Chapter 598-A: Professional Bondsmen

To promote efficiency and economy, eliminate redundancies in licensure requirements, reduce administrative costs, and facilitate customer service, the responsibility for registration of professional bondsmen shall be transferred to the office of professional licensure and certification effective July 1, 2023. No person proposing to become bail or surety in a criminal case for hire or reward, either received or to be received, shall be accepted as such unless the person shall have been approved and registered as a professional bondsman by the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification; provided, however, no person proposing to become bail or surety in a criminal case in any calendar year after having become bail or surety in criminal cases on 5 separate occasions in said year shall be accepted thereafter during that year as bail or surety unless the person shall have been approved and registered as a professional bondsman as provided in this section.

A person proposing to become bail or surety and registered as a professional bondsman shall pay to the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification an initial application fee. The fee shall be deposited in the office of professional licensure and certification fund.

A person who has been accepted as bail or surety, contrary to the provisions of this chapter, shall nevertheless be liable on his obligation as such bail or surety. Approval and registration under this chapter may be revoked at any time by the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification and shall be revoked in case such a bondsman fails for 30 days after demand to satisfy in full a judgment recovered under RSA 597:33. The county attorney or prosecuting officer obtaining any such judgment which is not satisfied in full within 30 days after demand shall immediately notify the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification or designee in writing.

The executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification shall furnish all superior court clerks, all district courts having authority to accept bail, all jails, and all police stations with a list of the names of all persons registered as professional bondsmen and shall notify such clerks, courts, jails, and police stations of any change in a bondsman's status. The executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification shall update the list as necessary, but not less than once per year. The list shall include the following statement in bold type: "You are encouraged to contact more than one bail bondsman because not all bail bondsmen charge the same fees or provide the same services." The unaltered list shall be displayed prominently and visibly to defendants in all courts, jails, and police stations. No other list shall be displayed, furnished, or provided.

All professional bondsmen shall be governed by rules which shall be adopted under RSA 541-A by the executive director of the office of professional licensure and certification.

Any unregistered person receiving hire or reward for his services as bail or surety in any criminal case, any unregistered person becoming bail or surety in any criminal case in any calendar year after having become bail or surety in criminal cases on 5 separate occasions in said year, and any professional bondsman violating any provision of the rules established hereunder for such bondsmen shall, if a natural person, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, if another person, a felony.

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to a fidelity, guaranty or surety company duly authorized to transact business in New Hampshire nor any duly authorized agent thereof. A person shall be deemed to have become bail or surety on a separate occasion within the meaning of this chapter if he becomes such: (1) for a person in respect to a single offense; or (2) for a person in respect to 2 or more offenses committed at the same time or arising out of the same transaction or course of conduct wherefor he at different times offers bail or surety; or (3) for 2 or more persons at the same time offering bail or surety in respect to offenses committed jointly or in a common course of conduct. Becoming bail or surety for the same person or persons in subsequent proceedings in connection with prosecution for the same offense or offenses shall not be deemed an additional occasion or occasions.