Court Opinion

ID: 9528830
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:44:28.010581+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:22.473692
License: Public Domain

Jansen, J.
On January 24, 1989, this Court granted plaintiffs complaint for superintending control and ordered the parties to proceed to a full hearing on the merits in the same manner as in an appeal of right. The issue before this Court is *433whether the Insurance Commissioner or defendants have the authority to suspend plaintiff and remove him from the approved-bondsmen list. MCL 750.167b(4); MSA 28.364(2X4). Plaintiff claims that the defendant judges did not have authority to suspend him from writing criminal bail bonds and remove his name from the approved list of bondsmen. We agree, and enter an order of superintending control requiring defendants to reinstate plaintiff on the list of approved bail bondsmen.
Plaintiff was certified and licensed on February 28, 1985, by the Department of Licensing and Regulation, Insurance Bureau. On October 4, 1988, plaintiff was suspended from writing bail bonds for six months following an informal meeting with the defendant judges, during which plaintiff and his attorney discussed their concerns about certain irregularities. During the course of the meeting, plaintiff admitted to charging more than ten percent of the face value of bonds, in violation of MCL 750.167b(3); MSA 28.364(2X3). On that basis, defendant judges suspended plaintiff from writing bail bonds. Shortly thereafter, the chief judge of the circuit court posted a list of approved bail bondsmen pursuant to the provisions of MCL 750.167b(4); MSA 28.364(2X4). This list did not include plaintiff’s bonding service.
On appeal, plaintiff alleges that defendant judges did not have the authority to review the moral fitness or fiscal responsibility of plaintiff and remove him from the list of approved bail bondsmen. We agree. The applicable statutes empower the Insurance Commissioner to investigate a license applicant’s character and fitness, MCL 500.1204(3); MSA 24.11204(3), and to suspend or revoke a license previously issued, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, upon ascertaining that the licensee no longer meets the requirements for licensure, MCL 500.1242(2); MSA 24.11242(2). *434Thus, the Legislature has granted the Insurance Commissioner the authority to revoke plaintiffs license after complying with certain procedural due process guarantees.
Further, MCL 750.167b; MSA 28.364(2) does not grant the court authority to regulate the list of bondsmen or to delete a bondsman’s name. Section 167b provides restrictions on contributions for the procurement of any bond, on bondsmen aiding in the procurement of an attorney for any person in a criminal case, on the maximum charge for bonds, and on the procurement of any dismissal of charges. Section 167b also provides for the compilation of a list of bail bondsmen. Specifically, § 167b(4) provides:
A typewritten or printed list, alphabetically arranged, of all persons engaged in the business of becoming surety upon bonds for compensation in criminal cases within the county shall be posted in a conspicuous place in each police precinct, jail, prisoner’s dock and house of detention and in every other place in which persons in custody of the law are detained, and 1 or more copies thereof shall be kept on hand. The list shall be compiled annually by the judges of the circuit court of each circuit, and the names of persons engaged in the business of becoming surety upon bonds for compensation shall be added to the list by the judges upon proper application.
Section 167b also provides that a person violating the section can be convicted of being a disorderly person, a misdemeanor under MCL 750.168; MSA 28.365.
We hold that § 167b(4) does not give the circuit court discretion in placing the names of bondsmen on the list of bondsmen. Section 167b(4) states that the "list shall be compiled annually by the judges of the circuit court of each circuit” and that the *435names of sureties "shall be added to the list” upon proper application. The use of the word "shall” in subsection 4 requires that any bondsman who is engaged in the business of becoming surety shall be added to the list upon proper application. Action Auto, Inc v Anderson, 165 Mich App 620, 628; 419 NW2d 36 (1988). The determination of whether a particular bondsman’s license should be revoked and the bondsman thereafter removed from the list is left to the Insurance Commissioner under MCL 500.1242(2); MSA 24.11242(2). Statutes relating to the same subject but enacted at different times must be construed in pari materia to preserve the intent of each and to ensure that the effectiveness of one does not negate the effectiveness of the other. Bay Co Executive v Bay Co Bd of Comm’rs, 177 Mich App 560, 567-568; 443 NW2d 168 (1989). Reading the statutes in pari materia, we conclude that the Insurance Commissioner, not the circuit court, has power to review a bondsman’s qualifications for licensure.
We are not persuaded by defendant judges’ argument that the laws which regulate licensing of surety companies, MCL 550.101 et seq.; MSA 24.241 et seq., violate Const 1963, art 6, § 4 by impermissibly restricting the supervisory power of the Supreme Court. In Pressley v Wayne Co Sheriff, 30 Mich App 300; 186 NW2d 412 (1971), this Court held that the bail deposit act which preserves to the judge the power to set the amount of bail but deprives the judge of the power to prescribe the form of the bond or the security for its performance did not violate separation of powers protections. The Pressley Court opined that, assuming that the setting of bail is a judicial function, depriving a judge of the power to require that the offender furnish a surety willing to stand behind his undertaking does not interfere with the trial court’s performance of the bail-setting function. Nor does the bail deposit act significantly *436erode the court’s power to control judicial business. Id., at 315. The Pressley Court concluded that the act does not constitute an impermissible intrusion upon inherent judicial power. We hold that the statutes relegating the licensing and regulation of surety bondsmen to the Insurance Commissioner do not impermissibly intrude upon the inherent judicial power or on the judicial function of setting bail.
Likewise, we are unpersuaded by the dissenting opinion that defendants’ actions were within the inherent constitutional authority of the court to control its judicial function. The cases relied upon by the dissent, involve court personnel and officers of the court. We are not persuaded that a bail bondsman is an officer of the court. As the dissent notes, a surety bond is a "contract between the government and the principal and surety.” People v Tom Johnson, 72 Mich App 702, 707; 250 NW2d 508 (1976). The circuit court has the power to regulate and ensure compliance with the bond contract and has jurisdiction over the surety’s liability on the bond or undertaking. MCR 3.604(B). While the circuit court may have the power and jurisdiction to ensure liability on the bond, it does not follow that the court has the power to regulate the licensure of bondsmen. Where the circuit court is confronted with a question regarding the moral fitness and fiscal responsibility of a particular bondsman, it can bring these facts to the attention of the Insurance Commissioner, who shall proceed under MCL 500.1242(2); MSA 24.11242(2). Thus, we hold that the circuit court’s power to ensure liability on a bond does not confer the power to regulate the licensure of bondsmen outside of the provisions of § 1242.
In reviewing a writ of superintending control, we are invoking an extraordinary power, generally *437limited to determining if the lower court exceeded its jurisdiction and proceeded according to law. Genesee Prosecutor v Genesee Circuit Judge, 386 Mich 672; 194 NW2d 693 (1972). We hold that the circuit court exceeded its jurisdiction and authority in removing plaintiff from the list of approved bondsmen. There is no statutory authority for the court’s action. That authority is properly granted to the Insurance Commissioner. Thus, we issue an order of superintending control requiring the circuit court to reinstate plaintiff on the list of bondsmen as required under MCL 750.167b(4); MSA 28.364(2)(4) pursuant to MCR 7.206(B) and MCR 7.216(A)(7).
Cavanagh, P.J., concurred.