knowingly violating, advising, encouraging, aiding, abetting or assisting the violation of any applicable law, statute, local rule or rule of court;(23) soliciting, procuring or demanding sexual favors as a condition of or compensation for obtaining, maintaining or exonerating a bail bond, regardless of the identity of the person who performs such favors;(24) providing legal advice or a legal opinion in any form;(25) failing to notify and inform law enforcement and the Court that the defendant has committed an act subject to or referenced in 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5750,;(26) holding oneself out by manner of dress as being a public official including wearing clothing or presenting badges or any other form of law enforcement credentials that might create the impression of employment of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the County of Lehigh, the Thirty-first Judicial District or any of its units, including Pre-trial Services or the Lehigh County Sheriff's Department of the Thirty-first Judicial District or the County of Lehigh; and(27) engaging in verbal or other abusive behavior and/or unprofessional conduct, including but not limited to the use of profanity, directed toward a County employee(f) Any violation of or failure to comply with the rules set forth herein may, upon petition by the Department of Law and after hearing thereon, result in the revocation by the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County of the bail posting privileges of an the Bail Bondsman.Amended effective 12/1/2015; revised effective 2/1/2020.