H*3906(Rat #0175, Act #0118 of 1995)  General Bill, By Harrison and Scott
 A Bill to amend Section 38-53-270, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
 relating to the requirement that a bondsman acting as surety on bail bonds
 maintains deposits with the clerk of court in certain amounts, so as to change
 from assessed to fair market value which must be pledged if the deposits are
 real property and to provide for the manner in which this value is determined.

   03/30/95  House  Introduced, read first time, placed on calendar
                     without reference HJ-5
   04/05/95  House  Read second time HJ-18
   04/06/95  House  Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-42
   04/11/95  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-26
   04/11/95  Senate Referred to Committee on Banking and Insurance SJ-26
   04/11/95  Senate Recalled from Committee on Banking and Insurance SJ-26
   04/19/95  Senate Read second time SJ-117
   05/10/95  Senate Read third time and enrolled SJ-16
   06/06/95         Ratified R 175
   06/12/95         Signed By Governor
   06/12/95         Effective date 06/12/95
   08/09/95         Copies available
   08/09/95         Act No. 118

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 38-53-270, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT A BONDSMAN ACTING AS SURETY ON BAIL BONDS MAINTAINS DEPOSITS WITH THE CLERK OF COURT IN CERTAIN AMOUNTS, SO AS TO CHANGE FROM ASSESSED TO FAIR MARKET THE VALUE WHICH MUST BE PLEDGED IF THE DEPOSITS ARE REAL PROPERTY AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH THIS VALUE IS DETERMINED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Fair market value to be used

SECTION 1. Section 38-53-270 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 38-53-270. Each professional bondsman acting as surety on bail bonds in this State shall maintain deposits with the clerk of court of the county in which the bondsman has his primary place of business equal to at least one-fourth the amount of all bonds or undertakings written in this State on which he is absolutely or conditionally liable as of the first day of the current month. The deposits must be in the form of either passbook savings accounts or certificates of deposit of building and loan associations chartered by this State or federal savings and loan associations located within this State in which deposits are guaranteed by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, not to exceed the amount covered by insurance, or of national banks located within this State or banks chartered by this State in which deposits are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, not to exceed the amount covered by insurance, or by the pledge of the appraised value of real estate in South Carolina over any recorded mortgages and contracts of sale. The value shall be determined by the county tax assessor for the county where the subject property is located. The interest paid on the deposits may be collected by the bondsman. The amount of the deposits must be reconciled with the bondsman's liabilities as of the first day of the month before the sixteenth of the month. The value of the deposits may not be less than five thousand dollars. The first ten thousand dollars of these deposits must be secured by passbook savings or certificates of deposits only. Any amounts above ten thousand dollars may be secured with pledges of other types of collateral approved by the clerk of court."

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Approved the 12th day of June, 1995.