Source: http://www.baillaws.com/laws/north-carolina
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 14:53:58+00:00

Document:
A. WEST’S NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES ANNOTATED CHAPTER 15A. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT SUBCHAPTER V. CUSTODY ARTICLE 26. BAIL PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
B. WEST’S NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES ANNOTATED CHAPTER 15A. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT SUBCHAPTER V. CUSTODY ARTICLE 26. BAIL PART 2. BAIL BOND FORFEITURE.
C. WEST’S NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES ANNOTATED CHAPTER 58. INSURANCE ARTICLE 71. BAIL BONDSMEN AND RUNNERS.
Section 9. This act becomes effective January 1, 2001, and applies to all bail bonds executed and all forfeiture proceedings initiated on and after that date.
The North Carolina statutes contain numerous detailed licensing provisions for bail agents and “runners” (defined below). Only the most relevant sections are listed below, with references to other relevant sections.
(8) “Professional bondsman” shall mean any person who is approved and licensed by the Commissioner and 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 therefor.
(9) “Runner” shall mean a person employed by a bail bondsman for the purpose of assisting the bail bondsman in presenting the defendant in court when required, or to assist in apprehension and surrender of defendant to the court, or keeping defendant under necessary surveillance, or to execute bonds on behalf of the licensed bondsman when the power of attorney has been duly recorded. “Runner” does not include, however, a duly licensed attorney-at-law or a law-enforcement officer assisting a bondsman.
(a) No person shall act in the capacity of a bail bondsman or runner or perform any of the functions, duties, or powers prescribed for bail bondsmen or runners under the provisions of this Article unless that person shall be qualified and (except as regards an accommodation bondsman) licensed in accordance with the provisions of this Article. No license shall be issued to a professional bondsman or runner except to an individual natural person.
A license issued to a bail bondsman or to a runner authorizes the licensee to act in that capacity until the license is suspended or revoked. Upon the suspension or revocation of a license, the licensee shall return the license to the Commissioner. A license of a bail bondsman and a license of a runner shall be renewed on July 1 of each year upon payment of the applicable renewal fee under G.S. 58-71-75. The Commissioner is not required to print renewal licenses. After notifying the Commissioner in writing, a professional bondsman who employs a runner may cancel the runner’s license and the runner’s authority to act for the professional bondsman.
(a) An applicant for a license as a bail bondsman or runner shall furnish the Commissioner with a complete set of the applicant’s fingerprints and a recent passport size full-face photograph of the applicant. The applicant’s fingerprints shall be certified by an authorized law-enforcement officer. The fingerprints of every applicant shall be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation for a search of the applicant’s criminal history record file, if any. If warranted, the State Bureau of Investigation shall forward a set of the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. An applicant shall pay the cost of the State and any national criminal history record check of the applicant.
A nonrefundable license fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be paid to the Commissioner with each application for license as a bail bondsman and a license fee of sixty dollars ($60.00) shall be paid to the Commissioner with each application for license as a runner.
G. § 58-71-65. Contents of application for runner’s license; endorsement by professional bondsman.
(b) If the principal does not comply with the conditions of the bail bond, the court having jurisdiction must enter an order declaring the bail to be forfeited. If forfeiture is ordered by the court, a copy of the order of forfeiture and notice that judgment will be entered upon the order after 60 days must be served on each obligor. Service is to be made by the clerk mailing by first-class mail a copy of the order of forfeiture and notice to each obligor at each obligor’s address as noted on the bond and note on the original the date of mailing. Service is complete three days after the mailing.
(a) The court shall give notice of the entry of forfeiture by mailing a copy of the forfeiture to the defendant and to each surety whose name appears on the bail bond.
(b) The notice shall be sent by first-class mail to the defendant and to each surety named on the bond at the surety’s address of record.
(c) If a bail agent on behalf of an insurance company executed the bond, the court shall also provide a copy of the forfeiture to the bail agent, but failure to provide notice to the bail agent shall not affect the validity of any notice given to the insurance company.
(d) Notice given under this section is effective when the notice is mailed.
(e) Notice under this section shall be mailed not later than the thirtieth day after the date on which the forfeiture is entered. If notice under this section is not given within the prescribed time, the forfeiture shall not become a final judgment and shall not be enforced or reported to the Department of Insurance.
Section 15A-544.6. Final judgment of forfeiture.
(1) No order setting aside the provisional judgment pursuant to G.S. 15A-544.5 is entered on or before that date.
(2) No motion to set aside the provisional judgment is pending on that date.
(c) Except as provided in subsection (c1) of this section, at any time within 60 days following the date of service, or on the first presentment of the forfeiture calendar more than 60 days after the date of service, the principal or surety may move the court having jurisdiction of the matter, orally or in writing, to strike the order of forfeiture and recall the notice of forfeiture. If the principal or surety appears and moves within the time allowed following the date of service and satisfies the court that the principal’s failure to appear on the date set was impossible or that the principal’s failure to appear was without the principal’s fault, the order of forfeiture must be set aside. If the principal or surety does not satisfy the court that the principal’s appearance on the date set was impossible or that the principal’s failure to appear was without the principal’s fault, the court must then enter judgment for the State against the principal and surety for the amount of the bail and the cost of the proceeding.
(c1) If the principal does not appear before the court having jurisdiction because the principal is incarcerated in North Carolina and unable to appear before the court, but the surety appears within the time allowed following the date of service and satisfies the court that the principal’s appearance on the date set was impossible because the principal was incarcerated in North Carolina, the order of forfeiture must be set aside.
B. WEST’S NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES ANNOTATED CHAPTER 15A. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT SUBCHAPTER V. CUSTODY ARTICLE 26. BAIL PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS § 15A-540. Surrender of a principal by a surety; setting new conditions of release.
Upon application by the surety after the surrender of the principal, before the forfeiture of bail under G.S. 15A-544(b), the clerk must exonerate him from his bond.
C. New Legislation – 1999 North Carolina Senate Bill No. 1267, North Carolina 1999 General Assembly – Second Session (FULL TEXT – STATE NET) VERSION: Introduced Version Date May 17, 2000.
Section 15A-544.8. Relief from final judgment of forfeiture.
(a) Relief Exclusive.–There shall be no relief from a final judgment of forfeiture except as provided in this section.
(1) The person seeking relief was not given notice as provided in G.S. 15A-544.4.
(2) Other extraordinary circumstances exist that the court, in its discretion, determines should entitle that person to relief.
(1) At any time before the expiration of three years after the date on which a judgment of forfeiture became final, the defendant or any surety named in the judgment may make a written motion for relief under this section, stating the reasons and setting forth the evidence in support of each reason.
(2) The motion shall be filed in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county in which the final judgment was entered, and a copy shall be served, pursuant to G.S. 1A-1, Rule 5, on the district attorney for that county and the county board of education.
(3) A hearing on the motion shall be scheduled within a reasonable time in the trial division in which the defendant was bonded to appear.
(4) At the hearing the court may grant the party any relief from the judgment that the court considers appropriate, including the refund of all or a part of any money paid to satisfy the judgment.
(d) Only One Motion.–No more than one motion by any party for relief under this section may be considered by the court.
(e) Finality of Judgment as to Other Parties Not Affected.–The finality of a final judgment of forfeiture shall not be affected, as to any party to the judgment, by the filing of a motion by, or the granting of relief to, any other party.
(f) Appeal.–An order on a motion for relief from a final judgment of forfeiture shall be a final order or judgment of the trial court for purposes of appeal. Appeal shall be as provided for appeals in civil actions. When notice of appeal is properly filed, the court may stay the effectiveness of the order on such conditions as it considers appropriate.
Section 58-71-25. Procedure for surrender; exoneration of obligors; refund of deposit.
The person desiring to make a surrender of the defendant shall procure a certified copy of the undertakings and deliver them together with the defendant to the official in whose custody the defendant was at the time bail was taken, or to the official into whose custody he would have been given had he been committed, who shall detain the defendant in his custody thereon, as upon a commitment, and by a certificate in writing acknowledge the surrender.
Upon the presentation of certified copy of the undertakings and the certificate of the official, the court before which the defendant has been held to answer, or the court in which the preliminary examination, warrant, indictment, information or appeal as the case may be, is pending, shall upon notice of three days given by the person making the surrender to the prosecuting officer of the court having jurisdiction of the offense, together with a copy of the undertakings and certificate, order that the obligors be exonerated from liability of their undertakings, and, if money or bonds have been deposited as bail, that such money or bonds be refunded.
After there has been a breach of the undertaking in a bail bond, the surety may surrender the defendant as provided in G.S. 15A-540.
(e) At any time within 90 days after entry of the judgment against a principal or surety, the principal or surety, by verified written petition, may request that the judgment be remitted in whole or in part, upon such conditions as the court may impose, if it appears that justice requires the remission of part or all of the judgment. A copy of the petition must be served upon the attorney for the county school board at least three working days prior to the hearing.
If the principal is incarcerated or served an order for arrest in North Carolina within 90 days of the entry of the judgment and the principal placed on a new bond or released by the court, then the forfeiture shall be stricken upon the payment of costs.
(h) For extraordinary cause shown, the court which has entered judgment upon a forfeiture of a bond may, after execution, remit the judgment in whole or in part and order the clerk to refund such amounts as the court considers appropriate. Any person moving for remission of judgment must do so by verified petition, and a copy of the petition must be served upon the attorney for the county school board at least three working days prior to the hearing on the motion. The moving party must notify the attorney for the school board of the time and place of the hearing, and such attorney, if he so desires, must be given an opportunity to appear and be heard. If money has been paid to the county pursuant to execution on a judgment of forfeiture, it must refund to the person entitled the amount of any remission granted under the terms of this subsection upon receipt of a certified copy of the judgment of remission from the clerk.
(a) Relief Exclusive. –There shall be no relief from a forfeiture except as provided in this section. The reasons for relief are those specified in subsection (b) of this section. The procedures for obtaining relief are those specified in subsections (c) and (d) of this section. Subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i) of this section apply regardless of the reason for relief given or the procedure followed.
(1) The defendant’s failure to appear has been set aside by the court and any order for arrest issued for that failure to appear has been recalled, as evidenced by a copy of an official court record, including an electronic record.
(2) All charges for which the defendant was bonded to appear have been finally disposed by the court other than by the State’s taking dismissal with leave, as evidenced by a copy of an official court record, including an electronic record.
(3) The defendant has been surrendered by a surety on the bail bond as provided by G.S. 15A-540, as evidenced by the sheriff’s receipt provided for in that section.
(5) The defendant died before or within the period between the forfeiture and the final judgment as demonstrated by the presentation of a death certificate.
(d) Motion Procedure. –If a forfeiture is not set aside under subsection (c) of this section, the only procedure for setting it aside is as follows: (see the statute in full for a detailed description of the Motion Procedure).
A. WEST’S NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES ANNOTATED CHAPTER 15A. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT SUBCHAPTER V. CUSTODY ARTICLE 26. BAIL PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS § 15A-540. Surrender of a principal by a surety; setting new conditions of release.
(a) A surety may surrender his principal to the sheriff of the county in which the principal is bonded to appear or to the sheriff where the defendant was bonded. A surety may arrest his principal for the purpose of returning him to the sheriff. Upon surrender of the principal the sheriff must provide a receipt to the surety, a copy of which must be filed with the clerk.
New Legislation – 1999 North Carolina Senate Bill No. 1267, North Carolina 1999 General Assembly – Second Session Introduced Version Date May 17, 2000. “Section 15A-540. Surrender of a principal, defendant, by a surety; setting new conditions of release.
(a) A surety may surrender his principal to the sheriff of the county in which the principal is bonded to appear or to the sheriff where the defendant was bonded. A surety may arrest his principal for the purpose of returning him to the sheriff. Upon surrender of the principal the sheriff must provide a receipt to the surety, a copy of which must be filed with the clerk. Upon application by the surety after the surrender of the principal, before the forfeiture of bail under G.S. 15A-544(b), the clerk must exonerate him from his bond.
(b) A principal surrendered by his surety is entitled to an immediate hearing on whether he is again entitled to release and, if so, upon what conditions.
(a) Going Off the Bond Before Breach.–Before there has been a breach of the conditions of a bail bond, the surety may surrender the defendant as provided in G.S. 58-71-20. Upon application by the surety after such surrender, the clerk must exonerate the surety from the bond.
The Commission discussed the professional bail bondsman. It finally decided that he still provides a service in a number of counties, and except for proposed § 15A-541 the proposal does not mention the professional bondsman. He is treated in law as any other person acting as a surety upon a bail bond, although certain restrictive provisions are obviously written with the bondsman in mind. The Commission also discussed the advisability of revising the provisions relating to licensing of professional bondsmen in Chapter 85A of the General Statutes, and making the chapter applicable to all counties. In the press of its work, however, the Commission never found time to develop this as part of its 1973 proposal.
(a) No sheriff, deputy sheriff, other law-enforcement officer, judicial official, attorney, parole officer, probation officer, jailer, assistant jailer, employee of the General Court of Justice, other public employee assigned to duties relating to the administration of criminal justice, or spouse of any such person may in any case become surety on a bail bond for any person other than a member of his immediate family. In addition no person covered by this section may act as agent for any bonding company or professional bondsman. No such person may have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the financial affairs of any firm or corporation whose principal business is acting as bondsman.
(1) The person seeking relief was not given notice as provided in G .S. 15A-544.4.
(c) Procedure. –The procedure for obtaining relief from a final judgment under this section is as follows: (See the statute in full for a detailed description of the procedure).
Arrestee sued bail bondsman, asserting breach of contract and tort claims in connection with bondsman surrendering arrestee and her husband to authorities. After permitting arrestee to amend her pleadings at close of all evidence to assert claim for punitive damages, the Superior Court, Rowan County, Thomas W. Seay, Jr., J., submitted case to jury only on breach of contract claim, and thereafter entered judgment on jury verdict awarding arrestee, inter alia, $150,000 in punitive damages. Bondsman appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, 133 N.C.App. 350, 515 S.E.2d 495. Bondsman appealed. The Supreme Court, Lake, J., held that: (1) bondsman preserved his claim that punitive damages issue could not be submitted to jury, and (2) punitive damages were not recoverable. Reversed and remanded.
Sureties brought action for full remission of bond after delivering principal to authorities. The Superior Court, Forsyth County, Thomas W. Ross, J., denied remission on ground that action was time-barred. Sureties appealed. The Court of Appeals, McGee, J., held that: (1) three-year statute of limitations governing actions against sureties did not apply, and (2) trial court had discretion to grant relief if sureties demonstrated “extraordinary cause.” Reversed and remanded.
Defendants, licensed bail bondsmen, were convicted after jury trial in the Superior Court, Cabarrus County, James C. Davis, J., of breaking and entering, and one defendant also was convicted of assault on female and injury to real property. Defendants appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, 126 N.C.App. 688, 486 S.E.2d 475. Certiorari was granted. The Supreme Court, Mitchell, C.J., held that defendants were entitled to jury instruction on common law powers of bail bondsmen to break into residence and use force against third party when searching for their principal. Court of Appeals’ judgment affirmed.
Judgment of forfeiture against surety for appearance bond of criminal defendant was null and void under requirements of bail forfeiture statute where surety was not personally served order of forfeiture and was not mailed copy of order of forfeiture or notice, though sheriff had record of surety’s address throughout proceedings.

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