Virginia Administrative Code › Title 6 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CORRECTIONS › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES › Chapter 260 - REGULATIONS RELATING TO BAIL ENFORCEMENT AGENTS › Part VI - Administrative Requirements; Standards of Conduct › Section 6VAC20-260-250 - Professional conduct standards; grounds for disciplinary actions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
A. Any violations
				  of the restrictions or standards under the Code of Virginia or this regulation
				  shall be grounds for placing on probation, refusal to issue or renew,
				  sanctioning, suspension or revocation of the bail enforcement agent's license.
				  A licensed bail enforcement agent is responsible for ensuring that his
				  employees, partners and individuals contracted to perform services for or on
				  his behalf comply with all of these provisions and do not violate any of the
				  restrictions that apply to bail enforcement agents. Violations by a bail
				  enforcement agent's employee, partner, or agent may be grounds for disciplinary
				  action against the bail enforcement agent, including probation, suspension or
				  revocation of license.
B. A
				  licensed bail enforcement agent shall not:
1.
				  Engage in any fraud or willful misrepresentation, or provide materially
				  incorrect, misleading, incomplete or untrue information in applying for an
				  original license or renewal of an existing license, or in submitting any
				  documents to the department.
2. Use
				  any letterhead, advertising, or other printed matter in any manner representing
				  that he is an agent, employee, or instrumentality of the federal government, a
				  state, or any political subdivision of a state.
3. Impersonate, permit or aid and abet any
				  employee to impersonate a law-enforcement officer or employee of the United
				  States, any state, or a political subdivision of a state.
4. Use a name different from that under which
				  he is currently licensed for any advertising, solicitation, or contract to
				  secure business unless the name is an authorized fictitious name.
5. Coerce, suggest, aid and abet, offer
				  promise of favor, or threaten any person to induce that person to commit any
				  crime.
6. Give or receive, directly
				  or indirectly, any gift of any kind to any nonelected public official or any
				  employee of a governmental agency involved with the administration of justice,
				  including but not limited to law-enforcement personnel, magistrates, judges,
				  jail employees, and attorneys. De minimis gifts, not to exceed $50 per year per
				  recipient, are acceptable provided the purpose of the gift is not to directly
				  solicit business or would otherwise be a violation of department regulations or
				  the laws of the Commonwealth.
7.
				  Knowingly violate, advise, encourage, or assist in the violation of any
				  statute, local jurisdictional law, court order, or injunction in the course of
				  conducting activities regulated under this chapter.
8. Solicit business for an attorney in return
				  for compensation.
9. Willfully
				  neglect to render to a client services or a report as agreed between the
				  parties and for which compensation has been paid or tendered in accordance with
				  the agreement of the parties, but if the bail enforcement agent chooses to
				  withdraw from the case and returns the funds for work not yet done, no
				  violation of this section exists.
10. Fail to comply with any of the statutory
				  or regulatory requirements governing licensed bail enforcement
				  agents.
11. Fail or refuse to
				  cooperate with any investigation by the department.
12. Fail to comply with any subpoena issued
				  by the department.
13. Employ or
				  contract with any unlicensed or improperly licensed person or agency to conduct
				  activities pertaining to bail enforcement services regulated in the Code of
				  Virginia or this regulation, if the licensure status was known or could have
				  been ascertained by reasonable inquiry.
14. Solicit or receive a bribe or other
				  consideration in exchange for failing to recover or detain a bailee.
15. Provide false or misleading information
				  to representatives of the department.