HB 1165 -- Bail Bond Agents Sponsor: Yates This bill changes the laws regarding the licensure of bail bond agents. In its main provisions, the bill: (1) Requires the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions, and Professional Registration upon notice of a forfeiture from a court to notify any bail bond agent who is listed as having a forfeited bond; (2) Requires the license issued to a bail bond agent to include a photograph of the licensee; (3) Requires all bail bond agents to provide the department with the name, address, and telephone number of each employer for which they work or contract; (4) Requires any newly appointed surety bail bond agent to file an affidavit with the department stating that all forfeitures or judgments on previously written bonds have been satisfied; (5) Requires all applicants for licensure to be fingerprinted and have a criminal background check; (6) Authorizes the department to have a cause of action brought against a licensee who has been found guilty of a dangerous felony or has filed bankruptcy as an owner of a bail bond business; (7) Allows bail bond agents to write bonds in municipal or circuit courts if the general bail bond agent who employs them is qualified to write bonds in these courts; (8) Allows a bail bond agent to be released from a bond if the agent can prove that the defendant is incarcerated in another jurisdiction or it is physically impossible for the defendant to appear through no fault of the bail bond agent; (9) Requires any bail bond agent arrested for a felony to notify the department of the arrest within 10 days; (10) Authorizes the department director to issue a cease and desist order and bring civil action against a person unlawfully engaged in the practice of bail bonding; and (11) Authorizes the department director to suspend or revoke the license of a surety recovery agent.