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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinances Book 17, Page 1085, Ordinance Number 72-7-674ORDINANCE NO. 72-7-674 AN ORDINANCE RECREATING CHAPTER 6, "BONDSMEN" FOR THE CODE OF ORDINANCES CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF PADUCAH, KENTUCKY: SECTION 1. There is hereby created and ordained Article I, Definitions for Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances City of Paducah, Kentucky, together with the hereinafter named sections. ARTICLE I Definitions. Sec. 6-1. Bail Bondsman. Bail Bondsman shall mean any person engaged for profit or compensation in the business of furnishing bail, making bail bonds or entering into undertakings, as surety, for the appearance of persons charged with any criminal offense for violation of law or ordinance punishable by fine, imprisonment and/or death, before any Court located in the City of Paducah and/or securing the payment of fines imposed and of costs assessed by such Courts upon final disposition thereof, and the business of bail bondsman shall be limited to the acts, transactions and undertakings enumerated above and to no other. Sec. 6-2. Person. The term "person" shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation or business association. The masculine gender, whenever used herein, shall apply to all persons. Sec. 6-3. Solicitor or runner. The terms "solicitor" or "runner" means any person other than a licensed professional bail bondsman who solicits or seeks business for a professional bail bondsman. Sec. 6-4. Compensation. The term "compensation" means any emolument, fee, commission, salary, gift, loan, entertainment, or other thing of value whatsoever paid, donated, given, offered or promised in connection with providing or furnishing, or offering to provide or furnish and bail bond in any Court in the City. Sec. 6-5. Engaging in business of professional bondsman. One act, for compensation, of being surety upon, or providing or furnishing or offering to provide or furnish any bail bond in any 1086 Court in the City of Paducah shall constitute doing, conducting or engaging in the business of a professional bail bondsman. SECTION 2. There is hereby created and ordained Article II, License for Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances City of Paducah, Kentucky. ARTICLE II. License Sec. 6-11. License required. It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct or engage in the business of a professional bail bondsman in the City, unless he holds a valid license issued pursuant to this Article for the correct year. Sec. 6-12. Application generally. The application for a license under this Chapter, or a renewal thereof, shall be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant, and filed with the City Treasurer. If the applicant is a partnership or corporation or other business association, the application shall be signed and sworn to by the partners or members thereof or the president and secretary thereof. Each application for a license under this Chapter shall embody, or there shall be attached thereto, a written statement by the applicant, signed and verified under oath, setting forth: (1) The name, age and business and home address of the applicant, if an individual. If the applicant is a partnership, business association or corporation, the name, date of organization, and business address, together with the names, ages, and business and home addresses of the partners, members or officers thereof shall be stated. (2) The name, age and residence of each person employed by the applicant, as a secretary, clerk, agent or otherwise in the bail bonding business. (3) An undertaking of an obligation on the part of the applicant to perform well and faithfully the duties of a professional bail bondsman according to law. Sec. 6-13. Issuance. All licenses and renewals thereof to conduct or engage in business as a professional bail bondsman shall be issued by the City Treasurer. Such license shall be granted and issued if and when the applicant complies with the conditions and requirements of this Chapter and pays the prescribed fees pursuant to Chapter 17 of this Code. 1087 A partnership, corporation or other business association shall not be granted a license to conduct or engage in the bail bonding business unless each person participating as a professional bail bondsman possesses the qualifications required of a person acting individually in the bail bonding business. The City Treasurer shall issue no license to any individual or bail bonding business for bail bonding purposes unless the applicant or applicants possess a valid license for such business from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and an appropriate and adequate business license from the City of Paducah. Sec. 6-14. Types. License issued under and pursuant to this Chapter shall be of the following two types: (1) A license to a person as an individual. (2) A license to a partnership, corporation or other business association which shall be in the name of the partnership, corporation or association. Sec. 6-15. Content. Each license issued under this ordinance shall show, among other things, the following: (1) The type of license; (2) The name and business address of the licensee. If the licensee is a partnership, corporation or association, the names of the partners, officers or members thereof shall be shown. (3) The date of issuance and expiration thereof. Sec. 6-16. Expiration and renewal. The license or renewal thereof issued under and pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall expire on December 31 of the year in which or for which it is issued. A license which is renewed shall be renewed for a term of one year, beginning on January 1 and expiring on December 31 of the same year. Application for renewal of a license shall be filed with the City Treasurer not less than thirty days prior to the expiration of the date of the license. Sec. 6-17. Posting. Every professional bail bondsman shall pose his license in a conspicuous place in his place of business, and any nonresident licensed professional bail bondsman shall carry a copy of his license on his person. 1088 Sec. 6-18. Suspension and revocation. The license of a professional bail bondsman may be suspended or revoked by the Board of Commissioners of the City for any violation of the provisions of this Chapter or making false statements in the application for a license, such revocation or suspension to be done in the following manner: (1) Upon receipt of a statement in writing signed by the Chief on Police, or any other person, stating that a professional bail bondsman has violated any of the provisions of this Chapter, or has made false statements in an application, the Board of Commissioners of the City may cite such bail bondsman to appear before said Board on a date certain, to show why his license should not be suspended or revoked. Such citation shall state the reason and grounds for its issuance and date, hour and place of the hearing and shall be served in the manner prescribed by law. (2) The professional bail bondsman so cited shall appear personally at the time and place of the hearing named in the citation. He shall have the right at such hearing to be represented by counsel, to introduce witnesses on his behalf, and at his own expense, to have transcribed the testimony given at such hearing. (3) The Clerk of the City of Paducah is authorized to summons witnesses to appear at such hearing, and to administer oath. (4) If, after such hearing, the Board of Commissioners of the City determines that there is good and sufficient reason for the suspension or revocation of the bondsman's license, it may enter an order effective immediately to such effect, and the City Clerk shall forthwith notify the bondsman by personal service or by registered mail with the return receipt requested. The Clerk shall give notice of the suspension or revocation of such license to the City Treasurer and all concerned governmental officials, and they shall be governed accordingly until further notice. 0 (5) Any bondsman affected by a suspension or revocation shall have the right to appeal to any court of competent jurisdiction within the time prescribed by law for appeals from inferior courts, but any license suspension or revocation shall not be delayed pending the taking of an appeal or until so ordered by such court. SECTION 3. There is hereby created and ordained Article III of Chapter 6 of the Code of Ordinances City of Paducah, Kentucky. ARTICLE III. General Sec. 6-21 Compliance with Chapter. It shall be unlawful for any person to conduct or engage in the bail bonding business or to conduct or engage in business as a pro- fessional bail bondsman in the City of Paducah except in the manner and under the conditions provided in this Chapter. Sec. 6-22. Duties and powers of the City Treasurer. The City Treasurer shall have the following duties, responsibilities and powers in relation to the administration of the provisions of this chapter. (1) The City Treasurer is hereby authorized to adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary in connection with the form and issuance of the license required not inconsistent with the Kentucky Revised Statutes or this Chapter. (2) It shall be the duty of the City Treasurer to cause to be printed on or before January 15 in each year, a list, alphabetically arranged, of all persons, partnerships, corporations or business associations licensed under the authority of this Chapter to conduct or engage in the bail bonding business in the City, and to furnish copies thereof to the judges and clerks of each court located in the City of Paducah. He shall also furnish copies thereof to the jailer of the City of Paducah and the County of McCracken. (3) It shall be the duty of the City Treasurer to notify promptly each governmental official to whom he furnishes a list 1089 1090 of professional bail bondsmen of any change or correction therein by reason of the issuance of additional licenses or the suspension or revocation of existing licenses. (4) The City Treasurer shall determine the most common and prevailing rates charged by professional bail bondsmen throughout cities of the first and second classes other than Paducah from the rate schedules filed with the Kentucky Commissioner of Insurance by all professional bail bondsmen doing business in such cities, and said determination shall be made no later than March 15 of each year. The City Treasurer shall immediately thereafter notify all licensed bondsmen, judges, court clerks and jailers in the City of Paducah of the determined most common and prevailing rate, and no professional bail bondsman shall thereafter charge or receive, either directly or indirectly, as compensation for posting bail or acting as surety on any bail bond or recognizance, or for making or causing to be made a deposit of cash or surety for bail, in any criminal case within the jurisdiction of any court in the Coty of Paducah, a sum in excess of the said rates as determined by the City Treasurer. The rate so determined shall remain in effect from March 15 to March 15 of the following year, provided however, any professional bail bondsman licensed to do business in the City of Paducah and affected by such determinations may, within ten days after the determinations of rates have been made, file an appeal with the City Clerk, and the Board of Commissioners shall thereafter within seven days conduct a hearing into the matter of rates and shall make its own determination of the most common and prevailing rates. (5) The City Treasurer shall have the authority to inspect and audit the records and accounts of any professional bail bondsman licensed to do business in the city. Sec. 6-23 Client's receipt. A professional bondsman shall furnish each person for whom a bond is executed with an itemized receipt showing the character of the service 1091 or services rendered and the true itemized amount of money or other thing. of value paid or given for or in connection with each item of service rendered and the nature and amount of the bond. Such receipt shall be prepared in an original and at least three (3) copies. The original shall be delivered to the client. A copy shall be delivered to the City Treasurer at his office in the City Hall before 12 o'clock noon of each day for any bond written during the twenty-four (24) hours preceding such filing. In a case where a receipt is issued and the office of the city treasurer is not open for business, this copy shall be delivered to the office of the city treasurer before noon of the first day after the issuance of the receipt when the city treasurer's office is open for business. In cases arising out of the police court, one copy shall be filed promptly with the clerk of such court. One copy shall be retained on file in the bondsman's office for inspection. Sec. 6-24. Requiring collateral to guarantee appearance. A professional bondsman may require and accept, in his discretion in each individual case, collateral to be posted with him to guarantee the appearance of the defendant. A receipt for the collateral shall be given to the person posting the collateral. A duplicate copy of the receipt shall be furnished to the clerk of the police court of the city in cases involving the appearance of persons in that court, at the time of the execution of the bond. A triplicate copy of the receipt shall be furnished to the city treasurer at the same time and in the same manner as provided for the filing of the itemized receipt required by Section 6-23. The original receopt for property signed by the depositor of the collateral acknowledging that the collateral was returned to the depositor must be furnished to the clerk of the police court before such bond shall be released. SEC. 6-25. Entering jail, police stations or other places of detention. A professional bail bondsman shall not enter the Paducah Police Station, city jail or other place in the City Hall where persons in custody of the law are detained in the city for the purpose of obtaining employment as a bail bondsman, without having been previously called by a person so detained or by a relative or other personal representative authorized by and acting for and on behalf of the person so detained. Whenever a person engaged in the bail bonding business shall enter the City of Paducah Police Station, Jail or other place where persons in the 1092 custody of the law are detained in the City Hall, he shall forthwith state to the officer in charge thereof his mission there and the name of the person or officer requesting him to come to such place. Such information shall be recorded by the officer or employee in charge and preserved in a public record maintained for that purpose, and failure of the officer in charge of such place of detention to make and preserve such record shall constitute a violation of this ordinance. Sec. 6-26. Duties and responsibilities of Paducah police or city jailer. When a person in custody in the Paducah city jail shall request any officer in charge thereof to furnish him the name of a professional bail bondsman, such list shall be shown to the person so requesting, and it shall be the duty of such officer, within a reasonable time, to put the person so detained or his authorized representative in communication, by telephone or otherwise, with the professional bail bondsman selected and chosen by such person in custody. Such officer shall, contemporaneously with such transaction, make a record in the record book kept in such place for such purpose, showing the name of the person detained and/or the name of his authorized representative requesting the professional bail bondsman, the offense with which the person is charged, the time at which the request and communication was made, the name of the professional bail bondsman requested and the name of the person by whom the bail bondsman was called, which record shall be preserved as a public and permanent record in the record book in which entered. It shall be unlawful for any and all law enforcement officers of the City of Paducah to make any suggestion to, or influence in any way the person in custody with reference to the choice of a professional bail bondsman. SEC. 6-27. Not to solicit business in or near court room. A professional bail bondsman shall not, personally or otherwise, solicit business in, at, or near any court room of the City of Paducah, Kentucky, or corridor leading thereto. Sec. 6-28. Unlawful compensation from third persons. A professional bail bondsman shall not receive, directly or indirectly, nor shall an attorney or other third person give, directly or indirectly, to a professional bail bondsman, any compensation, other than the fee and charge, if any, for executing a bail bond. Sec. 6-29. Payment for business referrals prohibited. 1093 A professional bail bondsman shall not, directly or indirectly pay or give, or promise to pay or give, to any person, nor shall any person, directly or indirectly, receive or take from any professional bail bondsman, any money or thing of value as compensation for securing or referring or sending bail bond business or clients in any way to or for any professional bail bondsman. Sec. 6-30. Improper influence on city courts, officials or witnesses. A professional bail bondsman shall not, directly or indirectly, influence, or promise or attempt in any way to influence the Paducah city police court, any public officials of the City of Paducah or any witness in any case before the Paducah Police Court. Sec. 6-31. Payment of fines by bondsmen prohibited. A professional bail bondsman shall not, directly or indirectly, pay any fine for a conviction of any person in the Paducah police court, and all fines must be paid by the person charged with the crime or his attorney. Nothing in this section is intended to preclude any professional bail bondsman from making loans that are otherwise duly authorized and proper to anyone. Sec. 6-32. Employment of solicitors and runners prohibited. A professional bail bondsman shall not employ or pay any person to act or serve as a solicitor or runner in conducting such business, nor shall any person act or receive any compensation as a solicitor or runner for a professional bail bondsman. It shall be unlawful for any bondsman or any individual on behalf of any bail bondsman to solicit business directly from individuals accused of crime where such solicitation by anyone on behalf of the bail bondsman is done for compensation. Sec. 6-33. Schedule of fees to be posted. Each professional bail bondsman maintaining an office in the City of Paducah shall post, in a conspicuous place in his place of business a schedule of fees and charges. Sec. 6-34. Execution of bond. Bail bonds executed for compensation, if executed by a person licensed under this ordinance, shall be executed by and in the name of such person, and more specifically if a bail bond is executed by a partnership, corporation or business association, it shall be executed 1094 by a registered and licensed partner, officer, agent or member thereof. Sec. 6-35. Failure to pay forfeiture. The failure of a professional bail bondsman to pay to the City of Paducah within five (5) days following the entry of judgment against said surety in the Paducah police court shall automatically revoke the license of said bail bondsman to conduct business in the City of Paducah, and the City Treasurer shall promptly notify all court and law enforcement officials in the City of Paducah of said revocation. This provision shall apply only to forfeitures due and payable to the City of Paducah and not to bonds required to be collected by the Circuit Court and payable to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. No consideration may be given to a license renewal until all delinquencies have been paid in full. Sec. 6-36. Books and records to be maintained. Each professional bail bondsman doing business in the City of Paducah shall keep and maintain books and records showing the detailed transactions and conduct of his business, which books and records shall be open to inspection by the City Treasurer or Chief of Police of the City of Paducah, Kentucky, or their authorized representatives. Sec. 6-37. Conducting business in the City Hall. No professional bail bondsman shall conduct any business in the City Hall except in the Paducah Police Court room, the lobby adjoining the said court room, the vestibule at the entrance to the Paducah Police Department, or in such other areas as may from time to time be specifically designated and authorized in writing by the Mayor. Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit the conduct of any personal business by any individual in any public area of the City Hall building. Sec. 6-38. Penalties and violations of Chapter. Any person violating any provision of this Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment of not less than ten (10) nor more than fifty (50) days, or both by such fine and imprisonment for each offense. The violations of the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed separate offenses and each shall be punishable accordingly. It shall be the duty of the Judge of the Paducah Police Court to notify 1095 the City Treasurer of the conviction of a professional bail bondsman for the violation of any provisions of this Chapter. The City Treasurer shall thereupon enter such irf ormation in the records of his office kept in connection with the granting of licenses as provided in this Chapter. A second conviction of a professional bail bondsman for a violation of any provision of this ordinance shall, of itself, be cause for the revocation of the license of the professional bail bondsman. Such license shall be revoked in the manner provided in this ordinance. The penalties provided for in this section are separate and distinct and in addition to the "administrative" penalties provided for in KRS 304.34-130. SECTION 4. The provisions of this ordinance are severable and a determination that any one provision, sentence or paragraph is invalid or unenforceable shall render only that provision, sentence or paragraph invalid or unenforceable and shall in no way affect the validity of the remaining provisions, sentences and paragraphs of this ordinance. If any provision of this ordinance is in conflict with KRS 304.34-010 through KRS 304.34-140, or any other Kentucky Statutes, the Kentucky Statutes shall prevail. SECTION 5. The provisions of this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its adoption with the following exceptions: No license shall be required prior to August 1, 1972, and the prevailing rate for bail bonds need not be determined and posted prior to August 15, 1972. Mayor Passed by the Board of Commissioners July 24, 1972 Recorded by Sarah Thurman, City Clerk, July 24, 1972.